Dr Simba Makoni cashing in on Zimbabwe misplaced infatuations

MKD leader Dr Simba Makoni overrated and ambitious

Zimbabwe is generally a trendy nation. The origin of the insatiable appetite for the in thing or any craze among the populace is difficult to trace but it is evident in every facet of life in the country.

The appetite knows no season nor bounds.

President Mugabe and not MDC or Zanu PF is spurning chances for judicial reform

President Mugabe in undisguised failure to uphold constitutional amendment No 19

The opinion by Tererai Mafukidze a President Mugabe apologist masquerading as a local lawyer in the Zimbabwe Independent on Thursday, 10 June 2010, under the misleading header ‘MDC spurned chance for judicial reform,’ cannot be allowed to go unchallenged for its lack of merit.

The “learned” Mafukidze either does not know the meaning of the word spurned or alternatively chose the word to justify the political mischief that he intended to sell to the nation to discredit the MDC.

By using the word spurned in his header Mafukidze implied that the MDC scornfully and contemptuously rejected the opportunity that Sadc mediated negotiations presented the party to agree meaningful and irrevocable judicial reforms with Zanu PF.

After reading the facts on which he premises his wayward conclusion it becomes evident that the word was cynically used to discredit the MDCs political acumen as nothing he relied on supports his conclusion

To the contrary all the legal statutes he relied on clearly indicate that the MDC tried its best to legislate for legal reforms but for President Mugabe and not Zanu PF intransigence this once, the good intentions in the 15 September 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) have been deliberately scuttled from ill-conceived advice the President is getting from legal minds of Mafukidze’s ilk.

Zimbabwe Laws

The chief law abusers Patrick Chinamasa (Minster of Justice) Augustine Chihuri (Police Commissioner General and Johannes Tomana (Attorney General) all of Zanu PF. How they love these repressive clauses in our laws!

Here are some of the repressive sections of our laws that are dear to Zanu PF and the Law enforcement operatives with an affinity to the party of geriatrics.

Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act [Chapter 9:07].
121 Appeals against decisions regarding bail
(1) Subject to this section and to subsection (5) of section 44 of the High Court Act [Chapter 7:06], where a judge or magistrate has admitted or refused to admit a person to bail—
(a) the Attorney-General or his representative, within seven days of the decision; or
(b) the person concerned, at any time; may appeal against the admission or refusal or the amount fixed as bail or any conditions imposed in connection therewith.
(2) An appeal in terms of subsection (1) against a decision of—
(a) a judge of the High Court, shall be made to a judge of the Supreme Court;
(b) a magistrate, shall be made to a judge of the High Court.
(3) A decision by a judge or magistrate to admit a person to bail shall be suspended if, immediately after the decision, the judge or magistrate is notified that the Attorney-General or is representative wishes to appeal against the decision, and the decision shall thereupon be suspended and the person shall remain in custody until—
(a) if the Attorney-General or his representative does not appeal in terms of subsection (1)—
(i) he notifies the judge or magistrate that he has decided not to pursue
the appeal; or
(ii) the expiry of seven days; whichever is the sooner; or
(b) if the Attorney-General or his representative appeals in terms of subsection (1), the appeal is determined.
(4) An appeal in terms of subsection (1) by the person admitted to bail or refused admission to bail shall not suspend the decision appealed against.
(5) A judge who hears an appeal in term of this section may make such order relating to bail or any condition in connection therewith as he considers should have been made by the judge or magistrate whose decision is the subject of the appeal.
(6) Subsections (2) to (6) of section one hundred and sixteen shall apply, mutatis mutandis, in relation to any appeal in terms of this section.
(7) Any order made by a judge in terms of subsection (5) shall be deemed to be the order made in terms of the appropriate section of this Part by the judge or magistrate whose decision was the subject of the appeal.
(8) There shall be no appeal to a judge of the Supreme Court from a decision or order of a judge of the High Court in terms of paragraph (b) of subsection (2), unless the decision or order relates to the admission or refusal to admit to bail of a person charged with any offence referred to in paragraph 10 or 11 of the Third Schedule, in which event subsections (3) to (7) shall apply to such appeal.
(9) This section shall apply in regard to a private prosecution as if references to the Attorney-General were references to the private party instituting the prosecution.
Law and Order (Maintenance) Act [Chapter 11:07].

46 Undermining authority, etc. of President
(1) Subject to subsection (2), any person who, without lawful excuse, the proof whereof lies on him, utters any words, or does any act or thing whatsoever which—
(a) is likely—
(i) to undermine the authority of; or
(ii) to engender feelings of hostility towards; or
(iii) to cause hatred, contempt or ridicule of; the President, whether in person or in respect of his office; or
(b) is likely to expose the President, whether in person or in respect of his office, to hatred, contempt or ridicule; shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
(2) It shall be a sufficient defence to a charge of contravening subsection (1) to show that the words, act or thing on which the charge is based were uttered or was done, as the case may be, in good faith and with the intention of fairly, temperately, decently and respectfully criticizing any opinion expressed or held or any measure taken or proposed to be taken by the President.

Public Order and Security Act [Chapter 11:17].

(2) Any person who, whether inside or outside Zimbabwe—
(a) organises or sets up or advocates, urges or suggests the organisation or setting up of, any group or body with a view to that group or body—
(i) overthrowing or attempting to overthrow the Government by unconstitutional means; or
(ii) taking over or attempting to take over Government by unconstitutional means or usurping the functions of the Government of Zimbabwe; or
(iii) coercing or attempting to coerce the Government;
or
(b) supports or assists any such group or body in doing or attempting to do any of the things described in subparagraphs (i), (ii) or (iii) of paragraph (a); shall be guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding twenty years without the option of a fine.

