Frenzy about Zimbabwe Premier’s romance a year after the death of his first wife

The Premier's sisters in law who are at the centre of speculation that one of them has been inherited as the Premier's wife seen here with Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Germany H H Makuvise at the Premier's Strathaven home where they have been comforting the premier during the year of mourning for his late wife Susan

The Zimbabwe PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s romantic life is, not unexpectedly though increasingly, taking centre stage.

According to the majority of Shona tribes of Zimbabwe traditional customs and practice, a year after the death of a married woman or man, a ceremony termed Kurova Guva is held to cleanse the widow or widower and free them from perpetual mourning.

The ceremony usually has several objectives key among them being;
- Praying for the spirit of the deceased to return back into the family and provide spiritually protection and guidance for its orphans and widow or widower
- Final disposal of the traditional symbols of the marriage terminated by death
- Giving the widow/er the green light and freedom to look for a replacement husband/wife through inheritance and or seek new love and or
- Formalizing the appointment of the customary official stand in for deceased marriage partner who will perform all traditional roles that the late partner would have been traditionally expected to fulfill from among the qualifying remaining relatives of the deceased-Sara Pavana- or children’s guardian.

Traditionally the Sara Pavana was not expected to fulfill the intimacy role as she could be a married elder or younger sister or niece of the deceased or alternatively he could be an elder brother or cousin of the deceased prohibited to inherit –Kugara Nhaka in respect of the act where a widower accepts a replacement husband or Kumutsa Mapfihwa in the case where the husband accepts a replacement wife.

Where either of the surviving spouses opted for the replacement husband or wife from among the blood relatives of the departed spouse the need for the appointment of a Children’s traditional guardian was invalidated as the relative coming into the marriage naturally filled the gap.

It was only where either of the surviving spouses opted out of the inheritance option or where in laws refused and or failed to provide a substitute wife from among their unmarried siblings that it was considered necessary to appoint the guardian and thereby impliedly give consent for the surviving spouse to seek new love and romance elsewhere provided the new love had no rights whatsoever to perform traditional rituals for the orphans of the initial marriage which would be preserved for the Sara Pavana or Traditionally appointed guardian.

The reports that Prime Minister Tsvangirai has now accepted his late wife’s sister Leah Mhundwa as the replacement wife are misleading in the absence of evidence that the Kumutsa Mapfihwa- literally translated to mean revival of the late Susan Tsvangirai’s kitchen and wife responsibilities towards the Premier- are misplaced and traditionally at variance with the norm.

What is evident is that the Kurova Guva ritual for the late Susan Tsvangirai was either performed and most likely Leah Mhundwa was seconded to him as the Sara Pavana (Guardian) because the Premier did not accept any of his late wife’s available relatives as substitutes for his late wife.

The other misconception arising from the report is that now because she has been given to Morgan Tsvangirai as a replacement for the late Susan, Leah is now expected to move into the Premier’s Strathaven home and extend conjugal rights to the Premier at the same time she accompanies Tsvangirai to official state events and look after the Premier’s six children with the late Susan.

The truth of the matter is that ever since the death of the late Susan her sisters have been taking turns to live with and comfort the Premier throughout his 1 year mourning period and they have been accompanying him to any official function he wanted them to be present and by his side.

There is nothing in customary law that prevented them from tending to the Premier and even giving him some romantic moments without indulging in intimate sex with him prior to the cleansing ceremony of Kurova Guva.

If there were any intimate intentions between the Premier and any of his sisters in law that comforted him through the year of morning for his late wife, now he is free to officially express them and if any of the sisters in law accept his advances, she could well end up being his official second wife if the Mhundwas accept his proposal to officially marry any of them.

Edwin, Garikai, Vimbai, Rumbidzai and twins Milcent and Vincent the Premier’s children, are all in their teens and early adulthood and will have no major problems with a romance between their father and one of their aunts whom, in true Shona tradition, they have always regarded as their mother even when their maternal mother was still alive.

Should the Premier however choose to start a new romance with anyone else not related to the Mhundwa’s or disliked by his grown up children, there could be friction in the family yet still one girl from the Mhundwa family will remain the official traditional guardian for the children with special responsibilities to perform those roles Susan would have performed for them if she was still alive.

Whatever speculation there is about the course of the Premier’s romantic life, henceforth the nation must always be prepared to see one or more of the Mhundwa girls by his side.

Zanu PF serving foreign interests

H

President Mugabe transformed into a puppet political leader by targeted sanctions imposed by the EU,USA and their allies

Zanu-PF has over the years preached the gospel of national sovereignty and independence as its founding principle.

Many Zimbabweans were fooled into believing this mantra which was later spiced by the lies that the MDC was a puppet party of the British and USA imperialists bent on re-colonising our country.

But for the targeted sanctions against its leadership most would have never known that the party masquerading as the vanguard of our sovereignty is nothing more than a wild bunch of inextricably dependant s of White settlerism.
After frothing on the mouth over imperial interference from Britain and the USA and their allies’ attempts to effect regime change through their hidden hand within the MDC, it is saddening to hear Zanu PF now making former settler imposed sanctions a scapegoat for refusing to do what is good for the nation.

After negotiating the GPA with the MDC and before the brotherly Sadc facilitation and agreeing a raft of reforms necessary to save the nation from the political social and economic abyss it had plunged into, the party that boasts being the vanguard of our sovereignty is putting most of us to shame by its squirming over the sanctions.

President Mugabe and his Zanu PF acolytes are demanding as they have done over the past decade without much success, the lifting of sanctions imposed on Zanu PF leadership by the USA and the EU countries together with their associates.

Whatever has become of the look east alternative the party has been drumming up prior to the signing of the GPA one is left wondering?

Could it be that the look east alternative was a political ruse that Zanu PF never believed and has never managed to benefit from despite a decade of devotion to making the strategy work and render USA and EU sanctions inconsequential to the country’s economic progression?

Even if that was the case, which appears to be the case with each passing day after the signing of the GPA, Zanu PF is expected to show the spine and grit it is reputed for in the face of this adversity than to crumble in the manner it has done and hold the nation it helped attain liberation from colonial bondage at ransom because the former colonial masters have slapped the country with an economic embargo.

