Political comments by Zimbabwe’s eminent political science academics must be read with extreme caution as they are not academic or scientific postulations but rather political innuendoes aimed at persuading opinions in one direction or another.
Propaganda, spin, ‘astro-turfing’, disinformation to create false or ‘polished’ perceptual images is the norm rather than the exception in most comments from Zimbabwean professors.
“It is only Mugabe who can either force him to resign or dismiss him, if he is not happy with his performance. The GPA is not the Constitution and is a separate arrangement. So, Mutambara is likely to complete his term in the inclusive government,”
“Welshman Ncube is clearly aware that at a legal level there is no way he can force Mutambara out of the inclusive government. So this idea of saying he will remain, and then there might be a reshuffle, I think he wants to play his way by either persuading Mutambara himself to voluntarily resign or have or have an agreement with the President to get Mutambara out.” Dr Lovemore Madhuku
For a constitutional law expert like of Dr Madhuku’s experience and reputation to make such a false declaration and mutilate the Zimbabwe constitution to suit his undisclosed ends is unpardonable.
Being a constitutional expert Dr Madhuku is expected to openly inform his audience on matters pertaining to political matters that are constitutionally prescribed.
Surely Dr Madhuku is aware that the Zimbabwe constitution was amended by a new sections No 115, 116, 117 and 118 and the addition of Schedules 8, 9, 10 and 11 in February 2009 or is he the only one unaware of that.
Against that background it is rather weird for Dr Madhuku to claim as he does that the GPA which was incorporated verbatim in the Zimbabwe Constitution in Schedule No 11 is not the Constitution but a separate agreement. By so saying Dr Madhuku implies that the incorporation of the agreement was a non event which is blatantly false and outrageous.
The conclusion Dr Madhuku reaches that at law new MDC-M leader Professor Welshman Ncube “…is clearly aware that at a legal level there is no way he can force Mutambara out of the inclusive government,” because as he puts it, “..only Mugabe who can either force him to resign or dismiss him, if he is not happy with his performance ,” is not only misinformed but equally outrageous.
In terms of schedule 8(1) that incorporated Article 20.1.6 (4) of the GPA renamed Interparty Agreement into the constitution;
“There shall be two (2) deputy Prime Ministers one (1) from MDC-T and one from MDC-M”
Where then does Dr Madhuku derive the notion that at law our constitution only empowers President Mugabe to decide who occupies the position of Deputy Prime Minister on the basis of competence of the individual when the Constitution clearly provides that the two deputy Prime Ministers will be from one each from MDC-T and MDC-M and not from Mugabe.
To demonstrate that Mugabe has no say in who the MDC-T or MDC-M appoints to the position of Deputy Prime Minister Article 20.1.6 (2) also incorporated in the same schedule provides that;
“There shall be two (2) Vice Presidents, who will be nominated by the President and /or Zanu PF.”
If it was ever intended that the President had anything to do with who occupies the position of Deputy Prime Minister there was absolutely no reason stopping that from being tacitly stated in the Constitution as was done in the case of Vice Presidents.
Still on the MDC-M role in government another Professor Jonathan Moyo weighed in;
“It is in his interest to remain cool because in that case he may be a recipient of God’s mercy. He may be surprised to get many opportunities including being invited by other parties.”
“He should accept with humility serving as Regional Integration Minister because Prof Ncube just wants to provoke him into leaving the post so that he can replace him with one of his own cronies,”
Professor Moyo was advising Professor Mutambara following the decision by Professor Ncube to demote and reassign Professor Mutambara to the junior Regional Integration and Cooperation Ministerial portfolio following his ouster as MDC-M President.
Anyone can choose his/her political allies but to have Professor Moyo in your corner as political counsel is ill advised.
He decision to re-deploy Professor Mutambara was an MDC-M resolution apparently that new leader Professor Welshman Ncube was not ‘comfortable’ with for lack of a better way to describe Professor Ncube’s insincerity.
Professor Ncube declared that MDC-M made a fatal political Mistake in 2008 when the party backed an independent Dr Makoni’s Presidential bid instead of fielding its own candidate and then declared then that he was going to contest Professor Mutambara for the party Presidency.
HHis justification for the contest was not because it was his democratic right to seek higher office in the party he was instrumental in forming but that he wanted to confound the commonly held misconception that no Matabeleland based person was qualified to lead a political Party into winning elections other than as a deputy to someone from the Mashonaland region of the country.
That was and will remain a fatal miscalculation on Professor Ncube’s part has been amply demonstrated the Mudzumwe led revolt and events in the party following Professor Ncube’s defacto ascendancy to the helm of the hitherto less popular political faction in the coalition government now reduced to nothing but a group of tribal political opportunists seeking to make hay while the dimming GPA sunshine still shines.
Professor Ncube was the always the defacto but latent President of the MDC-M faction and only invited Professor Mutambara to front the party because of fears of the faction being labeled a tribal outfit but when that did not wash he decided to take the bull by its horns and ride the storm d as the manifest leader of the party.
Professor Moyo’s advice that Professor Mutambara will gain credibility from accepting a demotion is perplexing. Since when and where has there been political glory and salvation gained from political demotion.
Professor Mutambara will be better placed to rebrand himself as a political heavyweight in his party if he refuses any favours from Professor Ncube and leave him to suffer electoral humiliation then challenge for the leadership thereafter.
The suggestion by Professor Moyo that he accepts demotion to remain relevant smacks of a cynical ploy to chain Professor Mutambara to Professor Ncube’s imminent fall from grace that was fortuitously restored by Thabo Mbeki following his electoral humiliation at the hands of Thokozani Khupe in 2008. There will be no God’s mercy accruing to him but further political stains to his less than glamorous political career to date.
Professor Mutambara himself is not doing himself any favours by being indecisive in the face of political provocation by his former Secretary General and many astute politicians leave the limelight when embarrassed by their subordinates in order to regain lost ground when their successors prove less incompetent than they were or even when they excel as they will be credited with the vision of talent below them even if they were pushed out.
Professors in Zimbabwe politics must learn to be objective when commenting on national issues and not parrot the party line like the Joseph Chinotimba’s and Jabulani Sibanda’s of Zimbabwe politics.
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