“Surreal”
means “having the qualities of surrealism: strange, bizarre.” There is an aura
of strange and twisted reality, surreality, in Zimbabwe, especially the last
two weeks.
For
anyone who had been on one of those sabbaticals where he or she is cut-off
completely from the outside world and turned on their TV to be greeted by none
other than “WhatApp” Minister Patrick Chinamasa announcing that “R G Mugabe has
been removed as First Secretary of Zanu PF and will be impeached if he does not
resign his post as President of Zimbabwe”! The announcement is being made at
Zanu PF HQ and, guess what, it is none other than a whole troop of Zanu PF buffoons
cheering and applauding.
Here
is the man, Chinamasa, who has spent his working life grooving to Mugabe calling
the tyrant “His Excellency, The Right Honourable President of the Republic of
Zimbabwe and First Secretary of Zanu PF, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe,” with
an air of one who did not dare leave out even one syllable. And the buffoons are
cheering the news, they cannot contain themselves with excitement!
“Vadzi
wadzisa!” (They are smoking too much weed!) would have been the observer’s
instinct reaction to this surreal spectacle!
After
37 years as the head of both his party, Zanu PF, and Zimbabwe, which he ruled
with an iron fist Mugabe had become permanent fixture in Zimbabwe. The tyrant
was so cocksure of his own continued rule he even boasted that God alone would
remove him from office. All that had suddenly changed when a posse of Army
Generals they had seize control of the country and he was under house arrest.
For
37 years Mugabe had successful resist regime-change and in the blink of an eye change
was staring him straight in the eyes.
Last
night it was the whole nation and the world at large which confounded by
another surreal two hours. Everyone was told Mugabe was going to announce his
resignation. He read his speech, surrounded by the top brass in the security
services, holding him captive. It was a long rumbling speech in which he talked
about presiding over Zanu PF’s congress in three weeks’ time, the coming rainy
season, etc. He said nothing about resigning!
His
own Zanu PF cronies who have been as unquestioning royal to him as dogs for
four decades had finally broken the spell and removed him from his post as
party leader. How can he still preside over the party’s congress?
The
posse of Army Generals sitting next to him were the coup plotters and not
guests he had invited for a cup of tea and they wanted him to resign. How can
he then be wittering about the rain season as if this was a perfectly normal
situation?
If
General Chiwenga thought he was going to help make sense of the puzzling events
of the last two weeks in the statement he realised today; he was wrong.
“Meetings
with His Excellency, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe
Defence Forces, Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe have gone on in an atmosphere of
mutual respect and several guarantees have been made. As your Defence and
Security Services, we remain seized with the operation code named
"Operation Restore Legacy". We are confident to take our beloved
country out of its present circumstances and set it on the desired development
trajectory.
General
Chiwenga let me tell you in plain language that even a child can understand.
Zimbabwe is in a complete mess economically and politically. And everything you
and your fellow coup plotters have done and are doing will not set the country
on a development path but rather the opposite. You are not changing anything,
you are forcing the nation down the same disastrous course that Zanu PF forced
us to take these last 37 years landing us in the mess we are in today.
General,
It is 37 years of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption that have
destroyed the country’s economy. Unemployment has soared to 90% plus, basic
services like health and education have all but collapsed, there is no clean
running water and power cuts are the norm. The country is richly endowed with
productive farm land and minerals but those who do not know anything about
farming seized the farms. And you, General Chiwenga, know exactly how many
billions of dollars a month are being looted from Marange and Chiadzwa diamond
fields.
I
dare you to deny that you ARE one of the few who has been looting the diamonds!
72.3%
of our people are living on US$1.00 or less a day or $30 .00 or less a month. These
people have to pay for their food, shelter, transport, water, clothing,
education, everything from just $30 for the whole month. Can you imagine, please
try to, what kind of meal (they cannot afford more than one meal a day) they
eat, clothes they wear, bed they sleep in, etc.
Zimbabweans
are today the poorest people on the poorest continent on earth, Africa. We are
the poorest people on earth!
The
people of Zimbabwe have known for decades that the country was going to the
dogs but were totally helpless to do anything about it. For 37 years the nation
has been stuck with an incompetent and corrupt regime that rigged elections and
used wanton violence to stay in power. You, General Chiwenga, you are a member
of Joint Operation Command (JOC), a shadowy Junta comprising of other senior security
chefs and senior Zanu PF party and government officials including former VP
Emerson Mnangagwa and Robert Mugabe. JOC is the real power behind the Zanu PF
dictatorship that has ruled this country with an iron fist.
Again,
I dare you to deny that you ARE a very active member of this shadowy
Junta!
You give
the military coup you have staged, of which you are the ring leader, whatever
fancy names you wish and equally fictitious objectives the truth is as clear as
day. The coup is to stop Mugabe appoint his wife Grace his successor and impose
the coup plotters preferred successor Emerson Mnangagwa instead. This is just
the climax of Zanu PF’s factional war pitting the G40 faction against the
Lacoste faction; the coup the coup de grace confirming the latter faction’s
victory.