Addressing the 80th Ordinary Session of the Central Committee at the party’s headquarters in Harare recently, President Mugabe proudly declared that;

“Zanu PF had not reached any agreement with the two MDC formations over outstanding Global Political Agreement issues and will not do so until the issue of sanctions is fully addressed.”

"References to Gono, Tomana and Bennett is nothing because it has never been part of the agreement.”

"The reply from Zanu-PF has always been the same: Gono and Tomana have no case to answer while Bennett has a criminal case in the courts.

"The position is that they cannot be any further concessions from us unless the illegal sanctions are gone.”

In saying this President Mugabe may not have realised or intended it but he came through as the leader of not just a dependant and colonised nation that cannot survive without aid and or some form of economic support from former colonial masters and their allies but also as a leader of a bankrupt political party whose value of sovereignty is overshadowed by the desire for economic support and puppetry of the Western democracies.

By making implementation of the GPA conditional on the Western Nations’ lifting of sanctions they imposed against his party leadership, President Mugabe showed that he was more concerned with gaining access to the resources of the nations that imposed travel restrictions on him and his party leadership than he is in seeing Zimbabweans recover from the economic mess he plunged the nation into.

For how else does he expect us to understand why he should make the implementation of an agreement he entered into with other Zimbabwean political leaders at the total exclusion of the sanctions imposers’ dependant on the reaction of countries and persons that were, are and will never be beneficiaries of the agreement?

If in entering into the GPA Zanu PF were interested in improving the economic and political wellbeing of the country without compromising its sovereignty to the former colonists and their friends it does not make sense for him to make normalisation of economic relations with the same countries which are a threat to our sovereignty a condition for implementing the part of the agreement that does not require the normalization he and his party are demanding.

But the geriatric President shamelessly argues that the MDC party he has spent a decade accusing of puppetry must now lead a crusade that will bring Zanu PF into the fold of the former colonial masters by vigorously campaigning for the lifting of sanctions that are a wedge between his party and the bloodsucking, politically distablising and economically pillaging imperialists.

"They are just paying lip service to the issue of sanctions and they need to do more. The sanctions must go first," whined President Mugabe over the MDC-T enthusiasm to do his party and personal bidding for the lifting of sanctions.

The outstanding GPA issues are now Constitutional imperatives that the President is duty bound to uphold as the GPA in its entirety was annexed to Constitutional Amendment No 19 which none other than President Mugabe signed into law.

His failure to implement these constitutional provisions must be viewed as serious dereliction of duty that requires some form of sanctions from Parliament through an impeachment motion even if the motion will not secure the requisite 2 thirds majority to carry it will scare him to the core to know the numbers in the legislature that do subscribe to deliberate failure to uphold the constitution by anyone in power least of all the President.

More pertinently Zanu PF and President Mugabe need to be reminded that Zimbabweans do not expect any concessions from Zanu PF over and above those it consented to in CA No 19.

All Zimbabweans want is for Zanu PF and President Mugabe to abide by their signatures on the GPA and Constitution Amendment No 19 which was endorsed unconditionally and thus must be implemented in like manner.

The rant about Gono, Tomana, Provincial Governors appointments being outside the GPA is the kind of political tomfoolery that President Mugabe and his acolytes must desist from as it leads to unproductive conflict for nothing.

If there was any element of truth in the argument why is it that SADC is accommodating the issues as outstanding from the GPA it facilitated?

The argument that Bennett is not attested to his office because he faces serious criminal charges is equally unconstitutional and requires no serious consideration.

After exposing the Zanu PF desire to be in the former colonial master’s fold through the lifting of sanctions the rant from President Mugabe about the recently gazetted controversial Indigenisation and Empowerment regulations made the President look very dishonest in his accusation of opponents of the regulations.

The evidence of backward mentality and servitude is not in opponents of regulations that harden the resolve of sanction imposers to consider more stringent measures but in the thinking that the same countries must directly engage Zimbabwe and invest in Zimbabwe and loose 51% of their investment to empower Zimbabweans.

What is evident is that Zanu PF is holding no further concessions that it is purporting will be conceded if sanctions are lifted and in any event the threat of withholding such superfluous concession does not hurt the Western democracies to the extent of making them relax the sanctions but rather it is Zimbabwe that continues to bleed from the self inflicted ransom scars.

The relaxation of sanctions will benefit a few Zanu PF leaders while the implementation of the other outstanding CA No 19 clauses will benefit millions of Zimbabweans.

Whose interests is the Zanu PF President serving then?

We are not interested in fruitful discussions President Zuma only the fruits.

Where are the fruits that you discussed with the feuding Zimbabwe political leaders President Zuma
South African President Jacob Zuma emerged from recent talks he held with feuding Zimbabwe coalition government subscribers to announce that he had held some very fruitful discussions with the trio of President Robert Mugabe (Zanu PF), Premier Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC-T) and 2nd Deputy Premier Professor Arthur Mutambara (MDC-M).

Sadly he had none of the fruits to show or give as samples to the expectant Nation so that they could test the quality of the fruit President Zuma says the country is about to reap for the country.

In sales if you have an agent who reports holding fruitful discussions with prospects but does not deliver their custom, there is only one course of action that must be taken to make the agent realise the worthlessness of his effort.

Threaten the agent with the sack if he does not deliver the fruits he so fondly discusses with prospective customers.

The issues President Zuma came to mediate over are to most Zimbabweans Constitutional disputes in the public domain and his discovery of them through the so called fruitful discussions does not push forward their resolution in any way.

For the record the disputed issues arise from Constitutional Amendment No19 that was passed unanimously by the very government now squabbling over implementation of the law it passed.
Among the issues are;
Assignment of Ministerial responsibilities
Appointment of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor
Appointment of the Attorney General
Appointment of Provincial Governors
Appointments of Senior National and Ambassador Incumbents
Swearing in of ministers and Deputy Ministers
National Healing and Reconciliation
Appointment of the Media, Human Rights and Electoral Commissions
Retraining and reorientation of law enforcement agencies
Review of Co-Ministering agreement of the Ministry of Home Affairs
Democratisation of the system of governance through Constitutional reforms
Removal of stringent Media controls through opening airwaves to competition
Enactment of the establishment of the Citizenship and Immigration Board
Land reform audit and rationalization and
Economic revival through reintegration of the country into the global village.

These are tacit Constitutional demands the coalition government imposed on itself that allow for no ambiguity in their interpretation other than consensus seeking in implementation strategy.

