Letter from America: Zanu PF – Chickens are coming home to roost

By Ken Mufuka

A state is defined as an institution (or a group of people) who are able to compel compliance through the use of force. The renewed attacks on Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa show that the under belly of the beast is exposed. The chickens are coming home to roost for ZANU-PF.

My information is that because of the internecine warfare going through the party, the elders are taking seriously the possibility of defeat at the next election.

The plot has been played before, and my brother Tafi Mhaka, says with some erudition that there is a “slow realisation that Mnangagwa’s sell-by date could be nigh this time around, and (he) may realise how replaceable he is as a party boss, especially now that Amai is poised for higher office, and her husband does not need him anymore.”

This is heavy stuff. The only person who seems surprised is the Vice President.

But so was former vice president Joice Mujuru. And so was Didymus Mutasa. And, just for the laugh, so was my supreme brother Chris Mustvangwa, my fellow lexicologist, though I warned him.

With all their knowledge, they find themselves being played by a 93-year old man. And these men (and women) once thought that they walked on water. But I digress.

The thesis is that Mukuru’s modus operandi is that in order to maintain a “strong man presidency” every officer of state must owe his position to that presidency. Whenever a person is comfortable in any one position, he must be removed. Sometimes the removal can cost life and limb.

Despite the repetition, and the fact that the plot never changes, the victims are like flies before a chameleon. They watch the coloration of the predator until the chameleon’s tongue binds them in a deathly vice.

The accusations against the Vice President are the same as those levelled against Joice Mujuru. They are either trumped-up, or irrelevant.

They are made up by people who have been coached and the juicy part is that today’s victims were yesterday’s errand boys. Oh, God is not mocked. The chickens are coming home to roost.

Some charges are childish, but the aim is to throw dirt and hope that some will stick. The Vice President is accused of drinking from a cup with an inscription: “I am the boss.” Attached to this accusation is the accusation that he met with some unsavoury fellows who see him as their leader.

These accusations are made by Jonathan Moyo, an intellectual prostitute of negotiable loyalty. We will not bother to refute them as they are frivolous.

Moyo, however, has one genuine grievance against the Vice President. During the Tsholotsho debacle, Moyo was the architect of a plan which would have seen the present VP in that position.

There was nothing treasonous about the Tsholotsho plan. Any politician wanting a higher position must organise and make coalitions. Mukuru was apprised of the plan ahead of time.

Moyo, however, and rightfully so, is bitter in that the now VP did not raise a voice in his support. When the Americans were faced by charges of treason by King George 111, they came together and swore allegiance to each other, “with our lives, wealth and honour. If we do not stand together, we shall hang separately.”

The more serious accusations come from Amai, which we shall not repeat in full in this family newspaper. Amai complained in Chiweshe about certain men calling her names. She then asked a rhetorical question. “How many women do these men have?” The second charge, though without foundation, creates an irreconcilable problem.

“It is not how long you have known the President, but what do you do when (the president) is away?” asked Amai.

A third charge thrown into the mix, without any particular aim, is that the VP is unelectable because of his association with Gukurahundi. There is no denying his involvement, but surely, he was part of the untouchable team which included Sidney Sekeramayi, Perence Shiri, Enos Nkala and Mukuru himself.

The Vice President’s sin does not lie in the accusations put forward against him. I was there when the Gukurahundi team and the whole world lay at their feet. They could do no wrong then.

His mistake is that he espoused loyalty to a system that does not know that word. Acolytes do the bidding of their master, and when their usefulness has expired, they are discarded.

There is a long list of victims, who once swore loyalty to Mukuru who have been rewarded with disgrace. Webster Shamu is one of the masterminds behind Mukuru’s birthday getting on the national calendar. He has not a single bone of disloyalty. He was done a hara kiri (wadziya moto wembava).

Americans have something called optics. When Amai scolded an acolyte; “You cannot divorce me from the president,” Mukuru was slouched in a sofa dozing off. The optics suggest that she will be a co-ruler, if she is not already one.

The attack on Mnangagwa is the Armageddon; he is a big tree in the forest who watched when the little ones fall to the farmer’s axe. Verily, ZANU-PF is made up of dummies. They learn nothing from the past. The chickens are heading home. The Financial Gazette

You can reach Ken Mufuka on [email protected]