Tinhu’s attack on Mnangagwa unwarranted

By Maxwell Zimuto

An article by Simukai Tinhu, which appeared in the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper of 23-29 October titled “Mnangagwa cuts lonely figure”, makes very interesting reading.

Before I give a blow by blow account of the article, let me state here and now that the current political developments in the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) are a cause for concern not only to members of this political party, but to the entire nation.

ZANU PF, as the ruling party, is naturally the epicenter of the politics of governance in the nation. Its political activities, more often than not, tend to stray into the national realm, consuming everything in its way.

As I write this piece, members of the ZANU PF party within the rank and file, are engaged in serious internecine fights on factional lines over the unfinished business of succession.

It is baffling though, that only ten months into a new term of office, born out of an acrimonious 6th National People’s Congress that was characterized by suspensions and controversies, ZANU PF should engage in yet another cycle of political infighting, predicated on the same baseless, nonsensical and sterile claim, that some within the party are creating another centre of power in order to remove President Mugabe before the end of his term of office.

It is in this context that I express my fears over the situation and the sad developments, which clearly point to a serious implosion within the oldest political institution in the country.

Invariably, if this is left unchecked, it has the potential to degenerate into chaos, leading to national instability with dire consequences on the wellbeing of Zimbabweans in general.

I, however, express my optimism over the ability of President Robert Mugabe as leader of the party, to prevail over the situation before it gets out of hand.

The title of Tinhu’s article “Mnangagwa cuts lonely figure” is a deliberate design, anchored on some multifaceted strategy to project Vice President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa in a negative and prejudicial standing.

Tinhu says; “What explains this lonely figure that Mnangagwa now cuts? Most people agree that his personality can’t be ruled out. This coupled with a dark history, have alienated various groups that are supposed to make his ascension to power smooth and rapid.”

First, by lampooning his persona, second by adding some ethnic dimensional coating to it and third, by running with the bad patches of his history, it is all meant to sum up the demise of the man they call ‘ngwena’ or “chikara.’

This seems to be the thrust upon which the production of Tinhu’s article was predicated. Unfortunately, Tinhu has done a shoddy job. The article is not only highly subjective, but also hollow, shallow and very poorly framed.

It is loaded with disjointed, incoherent and clumsy statements that are splashed and splattered all over, but with very little or no flesh at all, to back them up. The clumsiness of the slant Tinhu has chosen clearly exposes the emptiness and sterility of the article.

Tinhu’s narrative about the Vice President’s perceived sudden desertion by those groups he says are influential and have the capacity to prop him up is patently false. Vice President Mnangagwa is a highly respected individual who is described by those who share regular interactions with him as a very pleasant personality.

He is intelligent, soft, calm, enigmatic, jovial and above all charismatic and a firm leader who is a joy to listen to when he makes presentations. An examination of his current role as leader of the Parliament of Zimbabwe clearly shows a leader endowed with amazing attributes.

He has transformed the August House into an exciting and vibrant institution where debates are conducted robustly. It is therefore obvious that apart from the group of seven plotters and perhaps their obscure lunatic fringe of sponsors, Tinhu is not able to provide details of other groups opposed to Vice President Mnangagwa that have deserted him.

Tinhu further attempts to malign and discredit the Vice President by resorting to the use of the ethnic tool. He makes inferences to the effect that Vice President is not liked by most ZANU PF supporters and that he would only get support from Karanga dominated provinces of the Midlands and Masvingo. He further claims that these two provinces constitute a very small fraction of the electorate.

In the preceding paragraphs, I alluded to Tinhu’s habit of throwing statement all over without any corroborative details to back them. Vice President Mnangagwa is a national leader. He has been a national leader for over 50 years.

He is currently the Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, a position he got at the behest of both President Mugabe and all the key organs of the ZANU PF party from national right down to the provincial structures. He will continue to rely on their support for his ascension.

It is therefore inconceivable and mischievous for Tinhu to suggest that the Vice President would have to rely on the votes from the said two provinces. In any case, how does this happen when Tinhu himself has dismissed the two provinces for constituting small electoral numbers, a statement which in itself also means nothing if not backed by empirical evidence.

Tinhu also brings the military into the succession debate. I am not familiar with their role particularly in the succession matrix but my feeling is that they should simply support the government of the day.

He further tries to dramatize Vice President Mnangagwa‘s so -called unpopularity by citing two successive defeats to the MDC in the constituency parliamentary seat of Kwekwe Central. It is surprising that a defeat which does not require any scientific analysis at all other than the simple application of common sense would be cited as an issue.

For starters, during the period 2000 to 2008 the support bases of the two political parties namely ZANU PF and MDC were clearly distinct and the paten of the electoral outcomes were predictable even to a layman.

It was predictable that anyone who stood for ZANU PF in urban constituency during that period would lose to the opposition or to the MDC to be specific. In fact Vice President Mnangagwa should be commended for taking the courage to contest in the urban constituency at the time when most ZANU PF political gurus were rushing to seek for cover under the rural constituencies.

It was politically suicidal, but he took a plunge and lost but with dignified margins. It is therefore inconceivable that Vice President Mnangagwa‘s suitability to contest for a national office should be determined by resorting to the application of yester year’s constituency results. This is absurdity of the highest level, is it not?

In any case, Mnangagwa has done exceedingly well as Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and that should be a plus on his part. Immediately after assuming office, he hit the ground running, covering every aspect of the economic, political and social endeavors with a view to changing the way of doing business in the country.

I will always cherish his brilliant economic presentation with a Chinese television channel during one of his business visits to China. He clearly showed tremendous energy and economic prowess through some brilliant articulation of the policy refinements needed, to turn around the Zimbabwean economy.

It is imperative therefore, that if Zimbabwe is to find its place in the new economic world order that is founded on the philosophy of economic pragmatism and anchored on economic integration and co-operation, leaders like Vice President Mnangagwa who has a clear vision for this country’s economic recovery, must be accorded the necessary support needed to enable him play the important and critical role, unimpeded.

Recently, Vice President Mnangagwa made a declaration against corrupt leaders when he told at a business gathering that the days of corrupt leaders were numbered. This is very refreshing news to most Zimbabweans. We have not had such bold declarations from our leaders for a long while and as such he should be commended for speaking boldly against corrupt officials.

Notwithstanding the good work that he is doing, including his impressive history and contribution to the liberation struggle of the country which includes 10 years spent in prison, does Vice President Mnangagwa still need to fight off relentless onslaught by cowards, nonentities and power hungry political amateurs, some of whom masquerade as defenders of a legacy whose origin they neither know nor can define?

Yes, because there are some in ZANU PF who hold unbridled ambitions for power. I call them thieves of history, who want to reap where they have not sown and they include the plotters Tinhu has spoken about and their paymasters, but they should be put to shame.

Maxwell Zimuto can be reached on [email protected]