"Let's remain united," says Mugabe whilst promoting G40 faction and resisting reforms. N Garikai

President Mugabe continues to ignore the calls for democratic reforms and free and fair elections. He continues to concentrate on promoting his wife’s political ambition in the name of Zanu PF party unity with his usual stoic duplicity of a bully who sees nothing wrong with their acts but will descend from a great height on anyone else doing the same thing.

 "Let's remain united. These small parties think that if they form a coalition they can beat Zanu-PF in elections, aah, we say if they form a coalition it makes things easier for us. One blow will finish them,” President Mugabe told the Zanu PF Youth rally in Mutare yesterday.

“Kugocha kunoda kwamai, komwana kunodzima moto!” (Whilst the mother will see nothing wrong with her roasting of mealies, she is quick to condemn the child’s attempts as putting out the fire!) So, goes the Shona proverb.

Zanu PF is imploding and everyone in the party is fighting for their own survival; everyone is fighting for a piece of the fast sinking national cake. Zimbabweans are the poorest in Africa and poverty has not spared even the Zanu PF ruling elite.

The late Nathan Shamuyarira, a Zanu PF minister for 25 years, died a pauper. His wife complained of how she could not afford the bus fare to the hospital to be with her husband on his death bed. The Zanu PF regime, with its characteristic Animal Farm cynicism, repaired the pothole on the road to Shamuyarira’s house and painted his house to hide the decades of rot and decay, the afternoon he died. He was lucky to be declared a national hero, otherwise he would have had a pauper’s burial!

Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown has been so deep set that no one escaped the drag net; not even President Mugabe and his filthy rich family. Yes, the Mugabes have amassed a lot of wealth, 13 commercial farms, the Blue Roof mansion worth billions of dollars, they have enjoyed the very best in the world health and education services, etc. their greatest worry is how to hang on to it in the face of such grinding poverty.

The one thing that has fired up Grace Mugabe to go into politics with the demonic zeal of the ruthless personal attacks starting with the then VP Joice Mujuru in 2014, is the fear of losing her privileged life if President Mugabe was to lose his position, for whatever reason. As far as Grace is concerned she must remain first lady or else be president in her own right.

It is an open secret that as soon as Grace Mugabe “baby dumped” Joice Mujuru and her supporters she turned her guns on Emerson Mnangagwa, the next person she considered a threat to her presidential ambition. The Generation 40 (G40) faction was created overnight to promote her challenge and the greatest promoter of G40 faction is none other than President Mugabe himself.

"Let us leave the youths free to organise their programmes the way they desire, provided the way is in accordance with the party principles and objectives. Give them assistance, but let us not let the youths betray the struggle," President Mugabe told Mutare rally.

"What the youths have done should show the seniors that they also must unite. I don't see the unity in the main wing like the youths have shown. I don't want to see the leaders destroy the unity shown by the youths because now there are some provinces who are trying to lead the youths astray by supporting factions.

"If you accept gifts you will have sold out the party. If you do that and you are a leader like you Chipanga, don't think your subordinates have not seen it.

"You are showing them that you are not worth their trust, you can sell out. If you are offered money you take it, aah no. If you take the money the other people will say now what's this."

Not so long ago it was not Kudzai Chipanga on Mugabe’s lips but Jabulani Sibanda and his war veterans. He praised the war veterans to the high heavens whilst they did his dirty work of imposing the de facto one party dictatorship. But when they dare demand a share of the country’s looted wealth he ditched the lot.

Who does not know that the Zanu PF youth leaders who have openly supported the Mnangagwa faction have been marginalised or purged out of the party. Chipanga and his executive have received vehicles and cash, allocated land to build houses, etc.; these are not bribes as long as the promote President Mugabe and G40 activities.

What makes Mugabe’s duplicity so offensive and obnoxious is that he continues to treat everyone in the country with the same dismissive arrogance he has always treated his subservient Zanu PF cronies.

Zanu PF cabinet members, MPs, security chiefs, etc. “vakadzi vaMugabe” (they are all Mugabe’s subservient concubines), Margaret Dongo once said.

It is no accident that Zimbabwe is today the poorest nation in Africa, this is the result of 37 years of corrupt and tyrannical rule under Robert Mugabe. The country needs to implement all the democratic reforms to end the Zanu PF corrupt and tyrannical rule and yet even now with the country tittering on the verge of social, economic and political collapse, Mugabe continues to ignore the cries for democratic reforms.

President Mugabe must be told in no uncertain terms that not everybody is his subservient concubine and what better way of saying that than demanding the implementation of the democratic reforms BEFORE the next elections and resist the holding of even one more meaningless election until free, fair and credible elections are guaranteed!