6 Insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism

(1) Any person who, for the purpose of—
(a) causing or furthering an insurrection in Zimbabwe; or
(b) causing the forcible resistance to the Government or the Defence Forces or any law enforcement agency; or
(c) procuring by force the alteration of any law or policy of the Government; commits any act accompanied by the use or threatened use of weaponry with the intention or realising that there is a risk or possibility of—
(i) killing or injuring any other person; or
(ii) damaging or destroying any property; or
(iii) inflicting financial loss upon any other person; or
(iv) obstructing or endangering the free movement in Zimbabwe of any traffic on land or water or in the air; or
(v) disrupting or interfering with an essential service; shall be guilty of an offence, whether or not any purpose referred to in paragraph (a),
(b) or (c) is accomplished, and be liable—
A. where the act of insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism results in the death of a person, to be sentenced to death or to imprisonment for life;
B. in any other case, to imprisonment for life.
(2) For the avoidance of doubt, where any act of insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism does not result in any of the consequences referred to in subparagraph (i),
(ii), (iii), (iv) or (v), the competent charge shall be one of attempting to commit an
offence in terms of subsection (1).

15 Publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State
(1) Any person who, whether inside or outside Zimbabwe, publishes or communicates to any other person a statement which is wholly or materially false with the intention or realising that there is a risk or possibility of—
(a) inciting or promoting public disorder or public violence or
endangering public safety; or
(b) adversely affecting the defence or economic interests of Zimbabwe; or
(c) undermining public confidence in a law enforcement agency, the Prison Service or the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe; or
(d) interfering with, disrupting or interrupting any essential service; shall, whether or not the publication or communication results in a consequence referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d), be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
(2) Any person who, whether inside or outside Zimbabwe and whether with or without the intention or realisation referred to in subsection (1), publishes or communicates to any other person a statement which is wholly or materially false and
which—
(a) he knows to be false; or
(b) he does not have reasonable grounds for believing to be true; shall, if the publication or communication of the statement—
(i) promotes or incites public disorder or public violence or endangers public safety; or
(ii) adversely affects the defence or economic interests of Zimbabwe; or
(iii) undermines public confidence in a law enforcement agency, the
Prison Service or the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe; or
(iv) interferes with, disrupts or interrupts any essential service; shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding 100 thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

16 Undermining authority of or insulting President
(1) In this section—
“publicly”, in relation to making a statement, means—
(a) making the statement in a public place or any place to which the
public or any section of the public have access;
(b) publishing it in any printed or electronic medium for reception by the
public;
“statement” includes any act or gesture.
(2) Any person who publicly and intentionally—
(a) makes any statement about or concerning the President or an acting President knowing or realising that there is a risk or possibility of—
(i) engendering feelings of hostility towards; or
(ii) causing hatred, contempt or ridicule of; the President or an acting President, whether in person or in respect of his office; or
(b) makes any abusive, indecent, obscene or false statement about or concerning the President or an acting President, whether in respect of his person or his office; shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

25 Regulation of public gatherings
(1) If a regulating authority, having regard to all the circumstances in which a public gathering is taking or is likely to take place, has reasonable grounds for believing that the public gathering will occasion—
(a) public disorder; or
(b) a breach of the peace; or
(c) an obstruction of any thoroughfare; he may, subject to this section, give such directions as appear to him to be reasonably necessary for the preservation of public order and the public peace and preventing or minimising any obstruction of traffic along any thoroughfare.
(2) Without derogation from the generality of subsection (1), directions under that subsection may provide for any of the following matters—
(a) prescribing the time at which the public gathering may commence and its maximum duration;
(b) prohibiting persons taking part in the public gathering from entering any public place specified in the directions;
(c) precautions to be taken to avoid the obstruction of traffic along any thoroughfare;
(d) prescribing the route to be taken by any procession;
(e) requiring the organiser to appoint marshals to assist in the maintenance of order at the public gathering.
(3) Whenever it is practicable to do so, before issuing a direction under subsection (1) a regulating authority shall give the organiser of the public gathering concerned a reasonable opportunity to make representations in the matter.
(4) A direction given under subsection (1) shall have effect immediately it is issued and may be published—
(a) in a newspaper circulating in the area to which the direction applies; or
(b) by notices distributed among the public or affixed upon public buildings in the area to which the direction applies; or
(c) by announcement of a police officer broadcast or made orally.
Provided that, where practicable, the regulating authority shall ensure that the direction is reduced to writing and served on the organiser of the public gathering to which it relates.

At face value some of the laws sound rational but it they have been applied so selectively against Zanu PF opponents that they have become synonymous with repression.

Section 121 of CPEA[CAP 9:07] has been a favourite of the AG in denying freedom for accused MDC activists and has never been invoked against the granting of bail to any known Zanu PF connected criminal since it was legislated.

Section 46 of the LOMA [CAP 11:07] and or POSA [CAP11:17] that criminalises the undermining or insulting of the President and or his office including the Acting President for whatever reason is outrageously repressive.

There are political reasons that an active political player like a President who calls opponents puppets, frogs, tea boys, chematamas, harlots, tsuro mageng’a’s, ignoramuses’ and any derogatory terms he can think of for political expediency cannot be legally protected when competitors for his office hit back at him with derogatory name calling of equal or greater measure.

In any event by contesting for and accepting appointment to the highest public office in the country and drawing income from taxpayers’ funds the President must accept accountability to the taxpayers and their expression of public indignation with his performance including the chiding all other employees get from their employers.

An abusive employee cannot expect his/her employers to take the abuse in silence and worse craft sign work rules barring the employers from evaluating his/her performance.

POSA [CAP11:17] section 15 that criminalises publication of falsehoods has been used against journalists from privately owned media houses yet it is the State owned media that churns out shameless lies and falsehoods in each and every issue.

It cannot be disputed that each and every Zanu PF MP has at some point shouted the party slogan;
“Pasi ne zvimbwasungata zveMDC (Down with the MDC puppets)” and thus incited public violence.

But none have been arrested for that obvious breach of this section of the law.

The recent indigenization regulations published by the Minister of Youth Indigenization and Empowerment have been admitted to be erroneous and needing of amendment yet they have caused economic alarm and despondency globally and damaged the reputation of the country yet he is still walking free after the false and alarming publication.

Jonathan Moyo and his renowned team of Zanu PF propagandists planted in State Media houses have been dishing out damaging open lies through ZBH and Zimpapers yet none have been arrested for that.