“The
Zimbabwe Defence and Security Services are encouraged by the new developments
which include contact between the President and the former Vice President, Cde
Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, who is expected in the country shortly.
Thereafter, the nation will be advised on the outcome of talks between the two.
In the meantime, His Excellency and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence
Forces, Cde R.G. Mugabe has started processes towards a definitive solution and
roadmap for the country,” continues General Chiwenga.
In
short Mnangagwa will return and takeover the party Zanu PF, takeover the JOC Junta
and the office of the presidency. No doubt, Mnangagwa will change a few things
to stamp his own authority and consolidate his hold on power. Other than that,
JOC will soon have the Zanu PF dictatorship juggernaut back in full operation
complete with the usual mismanagement, corruption, vote rigging, repression,
etc.
Even
now with the country in a serious economic mess and on the verge of social and political
instability brought on by the people protesting the heart-breaking economic
hardship they are facing; you, General, and your JOC Junta close eyes and
refuse to see reality. The country is dying for meaningful political change,
the pre-requisite for economic recovery, which is only possible if we implement
the democratic reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship and
deliver free and fair elections. Instead of seizing the opportunity of the
removal of Mugabe to implement the reforms all the coup has done is rearranged
the chairs in the Zanu PF dictatorship.
"Operation
Restore Legacy" has restored the Zanu PF dictatorship of the last 37 years
which landed the nation in the present economic and political mess. The current
economic situation in the country in not sustainable. The Zanu PF culture of corruption,
vote rigging, etc. must stop. The Zanu PF dictatorship must be dismantled now;
not in two years, next year, now.
You,
General Chiwenga, Emerson Mnangagwa and the rest in JOC must now wake up to the
reality that the days of the Zanu PF dictatorship riding roughshod over the
people’s hopes and dreams are over. You can resist implementing the democratic
reforms all you like but all the reforms will be implemented sooner that you
think!
If
you think you can rig next year’s elections and get away with it; think again.
I dare you, try!
8 comments:
Zimbabwe is a country where everything has been crumbling and yet everyone has soldiered on refusing to see what is there. The masses were down on their knees thanking the Army for staging the coup refusing to acknowledge that it was the same Generals who staged the coup tostop Tsvangirai becoming president in 2008.
In 2008 JOC instituted operation "Mavhotera papi!" (Whom did you vote for!) to stop Tsvangirai becoming president so the Army can impose Mugabe. Operation Mavhotera papi has just been upgraded to operation Restore Legacy and the objective is just as sinister! JOC's target this time is one of its own just as Mugabe had targeted Mnangagwa and others in JOC. The thugs are fighting amongst themselves. Of course, they all fighting dirty and nothing good would come out of this because the nature of JOC will not change.
People have been celebrating change when in reality nothing had changed; it is all smokes and mirrors. Everything and everyone is surreal!
@thetruth
This is the foolishness of binary politics that has held us back all these years. Mukori has said that Mnangagwa is a corrupt and murderous thug. He has also said Mugabe is a corrupt and murderous thug which is way he (Mukori) is saying nothing has changed here; Chiwenga is swapping one dictator for another and telling us this is progress. Of course, Mukori is right.
You, because you can only see black or white, right or wrong; have already classified Mnangagwa as the good guy and Mugabe as the bad guy. The minute you realised Mukori called Mnangagwa a corrupt and murderous thug you concluded Mukori must consider Mugabe a hero and is fighting for Mugabe to stay in power.
We have a golden opportunity to bring about real change and swapping Mugabe for Mnangagwa is not going to bring about the real change. We need to dismantle the dictatorship itself, drain the swap, because as long as the dictatorship remains whoever take over will soon transform into a dictator. Mnangagwa will not need to transform, he is a dictator already.
The world, the real world and not your narrow world, has all the colours of the rainbow. If you opened your physical eyes and your mind, assuming there are still a few working brain cells in all that fat, you will realise that Mnangagwa and Mugabe are both corrupt and murderous thugs.
The choice is not between Mugabe and Mnangagwa; that is like limiting your choice to black or white when you can see all the colours of the rainbow!
@ Murambatsvina
We want real change and not another fudge! Chiwenga is a key player in the Zanu PF dictatorship that has ruled the country these last 37 years. The coup has resulted in a few people being removed from the dictatorship and the reassignment of roles. It is nonsensical to accept these superficial changes constitute real change and will deliver economic development.
The dictatorship must be completely dismantaled then and only then can the nation have hope of economic development.
“I, therefore, reiterate my appeal to you to honourably step aside, if you really care for them, as you profess, and if you cannot find it in you to do so, then as a Christian do so in the spirit of our Lord in order to usher in a new period going forward of unity, peace and prosperity for Zimbabweans and allow your country to be the economic powerhouse it is capable of being,” wrote President Ian Khama of Botswana.
The economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe has not only destroyed Zimbabwe but has held back the development of the whole region as well. The real tragedy is that all this could have been easily avoided because it is all man-made. There have been many, many opportunities to end Mugabe’s corrupt and tyrannical rule and they have all been wasted.
Of all the SADC leaders President Khama has stood head and shoulders about the others in that he is the only who saw all this coming and tried to end the madness but failed because Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC banded mongooses would not listen and the fellow SADC leaders were not much help either!
What Mugabe and much more his replacement, Mnangagwa, must now get into their thick heads is the Zanu PF dictatorship must be dismantled. Given the foolishness of the banded mongooses who will contest next year’s elections even when the regime has failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll, Zanu PF rig the elections as usual. What the dictatorship must know is that this time it will not get away with it.
Zimbabwe’s political and economic chaos has been allowed to go on for far too long, enough is enough. The Zanu PF Junta can reconstitute itself by firing Mugabe but that is not good enough, cutting off a few branches of a thorn tree does not make it a mango tree. The dictatorship itself must go, the thorn tree must be cut down and burnt and a mango tree planted in its place.
@ Mighti
The Zanu PF dictatorship with Mnangagwa as its new leader in place of Mugabe is still a corrupt, vote rigging and tyrannical regime and those who say otherwise are naive. A black mamba is a deadly snake just because it has a new coat does not mean it is toothless!
The people of Zimbabwe have been sold a fudge time and time again, it is high time they woke up from their comatose slumber. I agree Mnangagwa deserves to go to Chikurumbi for all the looting, vote rigging and murders he has committed these last 37 years, to send him to State House is the folly of follies!
@ Kwarambi
This is typical of dictators they are so used to dictating they do not know when to stop. Mugabe has destroyed the country and today 72.3% of our people live on US$1.00 or less a day and he still thinks that he and his family are entitled to keep the billions of dollars they have looted.
Whatever package the Zanu PF Junta agree with Mugabe must be disregarded with the contempt it rightly deserve. Chiwenga is a corrupt, vote rigging and murderous tyrant who, until know, was with Mugabe and others in the Junta, the Join Operation Command, that has ruled and ruined the nation. He is not qualified to say what Mugabe's package should be just as he is not qualified to say what of his own amassed wealth he should keep.
It is nonsense that Mugabe and his family should be allowed to keep their looted wealth whilst the very people from whom the stole the loot must continue to suffer in dumb anguish! We must stop talking nonsense and talk sense for a change!
Now that Mugabe has resigned we must now make sure that he does not take out of the country truck loads of the diamonds, cash and other goods he and his looted from the nation all these years. 72.3% of our people now live on US$1.00 or less a day. It would be criminal to let them fester in abject poverty and dumb anguish whilst Mugabe and his family continue to live in unparalleled luxury.
Mugabe's resignation must be the first in the long road to seek justice. The very fact that Mugabe's exit is being managed by his friends and fellow thugs in the Zanu PF dictatorship must make whatever they agree with the tyrant prima facie. a clear miscarriage of justice.
Zanu PF will now mount an all out campaign to sell Mugabe's resignantion as the cure all the nation has been waiting for and must now move on. The Zanu PF dictatorship is very much alive and well and, worse of all, carry on with business as usual.
We want real and democratic changes, the implementation of the democratic reforms. We must redouble our efforts to keep the nation's attention focused on change. Zanu PF will be determined to make sure that the firing of Mugabe is all the change we ever achieve. The firing of Mugabe should only be the beginning of the spring cleaning ahead.
Mnangagwa is the flip side of the same coin the Zanu PF dictatorship of which Mugabe has been, up to now the side most people have seen.
He was security guarantees for himself and his family but was the dictatorship's enforcer who gave all those consider the regime's critics hell. The State Institutions to who the people turned for security, justice, information, meaningful vote, etc. such as Police, the Judiciary, Public Media, ZEC, etc. were all corrupted by the regime to serve its selfish interest at the expense of the people. The regime has ridden roughshod over our freedoms, human rights, dreams and our very human dignity. Zanu PF has crashed the people like bugs underfoot!
It is ironic that Mnangagwa should be the one demanding guarantees for his security from the man he knows would not hesitate to crash him like a bug. He is the one the tyrant has send in the past to crash the life out of many an innocent Zimbabwean hence the reason he is worried. Yet Mnangagwa, once he takes over, would himself be authorising the same brutal oppression on povo as before.
Like all ruthless tyrants Mnangagwa is more concerned about his luxuries than the very lives of the ordinary people. He has crashed the life many innocent Zimbabweans in the past and did not even flinched! Now he going to be president, he would not hesitate to do the same again just to extend his own stay in office by a day! The only guarantees one can expect from President Mnangagwa is more spies, more harassment more suffering and more deaths.
If Zimbabweans want their freedoms and basic human rights then they will have to fight the Zanu PF dictatorship every step of the way. Mnangagwa, just like Mugabe before him, loves absolute power and he will stop at nothing to make sure he stays in power!
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