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.
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