Beware the Ides of April

By Chenai Chipikiri

I saw it all live. Except that it fell on the seventh day. 7th day of the month to be precise. It was the showdown foretold many moons before. For fear of being targeted and made to disappear, none of the disgruntled dared to be the spokesperson. Instead they decided a position paper would speak on their behalf.

A position paper would do the trick. But, nobody would own it. It is their paper, all of them. Collectively. Active members and non-active members. Nobody would even take ownership of typing it. It would just become their position paper of its own accord. Nothing becomes as good a position paper as a position paper whose time has come.

So speak or be forever silent. And so it came to pass, as they all sat there, the position paper spoke unto them all in parables saying:

1. We, the undersigned, are all committed cadres of the MUSANGANO, having served our Revolutionary Party for many decades. Throughout our lives, and whenever the need arose, we did not hesitate to raise our hands to be counted among those who could be deployed in her service. Whatever the challenges we faced, whatever the risks we had to endure, we gave our all.

In responding to the call of duty, we never strove for personal benefit, status or power. We executed our tasks as commanded to us by the leadership of MUSANGANO comfortably in the knowledge that the decisions of the leadership were based solely on the selfless pursuit of the well-being of our people. As such, we did not hesitate to shed our quota of blood.

2. We responded to the call of duty, because we believed, as we still do, in the centrality of MUSANGANO in the people’s struggle against the Rhodesian racist regime, and in the democratic transformation of our society to achieve a better life for the people of our country.

3. As disciplined cadres of the MUSANGANO, we sought always to interpret the actions of the leadership of MUSANGANO, through the policies, strategies and tactics of our Party.

4. Recent events in our beloved country have both saddened and outraged us. The unwarranted and unceremonious removal of Comrade VANOTSVANGWA from the post of Minister of War Veterans and the imminent and impending removal of Vice President Comrade VANONGOGWA, leaves much to be desired and communicates the singular message that all is not well with our Party and in the State.

What objective was served by the removal of Comrade VANOTSVANGWA at such a fragile time of the country’s economy? How do we justify his expulsion from the party as a decisive move directed at serving the national interest? By what criteria was Comrade BUDE chosen to this most critical posts?

5. We are outraged by the removal of Comrade VANOTSVANGWA and other senior comrades in such a public and antagonistic matter that would suggest the abuse of state institutions for purposes other than which they were created for.

We are of the view, that these comrades are been targeted because they have consistently taken a stand against all forms of corruption and mismanagement in our public life, especially where it concerns public finances. We demand to know on whose instructions are carrying the day and for what purposes? How do we justify the destruction of our economy and currency by such despotic acts.

6. The recent revelations by Comrade NYASHA that she is senior to the Vice Presidents and that the Vice Presidents take orders from her is shocking and most embarrassing to the integrity of MUSANGANO and the State.

We salute the most courageous of acts by Comrade VANOTSVANGWA and believe he has acted in the interest of the truth and in the defence and prestige of MUSANGANO.

We reject with contempt efforts to malign his integrity and good standing, and specifically call on Comrade TSVUKUKUVIRI to desist from further maligning the good name of our Comrade.

7. In the light of these revelations, we demand to know what role the First MADAME NYASHA plays in the appointment of Ministers and to what end? Which other Ministers does she instruct what actions to take?

What are the private arrangements that have been made to compensate the First MADAME NYASHA? Is the leadership of MUSANGANO aware of these arrangements? On whose authority does the First MADAME NYASHA act in such a despicable manner?

8. In the absence of any coherent explanation to all of the above we are forced to conclude that the MUSANGANO no longer leads, and that important decisions of the State are subject to outside influence and unilateralism without any regard to the well-being of the country or our people;

9. As a direct consequence of these actions our country has been plunged into an uncertain and perilous future.

10. Further, over the years we have witnessed, amongst others, the rise of factions and slates, the diminishing quality of MUSANGANO) cadreship, the rise of antagonisms within the unity with the former PUZA, the breakaways into MUZ, ZUDA and VAMBOMA, the decimation of the MUSANGANO Youth League, the neutralization of the Women’s League, the marginalization of committed MUSANGANO comrades, the rise of vulgar and unsophisticated politics within the MUSANGANO the silencing of critical but necessary voice within MUSANGANO the wanton destabilization of critical state institutions, the wasteful expenditure of state resources, the devaluing of the critical institution of Parliament, the erosion of trust within the various arms of the State, the unprecedented rise of patronage and cronyism, the Juniorization of the State and MUSANGANO and most alarming of them all, the capture of the State for the pursuit of the private interest of the few.

11. The country as a whole has been subjected to one crisis after another. As a result the nation building project so necessary for the prosperity of our country, is unfolding before our very eyes and the national psyche is characterized by helplessness and the fear of what the future may hold.

12. Whilst the challenges that face MUSANGANO are many and complex, we are most concerned about the increasing tendency of state capture.

In this regard, we want to be clear and unambiguous, when we speak of state capture, we speak of the undue influence that the First MADAME NYASHA and Securocrats exert on the decisions of the State for their private benefit. We can no longer remain silent in the face of this most undemocratic and dangerous of developments.

13. There are many, many accounts of their undue influence on the decisions of the State. We are convinced that much of these accounts are true. There can be no smoke, without fire!!

14. We call on the leadership of MUSANGANO to act against this tendency and reclaim its dignity. We must free MUSANGANO and the State from the influence of the First MADAME NYASHA and her acolytes;

15. Specifically, we called on the leadership of the MUSANGANO to establish an independent judicial commission of enquiry to investigate all claims of undue influence by the First MADAME NYASHA and the Securocrats on MUSANGANO and on the State.

16. We call on the leadership of MUSANGANO to assess, in light of the many failings and embarrassing revelations pertaining to the leadership of Comrade KARIGADOLLAR of both MUSANGANO and the State, the wisdom to continue with Comrade KARIGADOLLAR at the helm of both MUSANGANO and the State.

We are of the view, that for the sake of the MUSANGANO and the country a dignified exit should be negotiated with Comrade KARIGADOLLAR. He is nearing a 100 anyway and has clearly lost the plot. Alzheimer’s they call it.

Long live MUSANGANO!

Then the dream ended! I woke up. What a dream! A cold sweat streaked down my forehead. Could our War Veterans actually do that? Could they? Then I suddenly remembered. Reading too much plays tricks with our minds and dreams. I had just been reading an article about the events unfolding in South Africa. Word for word, the MK Veterans are asking the same things about President Zuma.

Much as I hate to admit it, South Africans are way ahead of Zimbabweans. “We brought Democracy” years ahead of South Africa but we have no idea what Democracy is!
So there you go veterans. Prove conventional wisdom wrong. You have two weeks.

Chipikiri is an independent voter and analyst and can be contacted on [email protected]

This is an adaptation of an article appearing on www.news24.com