Only the Freelancers and Privately owned Scribes have been arrested and incarcerated for long periods without trial only to be exonerated by the courts whenever their cases make it to the courts.

The other clauses we all know against whom they have been applied don’t we?

Dr Simba Makoni, Mr Job Sikhala, Mr Dumiso Dabengwa, Prof Arthur Mutambara and Pastor Timothy Chiguvare show that Zimbabwe poised for another election

By Hatirebwi Nathaniel Masikati

MDC99 interim leader Job Sikhala and PPP leader Pastor Timothy Chiguvare. Are these the latest ponies in the Zimbabwe political landscape willing to further divide the democratic movement against the conservative Zanu PF party?


It is easy to determine the imminence of an election in Zimbabwe. The panic behaviours of political weasels and opportunists is the most consistent barometer on which to measure when elections are likely in the country.

Current and prospective leaders of the minor political formations that often mushroom or are resuscitated at each election only to vanish into obscurity immediately thereafter, indicate when elections are likely in the country.

It appears Zimbabwe is closer to elections than most of us suspect if the scramble for publicity in the minor parties and the emergence of new political formations is anything to go by.

The more resilient and most fortunate of the mediocre formations has been the MDC-M led by Professor Arthur Mutambara.

Following the split of the MDC national council on 12 October 2005 a faction loyal to then MDC Secretary General (SG) Professor Welshman Ncube felt it was academically and ideologically more sophisticated to be led by founding Party President Morgan Tsvangirai now Prime Minister and broke away.

The renegade faction invited Professor Mutambara who hitherto was not even a member of the party to take over its leadership and retained the name, emblem, regalia and slogan of the original party promising to rebrand after consolidating its position in the disputed Senate elections.

Unfortunately it did not perform as well as it thought it would and the rebranding initiative was shelved to until after the next general elections where the renegades leadership felt the formation had a better chance of gauging its strength and consolidate its grassroots support and lay claim of owning the goodwill of the divided party.

They were humiliated by the faction that remained behind the founding President’s leadership and all talk of rebranding was shelved as it became evident that without the name MDC the faction was a nonentity.

Despite the humiliating defeat it suffered in the March 2008 the faction of renegades now referred to as the MDC-M or MDC- PF to link it to its leader and its alliances and reliance on Zanu PF for political relevance, the formation remained visible courtesy of its invitation to the inter-party talks that produced the coalition government that over rewarded the faction with Ministerial positions and the 2nd Deputy Premiership now occupied by its leader.

With his insider knowledge of the coalition government Deputy Premier and MDC-PF leader Professor Mutambara was the first to panic at the realisation that both Zanu PF and MDC-T were in advanced preparedness for the elections to foreclose the coalition government tenure of office.

He slammed both the MDC-T and Zanu PF leaders for embarking on the elections course to wind up the coalition government citing continued existence of the un-conducive and uneven political and electoral landscape as well as opinion polls pointing to a landslide 88% victory for MDC-T if free and fair elections are staged.

He was forced to recoil and announce his formation’s preparedness for the elections by a barrage of accusations that he was bent on prolonging the lifespan of the coalition government for political expediency as he realised his formation had no chance of winning any seats in the next Parliament.

Taking a cue from that revived Zapu interim leader Dumiso Dabengwa joined the fray and demanded the holding of elections to wind up the Sadc and AU imposed coalition government that he accused of failing to deliver on its agreed targets and endless power bickering within its ranks.

The Zapu message resonates well with public sentiment in the country where hopes
that were raised by the reduction to near cessation of violence and stabilisation of the economy following the formation of the coalition government have been dampened by the failure to improve the economy and living standards due to unfulfilled GPA promises.

But the same public is all too aware that Zapu has no chance whatsoever of winning the elections and is just there as a spoiler party.

Mavambo Kusile Dawn (MKD) formation that has been dogged by its leader’s failure to make a clean break with his Zanu PF origins and the squabbles for control of party assets that saw Dabengwa withdrawing his crucial support for the formation and crossing over to revive Zapu as well as the delay in the party’s launch has also come out with guns blazing.

Like the Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa, the disputed MKD leader Dr Simba Makoni has added his overrated political voice to the call for the winding up of the coalition government and the holding of elections to allow the Zimbabwe electorate to settle the leadership paralysis in the coalition government once and for all.

He even went further to suggest that people must engage in orange style protest marches against the coalition government for its failure to address bread and butter issues confronting the generality of the populace while the parties involved concentrate on fights for power consolidation.

The MKD and Zapu leadership has a long association with Zanu PF at very senior levels and deeply mistrusted by the majority of impoverished Zimbabweans who are at a loss as to why they never stood up for the ordinary people when their former party went on a rampage against innocent citizens.

The duo is also remembered for voting in favour of draconian legislation that centralised power in the Presidency and criminalised economic entrepreneurship, freedom of expression and association and the rights to demonstrate against government excesses.

It is this reputation that makes them sound disingenuous and hard to believe when they attack the MDC-T for being power mongers when they are known to have abused power in the past.

But perhaps more telling about how close the country is to the next elections is the emergence of two rag tag political formations MDC99 and People’s progressive
Party (PPP) led by Job Sikhala and Pastor Timothy Chiguvare respectively.

Most Zimbabweans are used to the mushrooming of these hazy political outfits whenever elections are about to be staged and are not surprised at the development and even expect more to emerge shortly.

The problem these fly by night opportunistic political formations face is that the Zimbabwe electorate is no longer that easy to dupe and confuse as MDC-PF and MKD will vouch.

The Zanu PF strategy of sponsoring new parties to split the opposition vote which has always exceeded the Zanu PF popularity vote is nothing new to the electorate and the scramble for visibility gripping the obscure party formations is indicative of the intense competition for Zanu PF support in the fringe parties.

The more they denounce Zanu PF the greater their chance of receiving gagging funding from the party to tone down and direct opposition at the MDC-T to split its vote.

Announcing the formation of a new political formation in Zimbabwe at this time is ill advised and naive.

The next election is unlikely to be fought so much over issues and ideologies as it is going to be a dogfight for survival by Zanu PF.