But so far what has been bogging down the coalition government is not the implementation strategy but rather a blatant and unwarranted refusal to abide by the spirit and letter of the Constitutional provisions mainly by President Mugabe aided by 2nd Deputy Premier Professor Mutambara at the highest level of the coalition government.

President Zuma disclosed as follows after meetings with the trio that;

“I am very encouraged by the spirit of cooperation displayed by the leaders and all their parties,”
“I have had fruitful discussions with all the signatories to the global political agreement (GPA), their negotiating teams, leading Zimbabwean personalities and other key stakeholders,”

We now ask him where the fruits are. Can he kindly put them on the table so that the starving Nation can share them and mitigate against the threatening political hunger gripping the ordinary Zimbabweans.

President Zuma knows that President Mugabe has failed to uphold the Constitution of
Zimbabwe by his refusal to comprehensively form the agreed coalition government.

There is nothing in CA No 19 that allows him to decide who to swear into the coalition government or not as he has done with regard to the Deputy Agriculture Minister portfolio.

All the constitution empowers him to do is for him to receive names of nominations by respective coalition parties and without question swear them into office.

The refusal by the President to swear in the MDC-T nominated and advised to him Deputy Agriculture Minister designate Roy Bennett for whatever reasons he has or has not adduced is flagrantly unconstitutional and does not need to be fruitfully discussed by a President who is the SADC appointed point man in its guarantees that led to the Constitutional Amendment that justifies the current Zimbabwe government.

By holding fruitful discussions over this Constitutional breach instead of ordering immediate compliance to make good the obvious breach of the Constitution that SADC guaranteed and continues to guarantee until the transitional government hands the reigns to a democratically elected government President Zuma scored 2 out of 10 in this regard.

There is thus nothing to praise him for at this juncture and the nation awaits the delivery of the fruits he discussed which to most of them is the unconditional swearing in of Roy Bennett as Deputy Minister of Agriculture and a public Presidential apology for failing to uphold the Constitution in this regard.

Because President Mugabe has been allowed to breach the Zimbabwe Coalition Government Constitution and escaped the rap of the guarantors in respect of his failure to complete formation of the prescribed government he has exploited the supervision laxity within the guarantor to incrementally flout the Constitution.

Recently he gazetted the assignment of Ministerial portfolio responsibilities wherein he unilaterally allocated Acts under MDC-T nominated Ministers to his Zanu PF Ministries without seeking Constitutionally mandated concurrence of his coalesce partners namely the Premier and the 2nd Deputy Premier.

This was not the first time that the President had resorted to unilateral decrees on appointments and responsibility allotment within the coalition government albeit in utter disregard of the Constitution he swore to uphold.

The dangerous precedent was set in motion by then SADC mediator in chief on Zimbabwe the disgraced former South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Following formalization of the GPA President Mbeki made the mistake of allowing President Mugabe to abdicate his first national responsibility as Head of the State under a coalition government.

The GPA is tacit and unambiguous that following his reinstatement as the legitimate President, Robert Mugabe was supposed to return the compliments of being conferred the Presidency by the GPA with the reciprocal swearing in of MDC-T President Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister in accordance with Article XX clause 20.1.3 (j) as read with Article XXIV clause 24.1 and Article XXV of the GPA.

For the avoidance of doubt that this was the logical first duty expected of the President in coalition government ruled Zimbabwe the clauses are reproduced and read;
“Article XX
20.1.3(j) The President shall, pursuant to this Agreement, appoint the Prime Minister pending the enactment of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment no.19 as agreed by the Parties;

Article XXIV
24.1 The Parties hereby agree: that the constitutional amendments which are necessary for the implementation of this agreement shall be passed by parliament and assented to by the President as Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Act No 19. The Parties undertake to unconditionally support the enactment of the said Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment No 19;

ARTICLE XXV
COMMENCEMENT
25. This Agreement shall enter into force upon its signature by the Parties.”
Need we say more?

Because President Mbeki was in dereliction of duty he convened the GPA signing ceremony but omitted to include the swearing in of the Premier at the ceremony part of the agenda and President Mugabe gratefully exploited the omission and managed to defer the formalization of the Premier’s inclusion in government from the date the agreement was signed.

By their silence SADC Heads of State who graced the milestone event condoned Mugabe’s first direct breach of the GPA.

The grateful Zanu PF President now legitimate Zimbabwe President took full advantage of the critical omission by SADC to unilaterally gazette the allotment of Ministerial portfolios to among the subscribing parties to the new government.

When the allotment caused disputes that were expected from an exercise in which President Mugabe had negated Article XX clause 20.1.2(g) which reads;

“The President and the Prime Minister will agree on the allocation of Ministries between them for the purpose of day-to-day supervision,” the cunning Zimbabwe President exploited the time presented by the need to resolve the allotment dispute to approve the appointments of the disputed RBZ Governor, AG and Provincial Governors from among his party loyalists at the exclusion of the new partners in government.

Agreement on Ministerial allotments could not be reached when the Premier who was supposed to be consulted remained a designate because the President had not sworn him into office as required by the GPA.

The President then unilaterally gazetted his preferred allotment and when that did action secured SADC condonotion instead of condemnation the President was galvanized to press on and consolidate his powers that the GPA sought to curtail.

He appointed party loyalists Johannes Tomana as AG and Gideon Gono as RBZ governor against the spirit and letter of the GPA he had just put signature to adding more controversy to the dispute over Ministerial allotments.

Thabo Mbeki did not help matters when he teamed with the Angolan, Mozambican, Angolan and Swaziland Heads of state and rallied Sadc behind Mugabe’s blatant disregard of the agreement he had signed with Professor Mutambara and Morgan Tsvangirai in the presence of SADC.

Thinking he had done enough to sideline the loathed MDC-T leader who had embarrassed him by the infamous March 29 2008 Presidential election defeat that he had to militantly circumvent President Mugabe then forged an unholy alliance with Professor Mutambara and his party of MDC renegades to completely alienate MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai from the coalition government.

Mugabe and his Zanu PF offered the gullible Professor Mutambara the chance to become a defacto Premier in the proposed inclusive government if his party of renegades could snatch the Parliamentary Speakership from the MDC-T with the support of Zanu PF legislators on condition the 10 MP’s under his control would in future vote along with Zanu PF legislators thus technically restoring Parliamentary majority that Zanu PF had lost in the March elections.

