Professor Moyo, "Mujuru saga or Tajamuka" are NOT the causes of the, now certain, regime change. By Nomusa Garikai

Zanu PF has weaved a web of lies for decades and it is not surprising that the regime is now caught in its own web.

“According to Prof J. Moyo, who spoke as the Tsholotsho North MP, the government of Zimbabwe had a "limited space for expansion and policy implementation" since its election in government in 2013. One of the main causes of the Zim-Asset policy implementation draw back had been the advent or existence of Mujuru factor. Moyo explained that the Mujuru factor seized and paralysed the party and government for a year since 2013 October to 2014 December thereby diverting government from real issues of governance,” reported Bulawayo 24.

The truth of the matter is that President Mugabe rigged the 2013 national elections, so it is utter nonsense to claim Mugabe was “democratically elected”.

The Zanu PF elective congress of December 2014 was NOT going to elect the First Secretary of the party; all the ten provinces had endorsed Robert Mugabe as their preferred candidate way in advance, as has happened countless times in the past. It was unwritten but well understood rule in Zanu PF that Mugabe would have to voluntarily pass the baton and NOT forced through an election process.

The party positions which were up for grabs were the two Second Secretaries (equivalent to the two VPs) and the Party Chairperson. Although the party constitution said congress members will vote to fill these positions; Mugabe had always manipulated the process in such a way that the members never got the chance to vote and instead he appointed candidates who would have lost the vote as happened with the appointment of Joice Mujuru in 2004.

The reason why President Mugabe wanted to appoint his assistants rather than allow party members to elect them is that by appointing them they immediately became beholden to him and not the party members.  

In 2014 Joice Mujuru was set to win the election for one of the VP position; Mugabe had to stop that happening and he did by accusing her and her supporters of plotting to kill him. Mugabe had Mujuru and many of her supporters booted out of the party. Mugabe got his wish; he and not party members, appointed Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko.

Initially VP Mnangagwa thought that his position as Mugabe’s heir was secure but that did not last as Mugabe reminded him that he appointed Mnangagwa and can therefore have him replace with someone else.

The assassination allegations against Joice Mujuru died off with no one arrested. Anyone familiar with Mugabe’s modus operandi of harassing his political opponents by charging them with tramped up charges was not surprised the assassination charges came up suddenly only to disappear again just as suddenly.

"It became harder and impossible to work for the betterment of the nation under those conditions as there was so much bickering and underhand dealings aimed at removing a democratically elected President Robert Mugabe from power by Mujuru and her Cabal," emphasised Professor Moyo.

It is true that the booting of Mujuru and her supporters have sup the energy out of President Mugabe and the party but that is his entire fault. He booted her and others out to impose himself and his minion, Mnangagwa; of course that was bound to displease many of the Mujuru supporters who have remained party members. His attempts to elbow Mnangagwa out in favour of his wife have vexed the latter and his supporters. Zanu PF is imploding and it was President Mugabe himself who lit the fuse by his undemocratic machinations to remain top dog and then to have his wife succeed him.

As for the economic meltdown; President Mugabe thought he would rig economic recovery as easily as he had rigged the July 2013 nation elections. He has since found out that was wishful thinking.

President Mugabe bribed MDC members with the gravy train lifestyles plus the $4 million Highlands mansion for Tsvangirai in return for them doing nothing to implement the democratic reforms. So after five years of the GNU not even one reform was implemented allowing President Mugabe to blatantly rig the July elections.

President Mugabe has denied there was no corruption in Zimbabwe for decades allowing this problem to grow and spread. In March this year he admitted that $15 billion in diamond revenue was looted in the last six years. Minister Kasukuwere has since claimed that “a chunk” of the $15 billion was looted by Joice Mujuru and her late husband. Yes the Mujurus have been looting but they are not the only ones; President Mugabe himself pocketed a cool $2 billion in 2012 alone, according to Africa Partnership Canada. In other words a hell lot more than the $15 billion has been looted! It is quite possible that Zimbabwe is losing $15 billion a year through corruption.

The Zimbabwe economy is subject to the same economic laws governing all other economies such as corruption will destroy the economy. It is therefore not surprising that the Zimbabwe economy is now in total economic meltdown; what economy in the world will survive much less thrive a $ 15 billion looting spree. It should be noted here that Zimbabwe’s GPD is only $14 billion!

"From 2013 to 2014 we were consumed with the Mujuru saga. After wards we had a new phase of successionists' issues bedevilling the party even up to today, threatening the stability of ZanuPF. As if that is not enough, we now have the Tajamukas" Professor Moyo argued.

Professor Jonathan Moyo is Zanu PF’s undisputed chief propagandist, still even he is now totally confused as to what is the cause and what is the effect. It is the decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption are the root causes of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown. The effect of the economic meltdown has been to make everyone poor and harden their resolve to do something to end the worsening economic hardships.

Since Zanu PF has denied the ordinary people a meaningful say in the governance of the country by denying them a free vote, the people have taken to street protests as their only way to demand an end to the soaring unemployment, collapsed education and health services, no water and regular power cuts, etc.

Zanu PF is imploding because the members are fighting for the ever shrinking cake to escape the economic misery now affecting millions of ordinary Zimbabweans. Zanu PF has no clue on how to revive the economy and so as long as the party remains in power the economic meltdown will get worse not better and as the nation cake shrinks the fighting amongst party members will grow worse.

When President Mugabe adopted this de facto one-party dictatorship; a political system that allowed mismanagement and corruption, the cancers, to grow and spread; he accepted the self-destruct gene that would destroy the party and, if we are not careful, the nation too. It is neither the Mujuru saga nor the street protests that are forcing Zanu PF to finally accept regime change but the economic meltdown caused by decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption.

“It is the economy, stupid!” President Bill Clinton told his fellow Americans at the time when some were becoming increasingly preoccupied with the President’s sex scandal with a White House Intern. He said this to draw their attention back on the bread and butter issues that really mattered.

To paraphrase President Clinton, one can tell Professor Moyo, “It is the economic meltdown, stupid; not the Mujuru saga or Tajamuka; that is forcing Zanu PF to accept failure and ultimately regime change.”