Zanu PF refused to accept the verdict of the people in the last election and bulldozed itself into a commanding role in the coalition government none of the other two partners wanted to share with it.

After that the party has consistently thumped its nose at the electorate by deliberately refusing to implement crucial clauses of the GPA and grabbing whatever power it could even when such power was logically supposed to be under MDC-T nominees to the cabinet to exercise.

Zanu PF will have to find new methods of compelling people to vote for it given its intransigence in the coalition government and the likelihood that traditional reliance on violence may be curtailed by the restructured electoral commission, re-oriented Police Force whose loyalties may have shifted away from Zanu PF invincibility and an electorate that is better prepared to deal with the violence.

Added to this the fact that the other parties that will contest the elections have been in government during which time they have developed acquaintances with key law enforcers and will have a real say in the management of the electoral system may just prove disadvantageous for Zanu PF used to monopolising the electoral system and rigging it unsupervised.

The issues that have dominated the past elections like sanctions, national sovereignty, economic meltdown, land ownership, constitutional reforms have been significantly reconfigured by developments during the tenure of the coalition government and will not feature as highly as they did in last elections.

One issue that will come to the fore is the indigenisation of the economy and it is a battle Zanu PF is unlikely to win given its performance on the land question.

Whenever the election will be held which appears not to be in the not too distant future Zanu PF appear to have a steeper slope to climb than the MDC-T.
As for the mushrooming opportunistic formations the crumps from the main political table will be too little to give them any significant gains.

Certainly none will fare any better than the MDC-PF did in the March 2008 elections and most will not even salvage their deposits.

.

The lamentations of Professor Jonathan Moyo and George Charamba

By Hatirebwi Nathaniel Masikati

Media information and Publicity Secretary George Charamba and Zanu PF Thsolotsho North  MP Jonathan Moyo trying their best to justify  lost causes.

IF there is one thing that is going to seal the fate of the Zanu PF, it is the association it has with egghead Professor Jonathan Moyo and Presidential Spokesman and Information and Publicity Secretary George Charamba aka Nathaniel Manheru.

For some unknown reason Professor Moyo still behaves as the Zanu PF national spokesman. For all we know Professor Moyo is the Zanu PF (MP) for Tsholotsho North Constituency by default and Central Committee Member by adoption following his decision to rejoin the Party that had parted ways with him in 2005.

Since rejoining Zanu PF Professor Moyo has been given the insurmountable task of proving his loyalty to the Party he left in acrimonious circumstances that saw him throwing brickbats at the Presidium which require some form of restitution on his part for him to be pardoned.

Professor Moyo’s readmission to the Zanu PF ranks was made conditional on him undertaking never to show public disrespect or opposition to the Party elders and delivering the promised split of the MDC-T before the next elections.

The second test is proving much harder to overcome for the egghead Professor who thought he had infiltrated the party enough during his stint as a pseudo Independent MP.

He had forged links with MDC-M rebels that had won him their trust to the point of them joining him in a frivolous and vexatious legal petition to nullify the election of MDC-T’s Lovemore Moyo as the Parliamentary Speaker.

He was also in talking terms with several MDC-T MP’s whom he believed he could count on to help him saw seeds of disunity in the MDC-T that would result in the 2005 style split that rocked the MDC following infiltration by the CIO.

That support has not been forthcoming. Unrestrained access to the State Media that he prioritized as the only tool he required to divide the MDC-T was granted and has given him all the space he requires to execute his task of dismantling the MDC-T unity to no avail.

Professor Moyo’s obsession with media propaganda as a tool for political power acquisition and consolidation is legendary and knows no bounds.

As Information and Publicity Minister from 2000 to 2005 he managed to abuse his authority and shut down several privately owned and foreign media houses from broadcasting from the country.

He also crafted the most repressive laws and regulatory infrastructure that the State has and is still using to gag free dissemination of information.
The one person professor Moyo failed to get the better of through the raft of laws and vitriolic propaganda he churned on State Media was Roy Bennett’s Legal Counsel Beatrice Mtetwa.

The duo clashed in courts and on the streets of Harare with Professor Moyo intending to silence the Humana Rights defender and at each turn coming a cropper.

Professor Moyo’s political debauchery always came to nothing each time he came face to face with Mtetwa and as if fate had it, Beatrice Mtetwa’s and Professor Moyo’s ex-wife were of Swazi origins adding an extra dimension to the duels between the duo.

Instead of openly admitting that he loathes anything that attracts Beatrice Mtetwa’s support or intervention Professor Moyo has always presented his personal vendetta against Mtetwa as political discourse between MDC-T and Zanu PF which is outrageous.

That Professor Moyo’s politics is steeped in the personality syndrome he always accuses the MDC-T of being preoccupied with and not ideology can be gleaned from his obsession with the Mtetwa personality.

Despite his accusations that the MDC-T is preoccupied with personality syndrome and bereft of ‘a coherent and homegrown ideological framework,’ because of as he puts ‘the embattled party’s rather crazy reaction to the appointment of Justice George Chiweshe as Judge President of the High Court of Zimbabwe and its continuing subservience to Roy Bennett and his sickening antics,’ facts on the ground tend to be to the contrary.

Ever since he jumped onto the sinking Zanu PF ship in 1999 Professor Moyo has been on a solo mission to save the political fortunes of one man in Zanu PF that is President Mugabe.

For his personal protection from criminal activities that forced him out of the Ford Foundation in Kenya and the Wits University in South Africa Professor Moyo realised that his last safety enclave was in Zanu PF under the stewardship of President Mugabe and his scorched earth mantra against western nations he had swindled of funds and were baying for his blood.

When Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai led the MDC party to oppose the Zanu PF excesses that had bankrupted the country and impoverished 90% of the citizenry Professor Moyo rallied behind Mugabe’s leadership of Zanu PF and the country notwithstanding the catastrophe the government had caused to the country that even the illiterate were able to see and wanted reversed .

While the MDC was agitating for Mugabe to go as it is still doing to date to pave way for the reconstruction of the country’s democratic governance and economic resuscitation Professor Moyo was and is still crafting legislation to suppress citizens and pushing for Mugabe to remain in office to derail implementation of policy programmes to benefit ordinary people.