When the MDC-M leader agreed to the pact President Mugabe then went to SADC and requested that the body endorsed his allotments of Ministries and allow him to convene Parliament so that he could demonstrate that he had a strong hand on power despite his electoral losses.

He made it clear that he would regain lost control in Parliament and thereafter move swiftly to implement the GPA as he would have disarmed the MDC-T leader of his negotiating power and left him in a begging position to be in government.

Unaware of his bad intentions SADC offered President the opportunity he had prayed for and decreed that the Home Affairs Ministry would be co-Ministered by Zanu PF and MDC-T nominees while the rest of the unilateral allotments of Ministries by Mugabe were upheld.

The regional political bloc that guaranteed the GPA conceded to the request by President Mugabe to convene Parliament and prove to them that he had capacity to rule the country with a minority in Parliament.

President Mugabe quickly moved to bolster his numbers in the Senate by appointing the 5 Senators he had been authorized to appoint in the GPA and 10 Provincial Governors from his party to guarantee the Party’s chances in winning the Senate Presidency and thus regaining control of the Legislature if the pact with Mutambara to wrestle the Parliament Speakership prevailed.

Professor Mutambara was easy game for Zanu PF as he and his entire party stalwarts had been humiliated at the polls by Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC contestants whom the faction had parted ways with citing leadership and strategic deficiencies of the Party president.

The unholy pact between Zanu PF and MDC renegades led by Mutambara was humiliated when Lovemore Moyo from the MDC-T won the parliamentary speakership and strengthened MDC-T’s negotiating hand in power sharing disputes. The following day President Mugabe was given a torrid time when he as harangued and heckled in Parliament by the triumphant MDC MPs when he officially opened the parliament in which his control had been diminished.

It became evident to SADC that Mugabe and his Zanu PF no longer had full charge of political power in the country.

The justification for the coalition government became imperative and in January 2008 some 4 months after the signing of the GPA Sadc intervened and ordered President Mugabe to stick to its timeline to form the government by 14 February 2008.

At that meeting Sadc also ordered that the contentious appointments that the Zanu PF leader had made should be referred to the constituted government to be dealt with in accordance with its constitution which had to be amended as agreed in the GPA.

The directive was so strongly put across to Mugabe he had no option but to comply and he grudgingly complied by swearing in the Premier on 11 February 2008 and the Cabinet Ministers on the 14th of the same month as ordered.

To show his displeasure he did not fully comply with the directive as he refused to swear in Deputy Agriculture minister nominee from the MDCT Roy Bennett but had instead ordered his arrest and detention the day before the swearing in ceremony thus creating fresh controversy for the coalition government.

The unilateral appointments President Mugabe had made were referred to the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) which recommended the sharing of the posts in accordance with the popularity of each party based on its parliamentary representation of the province.

The irregular appointments of the AG and RBZ Governor were left to the Premier and the President to resolve as per the GPA provisions while appointments of Ambassadors were agreed would be on an as when a vacancy arose and allotted to the MDC until parity with Zanu PF postings was achieved.

While all this was going on Parliament unanimously passed Constitution Amendment No 19 as agreed in the GPA and with its passage, legally ended President Mugabe’s sole hegemony on power.

But the insolent President was at it again this time unilaterally announcing appointments of Permanent Secretaries for the new government without prior agreement with the Premier as is now constitutionally demanded of him.

The irregularity was resolved when the Premier eventually agreed to the appointments without alteration in a move that earned the Premier the tag that he was a lame duck Premier and junior partner to Zanu PF president in the government despite the GPA.

The Premier says he agreed to the appointments as they were after realizing that 70% of the appointees were pro his party and leadership and if he had demanded parity in the share he would remain with less than 50% loyalists heading the Ministries.

Be that as it may Mugabe had breached the Constitution and not the GPA and he got away with it lightly.

By refusing and or failing to implement JOMIC recommendations on the sharing of Provincial governorships he was again in breach of the Constitution.

Appointment of the constitutionally provided Electoral, Media and Human Rights Commissioners stalled after the Parliamentary Committee on rules made its recommendations to the President.

The Constitution Reform program ground to a standstill when President Mugabe and his Zanu PF party started making demands that its support for the project is conditional on MDC-T causing the lifting of EU and USA sanctions imposed on Zanu PF leadership and the winding up of foreign based radio Stations broadcasting into the country illegally.

In addition Zanu PF was demanding that the Premier and his party must dismantle parallel government structures he had set up in his office.

All these conditionalities from Zanu PF were of course unconstitutional and outrageous as they were an afterthought by the party that had come to realize how unpopular it had been rendered by the performance of the MDCs in government.

The dispute raged on and was referred to the SADC Troika after MDC-T announced a partial pull out from the coalition in October 2008 and the Troika ruled that coalition parties in Zimbabwe must enter into dialogue aimed at implementing all the agreements they entered into before the regional bloc within 30 days of the Troika meeting.

The Parties resumed stalled dialogue in December in compliance with the Troika directive but progress remained elusive resulting in the current Zuma initiative to break the impasse.

The Zuma intervention came at a time when President Mugabe had once again trashed the Constitution by revisiting agreed ministerial allotments between the coalesce partners and stripped MDC held Ministries to shells by allocating Acts under their administration to his office and or those portfolios under Zanu PF nominated Ministers.

Ambassadors from the MDC were only allowed to take up their postings last month exactly one year after they had constitutionally qualified to be posted.

The final and latest Presidential dereliction of constitutional duty has been his latest gazetting of shelf Ministries administered by MDC Ministers while the Acts that should fall under the same ministries have been allocated to Zanu PF nominated Ministers with no direct relationship with the Ministries.

Speculation has been rife that these shelf Ministries allotments featured highly among President Zuma’s fruitful discussions with coalition government principals.

The SADC appointed Mediator whose predecessor condoned the unilateral allotment of the Ministries by President Mugabe to the MDC despite intense protestations from the MDC-T now tells the Nation that in his latest visit he held fruitful discussions which speculators predict would result in the shelving of the unilateral reassignment of Acts by President Mugabe.

But for many Zimbabweans this is just not good enough and Zuma must be awarded 1 out of 10 for his efforts in this regard as things stand.

