Mujuru must be charged under Prevention of Corruption Act‏: Chitate

By Benjamin Chitate

It is the duty of elected leaders of government to educate the electorate so that they can make appropriate choices.

Instead of telling Zimbabweans on the dangers of electing an 89 year old geriatric to the position of President of the country, Amai Mujuru is busy telling people of a 1934 prophecy which prophesied that President Mugabe would be President of Zimbabwe.

Interestingly, by Amai Mujuru’s own admission, the same prophecy never said Mugabe was to be President beyond age 89. The same prophecy never said Mugabe was to be life president. The same prophecy never said Mugabe was going to be the last President of Zimbabwe.

President Mugabe has had his time, and it is time for him to relax, write books about his experiences, and if God blesses his children and give them children, play with his grand children. The country may lose out if he continues in office until he dies without penning down some of his experiences in Government – both the positive and negative ones.

Zimbabweans must remember that people do not live forever. Two of Mugabe’s own vice presidents have died of complications which are worsened by old age, and his own younger brother has died of the same, so obviously there is very little time now left for our dear President Mugabe, and that little time can be used productively if he uses it to write his experiences, something which he said he would love to do some years back.

Perhaps Ami Mujuru would love Mugabe to continue in office so that people do not question her own overstay in parliament amid a slowly growing chorus across Zimbabwe that parliamentarians should not serve for more than 30 years in parliament.

Amai Mujuru has been in parliament for 33 years now, and obviously wants to go for another five years, so if she was to be heard saying Mugabe must go, people will say she too must go because she has also been in parliament for the duration of time as Mugabe has been the elected leader of Zimbabwe.

She too should seriously consider penning her experiences for posterity, as well as play with her grand children if she has some. One begins to wonder whether Amai Mujuru and any such leaders who abuse church gatherings are real Christians or pretenders.

But the real disappointment is that these politicians go to places of worship and turn prayer sessions and functions that are not political into political rallies. This is bad, and Amai Mujuru and others like her must desist from such practice.

She must have been invited to officially open the building of the Apostolic Faith Church in her capacity as Vice-President of Zimbabwe, but instead of doing what she was meant to do, turns such a ceremony into a Zanu PF campaign platform.

That is abuse of office, and she must be charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Anti-Corruption Commission must act on behalf of the people who are being abused by leaders who abuse invitations to officiate at public gatherings who turn those privileged opportunities into campaign rallies.

Political parties involved in the Government of National Unity must work together and put in place measures to curb this bad habit. Zimbabweans must unite and say no to continued abuse by politicians like Amai Mujuru.

Benjamin Chitate, New Zealand