It was the MDC-T that in the national interest to stop the economic hemorrhaging that Zanu PF had subjected the nation, decided to surrender an election victory and work with the vanquished Mugabe and Zanu PF in a coalition government that was imposed by SADC and the AU following refusal by Zanu PF apologists to concede electoral defeat.

The MDC-T realised that in order for the country not to slide into military dictatorship and Junta rule it had to accept working with the defacto Junta leader Mugabe and make his involvement part of the solution to avert a bloodbath for political power in the country that was economically ravaged and where the majority of the people were left with no other solution than to fight for survival.

Oblivious of this people centered consideration on the part of the MDC-T, Professor Moyo believes the MDC-T acknowledges Mugabe as a solution to the country’s problems because of his leadership skills when to the contrary he is being acknowledged or his reckless and uncaring vindictiveness that could cause more harm than good if he is excluded from an undeserved political seat.

The pragmatic ideology that guides the MDC-T in accepting to work with a failed President Mugabe in a transitional period such as the coalition government is ample evidence of the political depth in the party as it has managed to weigh consequences of refusing to accommodate the ruthless dictator to the lives of ordinary citizens of the country.

The reason why the majority of MDC-T cabinet ministers now openly admit that it is a privilege that history has been kind to give them the rare opportunity to work under an iconic African dictator with a towering global disrepute of Mugabe is because they now have insider knowledge of how he became a dictator and who is behind his ruthlessness and more importantly how they can push him out without exposing the populace to danger.

After the formation of the coalition Government last year, Zanu PF relying on advice from morons like Professor Moyo’s Patrick Chinamasa, Tofataona Mahoso, Johannes Tomana, Godfrey Chidyausiku, Mariyawanda Nzuwah, George Chiweshe, Godfrey Chidyausiku and George Charamba etal tried everything possible to cause the MDC-T to pull out of the coalition government that was beginning to make a positive difference to the lives of the ordinary citizens by breaching the transitional Constitutional amendments.

President Mugabe has been and is still being ill advised to act unilaterally in making appointments of failed performers like Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, Attorney General Johannes Tomana and the Provincial Governors notwithstanding that the party entered into an agreement that is tacit and unambiguous on what he should do during the tenure of the coalition to ensure proper winding up of the SADC and AU transitional arrangements for the country.

m ’s negative politics of personalities and positions shifted away from President Mugabe and focused on the positions of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Attorney-General respectively with cacophonic calls that "(Gideon0 Gono must go" which the party alternated with "(Johannes) Tomana must go".

Provincial Governors are not are part of the coalition government President’s office in terms of our Constitution, relevant laws and practice but rather as a result of their inclusion in Constitutional Amendment No 19 which removed their seats from Parliament to the Senate and required the president to make the appointments in terms of the coalition agreement which restricts him to consulting and agreeing with the other principals before effecting such appointments.

But because Professor Moyo is obsessed with the personality that is the President and has a mission to accomplish to achieve total acceptance in Zanu PF he still believes albeit wrongly that the President is above the law and can act unilaterally in such appointments even when the appointments are unconstitutional and there is no precedent coalition government practice to fall back on.


What has reduced outstanding GPA issues, to ‘a pathetic discourse about personalities and positions with nothing in it for the struggling masses,’ is not because they are MDC-T afterthoughts since signing the GPA on 15 September 2008 but rather the distraught the refusal by Zanu PF to live by the spirit and letter of the agreement has caused by delaying realisation of the quick recovery of the economy the population was hoping would accrue from the agreement.

Indeed many elements now regret that they squandered their vote on Prime Minister Tsvangirai and the MDC-T party on March 29, 2008 but not because the Premier and the MDC-T has failed them but rather because they have accommodated an ungrateful and ruthless dictator and Zanu PF to do as he pleases in the coalition government that is supposed to make their lives better but failing because of the Zanu PF intransigency.

That is why many are eagerly waiting for the Constitution reform initiative to be completed and give them a chance to vote against the undeserving Zanu PF delinquents in the coalition government.

Unlike Zanu PF, MDC-T politics is not about prescriptive, unworkable and outmoded Marxist socialist ideologies, policies and like minded personalities and their positions but rather globally compliant democratic practices that permit the citizens to direct the government towards the goals that will benefit the populace.

No wonder that the party has a zero tolerance on unilateralism and rewarding of total and fatal incompetents as epitomized by the scandalous manner in which President Mugabe unconstitutionally appointed George Chiweshe to the position of Judge President of the High Court on the recommendation of the Judicial Services Commission without consulting the two other coalition government principals which is required of him by CA No 19.

Whatever requirements the law imposes on the Judicial Services Commission to discharge its functions without any influence from any authority, they do not override or preclude the amended Constitutional requirement for the President to consult his other principals before effecting such appointments.

As it stands the recent unilateral appointment of Judges by President Mugabe remains unconstitutional regardless of the numbers he so appointed.
Professor Moyo’s obsession with the politics of personalities and not the MDC-T’s becomes evident in the homage he pays President Mugabe for appointing George Chiweshe and the flowery praise he showers on Chiweshe’s suitability for the position of Judge President of the High Court.
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“It’s just personal about Chiweshe in the typical fashion of MDC-T politics of personalities and positions.

The unacceptably ridiculous message from MDC-T is that Justice Chiweshe should not be Judge President because he is a former Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

It is common cause that before serving as Chairperson of ZEC, Justice Chiweshe was a judge of the High Court of Zimbabwe based in Bulawayo and that he served in that capacity with distinction. This means he is a qualified and experienced judge with no blemish on the bench. Full stop.

The record will also show that it is Justice Chiweshe who presided over the March 29, 2008 general election, which arguably stands as the freest and fairest election ever held in Zimbabwe.

There is no serious minded person who can challenge this fact in terms of what happened in the run up, the organisation and the conduct of that election and still hope to be taken seriously.

Yes, there were problems after the March 29, 2008 election but they had nothing to do with ZEC or Justice Chiweshe.