If indeed there was consensus that the stripping of powers from MDC held Ministerial portfolios by President Mugabe, holding discussions that will result in the gazetted allotments being shelved will not change the fact that legally the powers will be in Zanu PF appointed Ministers’ control.

Sane Zimbabweans know that the correct remedy for a gazetted illegality is a gazetted repeal of the unlawful assignments and not the shelving of the gazetted position which remains legally enforceable in the event of a dispute arising in the future which cannot be ruled out.

Zimbabwe diasporans are a lost cause

Exiled Zimbabweans are up in arms against the failure of the Constitutional reform outreach team co-chaired by Douglas Mwonzora (left) and Paul Mangwana (right) but are they justified in demanding the cash strapped nation to spent the funds they do not have for the sake of reaching out to the exiles?

They fled their country in droves when the Party that waged a war against settler rule in their country became deluded with the vicissitudes of power and went on a rampage against them to remain entrenched in the corridors of power.

They lost all they had worked for and started afresh in faraway lands often taking up menial jobs for which they were overqualified and would never consider performing in their beloved native country.

They waged their own war against Zanu PF oppression and made huge sacrifices to see the back of Zanu PF but the Liberation struggle hardened party refused to yield even when it lost elections.

The war of attrition between Zanu PF and Zimbabwe citizens it unwittingly displaced into the diaspora is not by any stretch of imagination anywhere near completion.

That is so because Zanu PF retains a huge chunk of power that it does not deserve and is abusing it to remain in the limelight.

The displaced Zimbabweans are often touted as the lost brains that Zimbabwe needs to turn around its ravaged economy and start on the road to socio-political and economic prosperity that was so evident in the early days of the country’s attainment of freedom from colonial rule.

But on closer analysis they may not fit the bill of lost brains after all.

When the country turned a new leaf and embarked on a flawed SADC imposed coalition governance political dispensation currently obtaining the so called mediocre brains that remained in the country crafted a roadmap to the restoration of the country’s lost political, economic and social glamour.

For the first time in the country’s history political space opened for the so called displaced brainiacs of the country to input into accelerated reconstruction of the country.

Unbridled Zanu PF political violence most had ran away from subsided dramatically and hyper inflation that had pauperized the entire nation was tamed through the adoption of multicurrency use in economic transactions.

Fuel shortages that had crippled economic mobility vanished in no time at all.

Day to day living necessities that had vanished into the dark alleys of informal racketeering are now in abundance in formal retail outlets.

Educational and Health infrastructure that had been abandoned by workers has been reclaimed and is now back on stream.

There are teething problems facing the coalition government that require the input of its brainiacs to overcome but when the Premier tried to reach out to them for help by inviting the displaced citizens to consider returning to their homeland and help in its reconstruction the response was shocking.

The so called brainiacs booed and harangued their Premier for daring reaching out to them and imploring considering returning to their homes.

So disorderly were they that the Premier left without making any headway with his appeal to them to consider returning to their homeland.

Debate that followed the Premier’s embarrassing confrontation with Zimbabwe diasporans particularly those ensconced in the UK seemed to suggest that the displaced Zimbabweans had misgivings about the language used by the Premier and the lack of tangible security improvement in the country.
For the UK exiled Zimbabweans there were too many reported incidents of lawlessness, no guarantees of jobs for them if they decided to return as requested by the Premier and no signs to show that President Mugabe’s dictatorial practices had been brought under control to a point where his powers were no longer open to abuse.

Coming from the brainiacs lost by the country the concerns were not completely misplaced but they indicated that perhaps the displaced Zimbabweans were not the lost brains the country needed at this juncture in its history.

Zimbabwe’s brainiacs of the moment appeared to be those that remained and weathered the storm of Zanu PF impunity and misrule.

They appeared the people with the nerve to confront the country’s hardships with determination and dedication to succeed otherwise they would sink with it if they did not sacrifice their energies to change their environment.

The displaced brainiacs appeared to be more comfortable to be bothered with the task of rebuilding their country in circumstances where their services were likely to be hugely underpaid for in comparison to what they were earning in foreign sanctuaries they had migrated to.

But still there are projects that they can help the so called less academically qualified and unstrategic fellow citizens that have been unfortunate enough not to have the means nor the capacities to run away from Zanu PF oppression as their diaspora counterparts did even if they wished to.

Now the diasporans are proving beyond any reasonable that they are no political brainiacs nor are they economic saviours the country yearns for despite the belief commonly held about them.

While the struggling government in their homeland is looking up to the displaced citizens to take up the challenge and reinforce it with novel ideas they have gained from other countries about workable economic strategies, transparent political governance and supportive social programs the exiled citizens are nowhere near that ideal.

The Zimbabwean exiles in their vast majority yearn to return to their country, not as entrepreneurs but rather, as workers which does not help the government of the day struggling as it are to find workable solutions for employment creation.

The current Constitution reform program and National reconciliation and healing objectives are a case in point.

The government has set itself the target of reforming the Constitution that many opponents of the former exclusive Zanu PF regimes passionately singled out as the central cause of the abuse of power by the ruling elite.

In doing so the so called less educated and unstrategic Zimbabweans still trapped in the country have been resourceful and sought external help to finance the process which has been dogged by numerous obstacles from the Zanu PF party that feels threatened by Constitutional provisions that will plug the holes it has been exploiting to retain power.

The exiled Zimbabweans have been the worst victims of Zanu PF Constitutional manipulation and are itching to have a say in the reform program but the government seems disinterested in their input especially when they are demanding that the outreach programmes be extended to foreign lands when the government had to beg funding to cover the local outreach programmes.

The government has recently made it clear that it will thus not be unduly bothered about reaching out to its exiled citizens in the Constitution reform exercise because it lacks the logistical, time and financial resources to do so.
Instead of the exiled Citizens mobilizing their resources and closing the gap that forms the grounds for their exclusion in a critical initiative they have deep interest in they are already at what they know best and that is criticizing the government for failing to cater for their inclusion in the program.

But the resources the government says are in short supply need not be a reason for their exclusion. All they require is to obtain Government approval through the Constitution Reform Steering Committee to set up a Website where they can input into the program officially and such a website will not cost the fare of a return flight for someone to travel from Harare to them to hear their views on the Constitution.

How a group of people commonly referred to as the drained brains of the country fails to come together and engage their government and set up such an easy yet efficient communication strategy to avert excuses about resources leaves one wondering whether the exiles are indeed interested brainiacs or indifferent rabble rousers.

