By Lance Guma
MDC-T Treasurer General Roy Bennett has said the military junta is now running the country and that long time dictator Robert Mugabe is now just a figure head.
Speaking on SW Radio Africa’s Behind the Headlines series Bennett said: “I think Mugabe is a senile old man. He is no longer in control of events in Zimbabwe and the military junta calls the shots.”
Asked if this was not a convenient excuse that allowed Mugabe to shift blame for human rights abuses committed in the country, Bennett was adamant Mugabe was now just a figure head.
“You watch an interview where he stays awake for more than 20 to 30 minutes without falling asleep. He is an old man. He is way past his time and it’s basically these people (military junta) that are driving the process,” Bennett said.
Bennett insisted that the reason the junta still needed Mugabe was because he was the civilian face to what has effectively become military rule.
“I think it’s your Sidney Sekeramayi (state security minister), Emerson Mnangagwa (defence minister) and then the military generals, the Brigadier General Sango’s of this world that are controlling the whole process of what happens in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Under the coalition, Bennett was nominated by the MDC-T to be the country’s Deputy Agriculture Minister but almost 20 months down the line Mugabe’s regime has refused to swear him in.
“It’s deep seated racism within ZANU PF and Mugabe. It’s also deep seated hatred of transparency. They don’t want anything that will expose the truth of what is taking place within the Agriculture ministry,” Bennett said.
Commenting on alleged infighting within the MDC-T, Bennett said they completed a strategic planning workshop in South Africa.
He added: “I have never seen the MDC more united and more focused on its goal to deliver for the people of Zimbabwe.” He said the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) was working flat out to create “a further split in the MDC,” and they were doing this by creating many falsehoods.
Although Bennett was acquitted of terrorism, banditry and insurgency charges by Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, the same judge is reported to be claiming compensation from him, claiming he defamed him in an article published online.
“It’s an absolute load of rubbish. The Zimbabwe Guardian, one of these ZANU PF internet sites. I am alleged to have made a statement to them. I’ve never spoken to them in my life and it’s around that statement that Justice Bhunu is suing me,” Bennett said.
With plain clothes policemen stalking his premises and a judge trying to sue him for questioning the independence of the judiciary, will Bennett be going back to Zimbabwe?
“I will. You know I rely on my [party] leadership and the decision that comes out of there. I am certainly not going back to Zimbabwe to go to jail, where I will be ineffective. It all depends on the political landscape moving forward,” he said.