In the main, the post March 29, 2008 election problems emanated from the fact that the founders and funders of the MDC-T wanted ZEC under Justice Chiweshe to unlawfully declare Tsvangirai as the winner of the presidential election when everyone, including idiots, who observed knew only too well that there was no outright winner in terms of the law requiring the victor to have 50 percent plus one; meaning that a runoff election had to be held by law.

The idea that Tsvangirai should have won an election that he did not contest is so absurd that it is better left without any comment.

So what then is the MDC-T’s fuss over Justice Chiweshe’s appointment all about?

Well, you do not have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out.

As a foreign founded and funded political party, the MDC-T does not want an independent minded judge who is wholly grounded in the Zimbabwean national experience and who is above brown-envelope justice to administer the High Court.

The truth of the matter based on his professional experience is that Justice Chiweshe, whose qualification as a judge is beyond question, is incorruptible and the MDC-T does not like people like that because its British and American founders and funders foolishly believe that their dirty money can buy anything, everything and everyone in Zimbabwe, especially in the judiciary, the media and security organs of the state which have been targeted as brick walls against regime-change.

The fact that Tsvangirai took the advice of the founders and funders of his party to violate our electoral law by ‘‘boycotting’’ the June 27, 2008 presidential runoff election cannot rationally be blamed on Justice Chiweshe or ZEC. There comes a time when we must all carry our own crosses and that applies to Tsvangirai, his MDC-T and its founders and funders.

In the meantime life must go on.

The irreversible reality done without prejudice is that Justice Chiweshe is the Judge President of the High Court of Zimbabwe as an expression of a selection by the Judicial Service Commission, which President Mugabe has accepted and implemented. That is the end of that story, the rest is the future,” eulogized Professor Moyo for a personality called George Chiweshe.

Anyone as good as the egghead Professor projects George Chiweshe would be an asset that the country can ill afford to put to waste and thus deserving the appointment.

So why did the President decide not to take this unrivalled candidate to his co-principals with these arguments and seek their endorsement of his appointment?

George Chiweshe was appointed to his position on the recommendation of a Judicial Services Commission whose neutrality is questionable. What with the likes of self confessed Zanu PF functionaries like AG Johannes Tomana, public Service Commission Chairman Mariyawanda Nzuwah and Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku pulling strings in the Commission that is complimented by two others from the Law Society whose names are not disclosed.

The position he has been appointed to is not about qualifications alone but also his relevant experience in dealing with national issues that require the incumbent to have demonstrated unbiased leadership.

It is that experience that disqualifies Chiweshe regardless of how well academically qualified he was for the position.

The relevance of his experience as an army Brigadier in an army whose commanders relied on his legal advice to pronounce that they will only accept a straight jacket President with Liberation War credentials is a major stain on his reputation.

The admission that under Chiweshe’s stewardship at ZEC Zimbabwe held peaceful elections whose results could not be announced because of a participant party’s foreign handlers interferences is the very reason why he should never be made a crucial gatekeeper of our sovereign institutions like Judge President of the High Court if he cannot make decisions in the face of foreign interferences.

If the election was as peaceful and as well managed as professor Moyo credits George Chiweshe why did it take him and his ZEC 35 days to count less than 5million ballots and announce the outcome?

Why was it not possible to stage the Presidential runoff in the stipulated 21days after the initial election and how legal was the Statutory Instrument that set aside an Act of Parliament that he allowed to be used in staging the June 28 presidential runoff election?

What distinguished him as a Bulawayo High court Judge when it is known that he sentenced MDC political activists for trivial cases while he never sentenced the violent Zanu PF mobsters who assaulted opponents in the 2001 and 2005 elections?

If his distinguished service is measured in terms of selective application of justice then we must agree with Professor Moyo.

But it is obvious that President Mugabe and his advisors were aware of the unsuitability for the key post in the coalition government and decided the best remedy was to ignore the Constitution and appoint thereby creating a constitutional impediment in the coalition government that will buy time for Zanu PF to think ways of regrouping.

That is why Professor Moyo and George Charamba are now in overdrive with propaganda in support of the illegal appointment of George Chiweshe and the other judges and can afford to publish drivel like;

“The irreversible reality done without prejudice is that Justice Chiweshe is the Judge President of the High Court of Zimbabwe as an expression of a selection by the Judicial Service Commission, which President Mugabe has accepted and implemented. That is the end of that story; the rest is the future,”

As for Professor Moyo’s preoccupation with the personality that Roy Bennett is we can only conclude that it is in defence of his friends Chinamasa and Tomana’s source of income as well as his fear of Beatrice Mtetwa that drives him to insanity.

Both Professor Moyo and George Charamba are literate enough to understand the meaning of this preamble to Schedule 8 of our constitution and must stop displaying the kind of public ignorance they are projecting in the name of defending the indefensible.

For the avoidance of doubt we repeat the preamble to schedule 8 hereunder;
“For the avoidance of doubt, the following provisions of the Interparty Political Agreement, being Article XX thereof, shall, during the subsistence of the Interparty Political Agreement, prevail notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Constitution-“

Zanu PF Panic and pandemonium

By Hatirebwi Nathaniel Masikati

The Zanu PF supreme leader has gone to sleep and is implementing dreams he has for his party forgetting he has Constitutional responsibilities to execute

As some of the political gains of the MDC-T’s entry into the coalition government start to bear fruit Zanu PF finds itself in the unenviable position where it has to find a way to avoid an imminent crashing defeat at the polls likely to be held in the next 18 months.

This is no mean task for a party that has hitherto known no other means of winning elections other than through electoral rigging and violence.

The Constitutional reform juggernaut that the party has tried everything possible to derail is likely to roar into action on June 2010.

There will be huge boulders rolled into its path by desperate Zanu PF supporters wishing away the most threatening coalition government initiative to their Party’s 30 year hegemony on power.

Unfortunately regardless of how intense and well coordinated they will be, the Constitutional reform initiative has gathered enough momentum to crush through any resistance that Zanu PF will mount to its completion.

The Zanu PF party leadership has long resigned to that reality as it has been made clear to them that Sadc and AU will not countenance any attempt by Zimbabwean political parties to derail or defer the democratization processes underway in the country aimed at restoring electoral credibility.