The other issue the Zimbabwe Diasporans have always harped about is the question of the rule of law but not a single one among them has ever dared draft a motion for his her MP to move in Parliament calling upon the Government to uphold the rule of law at all times.

People are abducted tortured and murdered in cold blood by politically sponsored hooligans and State Security agents while those that plunder and pillage property belonging to others are not brought to book because of their political affiliation and yet none of the enlightened diasporans has drafted a Parliamentary motion calling upon the Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe defence forces and his Commanders to be held to account for the excess in a single case where they are known to have exceeded their mandate – and there are many such cases to the knowledge of diasporans.

Clearly these are not brains lost by the country but useful workers that must only be considered when the time is ripe after the real brainiacs in the country have opened up employment generating projects on which they can be usefully employed.

By persistently reacting to initiatives when they appear to have passed them Zimbabwe Diasporans have proven to be a lost cause that will not benefit the country in the turnaround strategizing but could be useful as managers of ideas innovated elsewhere.

MDC-T decision to participate in GNU starts returning juicy political fruits

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The frightening evidence of swelling MDC-T support and the vocal disrespect of Zanu PF officials at rallies in rural Zimbabwe are a telling sign of the benefits accruing to the party as a consequence of its presence in the coalition government.
 
The political acumen of the MDC-T leadership in deciding to participate in the flawed coalition government is beginning to yield healthy political returns for the party in rural Zimbabwe if events in Bikita, March 19, 2010 are anything to go by.

The party came under heavy criticism from mainly exiled Zimbabweans for accepting a junior role to Zanu PF in the coalition government when it became evident that Zanu PF had retained its stranglehold on power despite the cosmetic changes that emerged from economic stabilization and social improvements.

President Robert Mugabe’s unilaterally appointed Zanu PF Political Commissar in Masvingo Titus Maluleke who is disguised as a Provincial Governor and Resident Minister for the Masvingo province came face to face with political reality at Rozva business Centre near Nyika Growth point when he was sent on a damage control of the magnetic political attraction the MDC-T President and Zimbabwe Premier has throughout the country.

Maluleke had accompanied the Premier on his food security assessment forays in the Province and reported back to his Zanu PF handlers the contagion effect the Premier’s visit had on the rural populace in the Province whereupon he was told to counter the effects as demanded of him by his esteemed yet undeserved position he was given on the platter by President Mugabe.

He decided the best way was to retrace the Premier’s trails and inoculate the electorate with the hitherto effective MDC-T antidote that Zanu PF has used in the past to win rural electorate support –food handouts from President Mugabe and his Zanu PF Party.

The mission was to discredit the premier as an emissary of the President in his show of concern by visiting the rural electorate to assess their food security concerns.

The Masvingo Provincial Governor got more than he had bargained for as what used to be a political stroll in the park turned out to be an insurmountable climb out of a political ravine for the ill prepared Zanu PF Provincial Commissar mission he had embarked on.


''Yes the Prime Minister was here last week to assess the food situation but the food he promised is not going to come from his efforts alone but from the efforts of the government that is led by President Mugabe, so the PM was just an emissary send by the President who will look for the food,'' he informed the “captive” audience at Rozva business centre and paused expecting the usual Zanu PF adulation of ululations from the women accompanied by choreographed clapping of hands from the audience in bursts of appreciation for the generosity of the Party’s Supreme leader as President Mugabe is regarded by Zanu PF.

To his utter dismay there were no such adulations from the crowd who surprised him by demanding him to leave the podium and stop patronizing them with blatant lies intended to place a wedge in their faith and trust in the Premier’s political honesty care and integrity.

''Sit down you are lying to us. Mugabe is a liar who has been lying to us for the past 30 years. We know Save –Tsvangirai as he is adoringly known to his supporters by totem- will deliver the food to us he is the people's leader not you sit down. Sit down you stooge. We do not need your food we know Save (PM Tsvangirai) will give us the food as he promised. There is nothing new can you tell us now when you have been lying to us for the past 30 years,'' jeered the villagers spontaneously.

The reaction was unexpected and continued intermittently until the bemused and clearly puzzled Zanu PF imposed Provincial Governor gave up his speech and with his tail firmly tucked under his legs took his seat.

A Chief from the Rozva area who was present at the embarrassing meeting had no kind words for Maluleke’s obvious political backbiting mission on behalf of Zanu PF.

''I really do not understand you some of you in our leadership. Last week you came
here and introduced Tsvangirai to us. Why have you returned unaccompanied today to tell us that only the President can feed us? Is Tsvangirai also not part of your
government?'' he quizzed the Provincial Governor.

Answers were not easy to come out of the dry mouth of Maluleke who had obviously come to the villagers with the usual arrogance of a power deluded Zanu PF functionary unused to political challenges from lowly villagers.

Clearly the days when Zanu PF used to abuse government powers to further its political interest are gone and will never return thanks to the MDC-T participation in the coalition government which has opened highways into the rural electorate that hitherto was preserved for undiluted Zanu PF propaganda.

It is from these events that for all his failings and inabilities to read into the National mood 2nd Deputy Premier Professor Mutambara has become convinced that an election now will produce only one result.

An 88% to 22% anahilation of President Mugabe’s Zanu PF Party at the hands of the MDC-T.

Amazingly Professor Mutambara believes that such an electoral outcome will plunge the country back into the pre- June 28 2008 anarchy that characterized the campaign to restore President Mugabe back into office following his defeat in the March elections by Premier Tsvangirai.

To avoid that the 2nd Deputy Premier favours the continuation of the coalition government until 2013 in the hope that his party of renegades will make up for lost ground to MDC-T and Zanu PF.

The unfortunate folly of that miscalculation is that with each day that passes and the MDC-T remains in the coalition government, it is gaining rather than losing sympathy and affection from both rural and urban voters alike and notwithstanding efforts of other parties to demonise it.

If elections are delayed the MDC will consolidate its growing support base and win all Parliamentary seats and archive a one Party State without planning and campaigning for it.

That is a more frightening prospect than the fear of a Zanu PF electoral failure causing violence as there will be no one to use in the violence by the demoniac party.

