By Diana Muvhengo
On October 5 2017, while the Vice President, Emmerson Mnangagwa was reading his press statement in response to his counterpart’s misguided ramblings on a topic he was not qualified to comment on, the First Lady took it upon herself to once again defend herself and her Alpha Omega brand ice cream.
Speaking at the launch of the Empowerment Bank, First Lady Grace Mugabe inappropriately launched a scathing attack on Vice President Mnangagwa.
Her emotional rantings were also unbecoming of a First Lady-but that is a case for another day.
First of all, it completely went over her head that Vice President Mnangagwa had stood by his statements that he had not succumbed to food poisoning but that there was poison found in his body. She also seems to have forgotten that the Vice President already issued a statement dismissing the speculation that he ate ice cream from Alpha and Omega Dairy.
The following are excerpts from her speech on 5 October 2017 at the launch of the Empowerment Bank at the Harare International Conference Centre, which this author will focus on in terms of highlighting the First Lady’s defensive propaganda.
“ Depending on the audience you are addressing, if you go to your benefactor, I am bringing my doctor to tell him the truth and nothing but the truth. Please doctor tell my benefactor that I was not poisoned and in my blood there was no string of poison, and the doctor does exactly that to one’s benefactor.
…..You go again to Central Committee, people are talking about you, back to the same issue. Ah thatsomeone was poisoned probably it’s the First Lady, that she is the culprit and you say, let me set the record straight, I was not poisoned. So depending on the audience, you will be addressing….
…..Even mazuva ano ekuspreada nyaya kuti munhu apoisonwa ne ice-cream ye Alpha and Omega. That’s not fair. Who said that, Tingangoita prepare a cup imwechete for Mnangagwa kuurayaMnangagwa kuti ndaita sei? I am the wife of a President. Who is Mnangagwa on this earth? Who is he? Ndiani angatouraya umwe ipapa? I want to ask? What do I want from him. I am the wife of Mugabe. A President, but someone kusumuka and say inini I want to kill Mnangagwa. Ndinodei kwaari chandisina?
…..Munhu akatopiwabasanemurumewangu. Ndomuurayainini? Its nonsensical!”
As shown, Grace Mugabe was defending herself against a perceived accusation that she was personally responsible for poisoning Vice President Mnangagwa. This is most curious as at no point did the Vice President, the victim of the poison, ever accuse the First Lady. On the contrary, VP Mnangagwa issued a statement exonerating Alpha and Omega Dairy by confirming categorically that he did not consume ANY ICE CREAM.
Therefore, there was never any danger of Grace Mugabe being accused of poisoning the Vice President. In fact, she thanked the Vice President for issuing that statement that put the record straight with regard to her Dairy.
Despite the public absolving of the First Family’s Dairy, the First Lady brought the issue to the forefront of the poisoning debate. The debate had long moved from ice cream to whether or not the Vice President had been poisoned.
Her emotional reaction smacks of something sinister. How did she move from discussing the VP’s apparent contradiction to defending herself, declaring that she had no reason to kill VP Mnangagwa? That as the President’s wife, it would be Mnangagwa who would want to kill her.
Surely there is something there to investigate. Why is the First Lady and her G40 compatriots so eager to dismiss the poison claims? More pertinently. Why is Grace Mugabe so keen to defend herself when no one is attacking her? Why is she so rattle? Is it a case of wanting the victim to release the truth?
Vice President Mnangagwa is on record stating that poison was found in his blood. Not food poisoning but poison non-the-less. The focus now should be on how that poison found its way into his body, not on ice cream and other conspiracy theories. The toxology report confirmed there was poison.
Those who are making the loudest noise are the ones that know something we don’t know.
The truth will set those free that are haunted by their shadows.