This message was made clear and unambiguous at the meeting of former African Liberation Parties held in Dar es Salaam, from 5 - 7 May 2010.

Ever since that meeting Zanu PF has realised that its days in government are numbered unless it mounts a credible and convincing violent free election campaign.

Preferably Zanu PF would like to get to the polls as the sole party in government such that it will have the monopoly of staging elections and advantages of unsupervised rigging thereof.

Zanu PF believes the reconstituted Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will not be in efficient enough to detect its established and complex election rigging methodologies other than violence and media space denials for opponents.

Zanu PF is not unduly worried about the raft of changes in the Media and Electoral Commissions that are under the ministries headed by its Ministers who will neutralize them if need be.

The Zanu PF focus is on how to weaken the MDC-T structurally and project it as an ideologically bankrupt party in the eyes of its multitudes of supporters.

On the legal side of matters it has been resolved that the Electoral Court must be onside for Zanu PF and the Judge President being the head of that Court will play a crucial role as witnessed in past electoral challenges hence the appointment of Justice George Chiweshe to that position.

Other unilateral appointments and vitiations of Constitutional Amendment No19 are in the grand scheme of the Zanu PF campaign to divert the MDC-T attention from pursuing the democratization agenda as its hands are tied with disputes in the coalition government power sharing modalities.

Zanu PF wants the disputes to cause the MDC-T to pull out of the coalition now that the transitional political arrangement is heading into the home stretch of what it was conceived to achieve and there will be no time to replace it other than through a Zanu PF managed election.

On its part the MDC-T is fully aware of this Zanu PF strategy to exclude it from managing the staging of the next elections and is working behind the scenes to ensure that election rules will not give Zanu PF sole responsibility for staging elections.

The fact that the President is mandated to set the next election date in consultation with the coalition government principals is causing butterflies in Zanu PF who would rather the President retains previous monopoly in fixing election dates.

That is why Zanu PF has now thrown all caution to the wind and is openly breaching the coalition government constitution to test the waters ahead of the planned unilateral election decisions the President will be asked to make.

If the MDC-T is not careful and does not act with speed to stop the current wave of unilateral actions on the part of the President it will be face with the reality that the President will call for an election next year the results of the constitutional reform process notwithstanding.

Forget all these sidelining events emerging from the coalition government because they are Zanu PF political ruse that can be corrected by the next government.

What is critical for now is for the MDC-T to keep Zanu PF as occupied with its decoy politics of unilateralism while the party works hard to craft laws and rules that will govern the conduct of the next elections and close the Zanu PF rigging avenues.

In that regard Gorge Chiweshe’s appointment as Head of the Electoral Court must be fought on every turf available and he should never be allowed to have a role in managing elections again after his failure in 2008.

All the noises about unilateralism are justified from the MDC-T but more importantly it is the action that will show the nation that President Mugabe is not as free to act as he has hitherto portrayed himself to be and there is no better signal than a Parliamentary challenge of his unilateralism of late.

That will exacerbate the panic and pandemonium gripping the party of geriatrics at present.

Emmerson Mnangagwa so little to show for strenuous effort

Emmerson Mnangagwa right and trusted advisor Professor Jonathan Moyo facing uphill task to retain relevance in Zanu PF

Emmerson Mnangagwa’s political life in Zanu PF has been characterised with lethargic failure at the last hurdle in similar fashion to the history of the Zimbabwe men’s National soccer team.

Here is the men that was entrusted with transforming the allegiances of the notoriously Rhodesia Front compromised Central Intelligence Office into the subservient and most dreaded Zanu PF military intelligence unit now masquerading as the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) to show how well thought of and trusted he was within Zanu PF at the attainment of Independence from colonial rule.

Even now he still holds the all too powerful position of Minister of Defence in the coalition government the first Ministry Zanu PF declared was to be under the stewardship of a minister nominated by the party.

But it’s not all gold that glitters when it comes to Mnangagwa’s political career in Zanu PF.


One touted the heir apparent to Robert Mugabe as the President of Zanu PF following the elimination of pretenders Edgar Tekere, the late Dr. Edison Zvobgo, Kumbirai Kangai and Dr Simba Makoni due to a combination of alcoholism, exhibited cowardice to challenge Mugabe for the top post in the party, corrupt tendencies and immaturity of all and some of the early favourites.

Mnangagwa enjoyed unrivalled opportunity to succeed Mugabe until a certain motor mouth Professor with an unequalled reputation for political turn coating advised him on how to get there resulting in the still birth of the infamous Thsolotsho declaration.

Mnangagwa must rue the day he ever trusted Professor Jonathan Moyo as his political misfortunes seem to increase whenever he listens to the highly regarded political scientist.

Professor Moyo’s reputation defies all logic like the Dream Team Warriors under Reinard Fabisch who remain highly regarded despite failing to win any trophies and or reaching final stages of any major international competition.

He has been making preposterous postulations about the fortunes of the country’s major political parties and when the outcomes failed to materialize he would not explore why but rather embark on a sycophantic attack of the party leadership that in his opinion failed his wayward postulations.

His return to Zanu PF to advise Mnangagwa on how to position himself as the next Zanu PF President has ended in misery of similar magnitude to Thsolotsho debacle that he had promised to atone for to Mnangagwa.

After the Tsholotsho declaration Mnangagwa who was gunning for the second vice Presidency of the party of geriatrics which he lost to Joice Mujuru was consoled with a demotion to rural Housing Minister by a disappointed Mugabe who does not take kindly to open challenges to his leadership of the party.

Professor Moyo was unceremoniously booted out of the Party and relieved of his all powerful position in government as Minister of Information and Publicity forcing him to revolt and contest elections as an Independent and won leaving Zanu PF with egg all over its face.

Mnangagwa mounted a fervent comeback campaign without the disgraced Professor and managed to piece together his tattered political career through leading the vicious Presidential runoff election campaign with Patrick Chinamasa who was his confidante during the Thsolotsho debacle and had been defeated in Parliamentary elections for Makoni Central by an MDC-T political novice the late John Nyamande who had been exiled in the UK for 7 years before the March 2008 elections.