Some Ministries are more important than others Professor Mutambara

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Zimbabwe's politically cunning 2nd Deputy Premier Professor Arthur Mutambara at variance with widely held beliefs about the  power held by different Ministries.

The shameless political deceit emanating from the Party of MDC renegades became self evident when Minister of Regional Integration and International Cooperation, Priscilla Misiharambwi-Mushonga, the Party’s Deputy Secretary General (DSG) confounded assertions late last year by party President and Current 2nd Deputy Premier Professor Arthur Mutambara.

Irked by the stalemate in power sharing negotiations that were delaying his official assumption of the 2nd Deputy Premiership he had been designated to occupy by the Global Political Agreement, the undeserving Professor Mutambara startled the nation when he declared that all Government Ministries were of equal importance and value to the nation.

He went on to declare that the logjam over Ministerial allotments among the coalition partners that was stalling formation of the coalition government was trivial and lacked merit.

Then MDC-T was holding out for the Ministry of Home Affairs and Justice to be allotted to its Ministerial nominees whereas Zanu PF had already grabbed the Ministries through a unilateral Presidential decree by its First Secretary and National President Robert Mugabe.

Prime Minister Tsvangirai dismissed the assertion and irrational outbursts by the overzealous Professor and advised him to patiently wait a bit longer if he wanted to become an effective Deputy Premier in the proposed coalition government.

Recent comments ascribed to the DSG in the tribalistic party of elitists indicate that the comments by its President were at variance with the thinking or beliefs held by top executives of the faction.

According to the DSG who did not disclose if she was giving a personal opinion or conveying official party policies, “priorities of the coalition government should be directed at reforming the National Security Institutions respect the election process.”

If this is the official party thinking within the Mutambara led faction of the MDC then it is a positive and significant departure from the blind view expressed by its President that must be welcomed.

It confirms the widely held view that the Security Ministries have significant influence on democratic governance in our country that is unmatched by any other Ministry.

That is why the MDC-T and Zanu PF were at loggerheads over who would Minister the Security Ministries and wanted to take charge of The Home Affairs and Justice Ministries to counterbalance Zanu PF’s dominion over the Defence Ministry.

If the MDC-M President and his top Executives had realized the critical role that Security Institutions play in determining the nature of democratic governance that can be practiced in the country as the Party’s DSG seems to have now woken up to they would not have allowed their President to mislead the nation into believing that government Ministries are of equal importance.

That misinformed view was critical in persuading SADC into endorsing the unilateral allotment of Ministries to coalition partners by President Mugabe including accommodation of his demands to nominate a Co- Minister of Home Affairs while retaining sole Zanu PF stewardship over the Ministries of Defence (Army, Air Force and War Veterans Militia), Justice and Legal Affairs (Department of Prisons Militia) The Central Intelligence Organisation (Special Forces) Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment (Youth Militia).

Now Party DSG Priscilla Misiharambwi-Mushonga tells us that unless these security institutions are transformed into election processes and outcomes respecting organs of our governance bureaucracy it would be foolhardy to expect Zanu PF to relinquish its hegemony on political power regardless of negative outcomes of elections against it.

“MDC-T may win but they still won't get to power and Zanu PF are quite happy to go it alone, even if it means another Somalia,” she said.

Priscilla Misiharambwi-Mushonga disclosed that the stripping of MDC Ministers of powers to administer some Acts was not important, deputy ministers had no sway, the unilateral appointment of Gideon Gono was a non issue since the government had just passed legislation emasculating him.

In addition she pointed that the contested unilateral appointment of Johannes Tomana as Attorney General was no big deal as he had made a fool of himself at the Bennett trial and likewise the unilateral appointment of Provincial Governors who have no influence other than “sit and read newspapers all day or something to that effect.”

For her and her party the real issues are that the coalition government must be allowed to subsist for as long as the Military holds sway in our politics or until it has managed to reform the Military to accept and respect electoral outcomes.

She stated this fully aware that there has been nothing legally or politically done within the coalition government to transform the Military as desired and such an exercise may take forever to accomplish if the Military leadership is not overhauled and yet there is no one in the coalition with the guts to tackle that.

More importantly for her and her Party there must be no elections in the country until the Military has been reformed and the coalition government has given the people an opportunity to see that some in the coalition government were no better than Zanu PF.

The MDC-M DSG disclosed that the coalition government “working so well you wouldn't know who Zanu PF was and who MDC is in this government."

“No one is thinking of pulling out,” she said.Party leader Professor Mutambara concurs as he recently told the nation the same line when he blamed both the Zanu PF and MDC-T Presidents of playing to the gallery over their statements indicating they are both ready for elections anytime to settle outstanding GPA issues.

The only irritation for her Party is the disingenuous retention of sanctions imposed by the West which Zanu PF President Mugabe was effectively manipulating to keep African leaders on his side at the same time they were inhibiting inflows of funds to the coalition government.

“Sanctions must be removed to stop the log jam,” she said.

Even then she added that Zanu PF would never allow a White Farmer to be sworn into the Agriculture portfolio and it is advisable for MDC-T to withdraw his nomination or assign him to another portfolio for the coalition government to resolve its disputes over his proposed appointment.

Meanwhile Party President Professor Mutambara is telling the Nation that it is not just his Party that is against elections being staged in the country but all the Parties in the coalition for different reasons notwithstanding that Zanu PF and MDC-T Presidents have reiterated that they would rather go for elections rather than stay in the forced coalition union with too many disputes retarding progress.

Professor Mutambara says President Mugabe is aware that his Zanu PF Party will be trounced by the MDC-T and secure just 22% of the vote against 88% for the MDC-T and of course nothing for his party and others.

The party forecasts of its electoral prospects are central to its objection to the holding of elections in the country.

The Party wants the coalition government lifespan extended to accommodate its executives who are unlikely to be elected.

Further the Party is preparing to merge with Zanu PF in the next elections but there are serious differences in its top Executive on the advisability of merging with Zanu PF.

What is not in doubt is that Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga is unsettled by the prospect of early elections in which she would stand on an MDC-M ticket.

That is why she is agitating for the extension of the coalition’s life in the hope that the MDC-T support will somehow become disenchanted with the Party as it makes political errors while in government.

Her hope is that her Party would exploit those disillusioned votes to shore up the party’s support and if the situation does not improve chances of her getting elected she will follow the footsteps of former party Spokesman Gabriel Chaibva and join Zanu PF preferably en-block with all her executive in the MDC-M if she can persuade the others or individually depending on how soon elections will be staged and prevailing political sentiments on the ground.

