adminMuchadura Dube
PRESIDENT Mugabe dismissed Vice President Joice Mujuru and eight other ministers from their executive posts for serious offences involving a plethora of corruption allegations for which if convicted, attract lengthy jail sentences.
That Vice President Mujuru was a national liability whose corrupt acts impaired the image of the executive and eroded the confidence of aspiring investors incorrectly believing Zimbabwe was as a destination which attracted investment by readily paying bribes and using unorthodox means for access.
A cursory glance at the ministers who were axed by President Mugabe depicts a cabal which had become hardened in criminality and a plethora of abuses.
The former Presidential Minister Didymus Mutasa has been fingered in various corruption-related cases and lately the failed imagined march to State House by the disgraced and controversial former Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) chairman, Jabulani Sibanda, whose appetite for vouching and vaunting for the unknown amazed onlookers. Sibanda’s penchant for the idealistic which is far off from the reality perplexes and has so often a times surprised even his former constituency, the war veterans, for his speeches are harangues and diatribes which are not in tandem with the expected demeanour of war veterans.
Mutasa had become law unto himself especially in Manicaland where only his whims and caprices ruled the roost.
Surely the mention of the totem Nyati would send anyone in this province into quivers and natural fear as his word was always taken as the final command. Talking of multiple centres of power that would compete for supreme authority with President Mugabe, Mutasa was one individual who had falsely accumulated borrowed power. Now that the chickens have finally come to roost, it will be interesting to watch the real Nyati versus the old pompous and untouchable character. Mujuru, Mutasa and their acolytes are mere mortals who benefited from President Mugabe’s appointments, otherwise outside President Mugabe’s prerogative of sincerity which recognised Mujuru and his gang by awarding them with executive post, these individuals would have been unknown.
Anyone should take the example of Joice Mujuru who returned from the liberation struggle hardly literate but President Mugabe still appointed her minister and encouraged her to further her studies, which led her to graduate with a Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Zimbabwe.
President Mugabe was to later appoint her to be the first woman Vice President of Zimbabwe, a feat which received plaudits across the world and was emulated by numerous African countries.
The attempts by Mujuru and acolytes who ganged up to topple President Mugabe, even the scary and hair raising attempts to assassinate the revolutionary icon the Kabila-way, is a classic manner of biting the hand that feeds oneself. It is a betrayal of monumental proportion, considering the way President Mugabe saved the tumultuous marriage of the Mujurus, the manner in which President Mugabe plucked Dzikamai Mavhaire from his political grave,remember President Mugabe had forgiven him after his devil inspired call for the President to step down.
The dismissed minister of Higher and Tertiary Education minister, Dr Olivia Muchena who had been pardoned from her association with the diabolic group, the Muzorewa led United African National Congress, a Rhodesian outfit which ostracised, maimed and killed thousands of defenceless Zimbabweans has proven to be unrepentant as she continues to harbour and share this sinister agenda of the Mujuru clique.
Then the perennial schemer of the Mujuru faction, Munacho Mutezo who had been privileged to occupy lofty cabinet positions despite his apparent statecraft weaknesses.
Mutezo is well known for his shenanigans where he diverted state funds for his nefarious intentions and activity.
His days when he used to superintend the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) are filled with controversy; they are insinuations that the former deputy minister had other illegal engagements there, so are his numerous sordid dealings with any other parastatals which were under his purview.
The highlight of his treachery is his machinations to coerce the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) to covertly release money for fanning factionalism with the ultimate objective of dislodging the President Mutezo. Mutezo’s craving for power is incredible when viewed in the context that the very President he sought to topple appointed him numerous times to serve even though the electorate had voted against him.
This manifests how ungrateful this uncouth character is. The management at ZESA has confirmed that this money was siphoned under the guise of supporting Provincial Congresses.
This sordid act came when the nation is grappling under electricity shortages, with some households going for hours without energy. It merely brings to the fore the cruelty of some of these executives who do not have empathy with the populace. In dismissing the cabal, President Mugabe as usual took a momentous decision which identifies with the masses’ expectations.The corrupt tendencies and betrayal of Mujuru and her cabal against President Mugabe need to be treated with the contempt they deserve.
All their illegal activities need to be investigated and be given due punishment by the law of the land.
In the political arena, the exit of the Mujuru cabal from the country’s body politic indeed ushers fresh aura.
It is good riddance for the nation will pursue the developmental trajectory without these malcontents.
Online Reporter