"ED and junta committed 73% of violence" says Zhuwao - must be held to account, Mugabe too

Patrick Zhuwao, former President Mugabe’s nephew and now in self-imposed exile, has written an open letter to the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, accusing the British of supporting and sanitizing last November’s military coup by President Mnangagwa and his junta cabal.

“This sanitization of the coup by your (UK) government has been done against the background of the institutionalised political violence witnessed since the early 1980s. You should be aware that 71.9% of violence in the past two decades has been against defenceless civilians,” he wrote in Nehanda Radio.

“You should also know that 73.9% of that violence has been perpetrated under the control and direction of the Mnangagwa and Chiwenga cabal that you are now promoting.”

Zhuwao was spot-on in identifying the root cause of Zimbabwe’s culture of political violence.

“Its history of having achieved independence in 1980 after a protracted armed liberation struggle, which generalised and entrenched violence, has resulted in a conflation of the military and politics. It is this conflation of the military, led by commanders of the liberation armies, into politics that has fed into and propelled political violence since 1980.

“The conflation of the military and politics reached an unprecedented height on 15 November 2017 when former guerrilla leaders now commanding the military conspired with Mnangagwa to stage a military coup which your government supported. Since then, your government, with the support of institutions such as the BBC, has sought to sanitize that coup by presenting it as a transition and by pressuring governments in the region and on the continent to similarly condone the coup.”

How interesting that Zhuwao should be denouncing Zimbabwe’s culture of violence and the “conflation of the military and politics” now that he and his uncle have become victims of the system. It was none other than his corrupt and murderous uncle, Robert Mugabe, who set up and nurtured this monstrous system for selfish political gain.

Still, there is no doubt that Zimbabwe’s corrupt and autocratic system of government has been and still remains the worst curse to befall this nation. It is tempting to look at who is complaining about the repressive system and throw away the baby and the bath water. The Bible and the true value of the message therein is not devalued in anyway just because the Devil quoted whole passages from the Holy Book for his devilish purposes.

“Contrary to Mnangagwa’s claim in the BBC interview that Zimbabwe is the most peaceful country in the region, the fact is that the country is the most politically violent state in Southern Africa. Zimbabwe has the dishonourable record of accounting for 40% of all political violence in the region,” said Zhuwao.

Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because the country has remained a violent and volatile nation after independence in 1980 and still is to this day, contrary to what President Mnangagwa would have us believe. It would irresponsible for us to deny this political reality just because Zhuwao said it!

What we must do is remind Mnangagwa, Mugabe and all the other Zanu PF minions that they have all played their part in creating this Zanu PF dictatorship and they will all be held to account. Nelson Chamisa and his MDC friends have already promised that Mugabe and the Zanu PF thugs will not be held to account, “I will not drive looking in the rear-view mirror,” said Chamisa on BBC HardTalk.

Nonsense! Rear-view mirrors are there for a purpose – to make sure the driver is aware of what is going on all around, there are no blind spots. Considering MDC leaders sold-out during the GNU, it is not just the Zanu PF thugs Chamisa is fearing to see in the rear-view mirrors but his own reflection and that of his fellow MDC friends.

Justice is about holding the wrong doers to account for their past because no one is ever charged of a crime he has not committed! For a lawyer, Chamisa should know that!

Restorative justice is about recovering and/or compensating the victims of the crime. Why should Mugabe and his cronies be allowed to keep the amassed looted wealth and continue to live in unparalleled luxury whilst the poor, from whom the wealth was stole, continue to languish in abject poverty?

It comes as no surprise that Zhuwao, Mugabe and his wife, Professor Jonathan Moyo and many of the G40 supporters have pledged to vote for Chamisa and MDC in these elections. Chamisa has also promised Mnangagwa a “lucrative pension” if MDC won these elections. In short, an MDC government will be looking after the ruling elite’s selfish interests just as Zanu PF has done these last 38 years!

We need to hold the wrong doers of the last four decades to account not just in the interest of common justice, restorative justice but most important of all to correct the dangerous precedence Zanu PF misrule has fostered on this nation. After decades of enjoying absolute power Mugabe, Mnangagwa and the rest of the Zanu PF thugs now believe they are above the law. By holding them all to account the nation will correct this erroneous notion that those in power can bring the wheels of justice to a grinding halt, do as the please and get away with it.

“You should also know that 73.9% of that violence has been perpetrated under the control and direction of the Mnangagwa and Chiwenga cabal that you are now promoting,” said Zhuwao. What you have failed to say Patrick is that 90%, at least, of that violence was committed before the 15 November 2017 coup, when your uncle was president. So, both Mnangagwa, Chiwenga and Mugabe have a lot to account for. “Mhoswa hairovi!” as one would say in Shona.