But the MDC-M has so far proved to be very poor readers of the national mood and made some arrogant yet fatal errors of judgement to be trusted as a party with a future.

The conflicting statement from Prof Mutambara and her DSG will in the near future be explained away as evidence of how democratic the party is but that myopic view will not sell among the electorate.

By dismissing the political value of outstanding issues and touting sanctions as the only issue needing attention and dismissing the crucial political mobilization roles played by Provincial Governors and the anchor role the AG’s actions or omissions plays in encouraging the Military to usurp powers and act with impunity the Party has displayed its level of political naivety and amateurism and may have chased a substantial chunk of voters who believed in its democratic credentials.

But all is not lost for the party as the sentiments it echoes are sweet music in the ears of Zanu PF and should push come to shove the senior executives from the party of renegades must know that the doors to the Zanu PF sanctuary for failed politicians are wide open and they will be welcomed and handsomely rewarded if they decide to merge with the party of Geriatrics.

For now we are grateful to both Prof Mutambara and her DSG for reminding us about the confusion in their Party and must part with a reminder to the President of renegades that he must never assume that we are easy game for his political chicanery.

We have always known what his DSG is now confirming that power is centralized in Military Institutions and allowed to be exercised free of litigation threats by a compromised Judiciary that includes the AG and the Minister of Justice as culprits.

Some ministries are thus more important than others as the 2nd Deputy Premier must have discovered by now as evidence from admissions now coming from his senior executive.

The Chiadzwa Diamonds mining stench

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Diamonds are forever and they have caused this stampede among the impoverished Zimbabweans but it is the top Zanu PF officials that are creaming the country and that must be stopped forthwith.

The Mbada Holdings directors are refusing to appear before a Parliamentary probe team into how they secured diamond mining concessions at Chiadzwa.

It is apparent that their refusal is not out of their volition but is a Zanu PF parallel government directive aimed at flexing muscles in the coalition government and protecting the Party bigwigs that have been looting the country’s resources with impunity.

Mbada Chairman Robert Mhlanga has been asked on three different occasions to present himself and his full board of Directors before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee but has been finding excuse after excuse for not complying.

The problem he faces is that the Mbada Board is a cartel of Senior Army Officers some of them still in service who have expropriated ACR mining rights by condoning off the minefields and have been siphoning and ferreting the gem to the informal market for illicit gems for personal gain.

Constitutional Amendment No 19 upon which the current government is premised did not visit the contracts of serving military personnel to seek their allegiance to the coalition government and we are all paying the price for that reckless omission.

The omission was deliberate as it was feared that any attempt to clip the powers of the Military Commanders would trigger a full scale and bloody Military coup.

The reason why President Mugabe retained the Presidency he had lost in an election to Morgan Tsvangirai was because the Military commanders had made it clear to SADC that if he was pushed out they would step in and cease power.

It may have been prudent then to leave them be while the government found each other but now it is no longer prudent to allow these self serving bloodthirsty Commanders free reign to loot and plunder as they wish simply because they have threatened a coup.

It is opportune time for the government to exploit the presence of President Mugabe at its helm to put foot down and bring the Commanders online or force them to topple Mugabe if they so wish.

The way President Mugabe has kept silent or openly supported albeit indirectly the Chiadzwa debacle suggests that somehow he may be directly involved with Mbada and likewise Mines Minister Obert Mpofu and you guessed right Gideon Gono, Solomon Mujuru and Emmerson Mnangagwa.

What with Retired Air Marshall Robert Mhlanga playing lead role in the venture when previously he was President Mugabe’s Personal Helicopter Pilot and was closely linked to the President’s late former wife Sally Mugabe.

Billy Rautenbach has been increasingly seen around the Manicaland province and we all know his Diamond escapades in the DRC as well as his close links within Zanu PF and in particular Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The other key player Canadile is fronted by the late Retired General Vitalis Zvinavashe ‘s cousin Lovemore Kurotwi.

With the support of the late General Kurotwi caused commotion in the Coal Merchants association and ended up its President taking over lucrative coal supply contracts previously held by established Coal Merchants and exposing the tobacco farmers to serious shortages due to lack of capacity to deliver adequate supplies of coal in time for the curing season.

Then there are the revelations that Obert Mpofu has packed the Boards of Mbada with his relatives and trusted employees from the Ministry of Mines.

Its stinking business at Chiadzwa and nobody seems to have the nerve to unruffle feathers of the Military involvement in the lucrative dirty diamonds trade that is benefiting a few individuals rather than the nation at large.

Mines Secretary Thankful Musukutwa has been writing letters to the Parliamentary portfolio committee investigating the Chiadzwa diamond mining operations that it was premature for him and other players to appear before the committee as the matter was before the Courts.

What Musukutwa has been conveniently turning a blind eye to is that Courts work with statutes from parliament and thus cannot have supervisory powers on Parliamentary business neither does the fact that a matter is before a Court preclude parliament to exercise its powers and independently investigate the matter with a view to regulate the causes of the matter.

The doctrine of separation of powers between the Executive, Judiciary and Parliament means neither of these central pillars of our democracy has power to stop the other exercising its right to scrutinize a matter that is topical in order for it to determine what course of action to take on the matter.

But Musukutwa is obviously under instructions from the Executive to defend the exposure of key Government and political figures behind the murky deals at Chiadzwa.

The leniency of the Parliamentary Committee suggests that it is aware of these behind the scenes pressures on the Secretary’s shoulders hence the offer for him to appear in camera if need be for it to get his confession to anomalies and illegalities going on at Chiadzwa.

It is likely Musukutwa will appear before the committee sooner rather than later or find himself behind bars. Known Board members of Grandwell trading as Mbada that Musukutwa has been barring from appearing before the Parliamentary Committee include Robert Mhlanga, Sithengisiso Mpofu, Dingiswayo Ndlovu and Crystesona Kanjoma while Canadile is represented by Alvin Ncube, Beauty Moyo, Caughan Matanhire and Lavemore Kurotwi

That will sent the correct signal to the contemptuous Minister and the Board Members of the rag tag mining outfits currently looting the Chiadzwa diamond fields dry and they will stampede to appear before the Committee to avoid similar fate.