Mnangagwa was this time handsomely rewarded with promotion to Defence Minister and for his troubles Chinamasa retained the Justice Ministry in the coalition government.

Professor Moyo who had banked on an MDC –T electoral victory to bounce back into the government was left in limbo when the vicious Presidential runoff campaign resulted in a farcical outcome as the MDC-T withdrew leading contender Morgan Tsvangirai from the race at the last minute citing conditions that were not conducive for a credible election that Mnangagwa and Chinamasa aided by the Military Commanders had masterminded.

The promotion gave him traction in the succession battles within Zanu PF and he moved swiftly to take advantage of strained relations between vice President Joice Mujuru and President Mugabe over the failed bid by the latter to extent his Presidential term to 2010 without facing a programmed and Constitutional election contest in 2008.

Suddenly there was buzz that Mnangagwa had reasserted himself as lead contender to succeed Mugabe when he retires as Zanu PF President after the coalition government term elapses within the GPA provisions.

That buzz was supported by the party’s restructuring exercises where party functionaries sympathetic to Mnangagwa seemed to be securing positions ahead of those sympathetic to VP Mujuru whose husband is the unrivalled kingmaker in Zanu PF.

Although this time around like in 2005 there was a contest for the 2nd Vice Presidency of Zanu PPF following the death of VP Joseph Msika, the contest was restricted to former Zapu members in tandem with the coerced 1987unity accord between Zanu PF and PF Zapu that resulted in the party being known as Zanu PF as it is today.

Still Mnangagwa had an opportunity to back a replacement VP who would create space for him to realise his not so transparent ambition to succeed Mugabe.

Mnangagwa like many other seasoned politicians within and outside Zanu PF knew that party Chairman John Nkomo was the most strategically positioned candidate to replace the late Msika and he moved to cement relationships with the Chairman provided the Chairman would also back him up on his preferred to succeed him.

It was all going smoothly until Professor Moyo jumped onto the rollercoaster and strained Mnangagwa’s relationship with Nkomo.

For strategic reasons Nkomo did not signal his displeasure at the Mnangagwa/Moyo alliance but worked behind the scenes to ensure a chairman other than one preferred by Mnangagwa and Moyo would succeed him in the likely event he was nominated for the Vice Presidency of the Party.

It did not make sense that while Mnangagwa was making overtures in support of Nkomo’s Presidency his strongholds of Masvingo and the Midlands Provinces were not openly supporting that bid and were instead rooting for Oppah Muchinguri to oust Joice Mujuru from the Vice Presidency and supporting Nkomo’s competitors for the other Vice Presidency spot reserved for former ZAPU cadres.

When nominations eventually were returned by the provinces it turned out that Mnangagwa and his astute advisor professor Moyo had been routed.

Mugabe whose nomination for the Presidency was forgone given the fear that grips his potential challengers to stand against him within the party was nominated uncontested by the 10 provinces and is duly elected and just awaiting ratification of party congress in December.

Joice Mujuru was nominated by 8 of the 10 provinces while Muchinguri got the support of one province Masvingo and the remaining province, Midlands played the wait and see game before announcing whom it would back between Mujuru and Muchinguri for VP as well as the John Nkomo, and Didymus Mutasa contest for the other vacant VP position.

In the aftermath of the returns from other provinces it is unlikely the Midlands will want to swim against the tide and even if it did Mnangagwa and his advisors have the onerous task of changing attitudes between now and the mid December congress of the party for them to secure the election of the nominees put by Masvingo, Midlands and Manicaland provinces out of the 10 provinces.

It does not help matters that the three opposing provinces are not backing the same candidates and will need to converge on a single candidate first before going out to seek protest votes from provinces supporting the leading contestants if at all they will not be forced to withdraw the nominations before the congress convenes.

It may not explode right away but Mnangagwa must be seething with anger at the curse to his political career of associating with Professor Jonathan Moyo.

Rumours that Professor Moyo has been earmarked for the powerful position of National Commissar may also fail to materialize if Nkomo and Mujuru team up against Mnangagwa and vent their anger on Moyo who is not a favourite of the likely VP’s.

Mnangagwa must know that what goes around comes around or as it is more succinctly put in Shona “Chisi hachiyeri musi wacharimwa.”

Those dreadful acts he led and coordinated in the vicious Presidential runoff election for the sole purpose of ingratiating himself with Mugabe are going to be negatively rewarded by the very party he worked so hard to sustain but using uncouth methods.

Mugabe deception knows no nation or self

Robert Gabriel Mugabe the SADC imposed Zimbabwe President is an untrustworthy partner in the GPA who is causing the delays in implementation of the agreement he says he understands the meaning of.

Stung by the partial disengagement of the MDC-T from the coalition government laboriously worked out to legitimize his continued tenure as Zimbabwe’s President octogenarian Robert Mugabe bared his anguish over the development at the “Heroes Acre” interment of the late Zanu PF Senator Misheck Chando.

The supposedly National burial shrine for Zimbabwe’s outstanding life achievers that has bees desecrated by its reservation as a burial place for Zanu PF loyalists who participated in the Liberation war against British colonists no matter how mediocre their contribution was, has become the most convenient rallying ground for President Mugabe.

With his party in turmoil and having lost all credibility as a democrat after his antics following defeat in the March 2008 Presidential elections by the coalition government Premier Morgan Tsvangirai Mugabe is no longer able to attract the crowds he used to pull to Zanu PF rallies throughout the country other than at the Heroes acre.

After MDC-T announced its partial disengagement from dealings with Zanu PF in the Council Of Ministers and Cabinet to force compliance with implementation of outstanding GPA issues, President Mugabe and his party propagandists fell over each other to trivialise the move as a none event.

President Mugabe has convened two Cabinet meetings attended only by Zanu PF and MDC-M nominees in the coalition Cabinet and pretended that it was business as usual in Cabinet notwithstanding the boycott by MDC-T nominated Ministers.

But coalition government business will never be business as usual without MDC-T participation and after the 2nd successive week boycott of Cabinet by those Ministers panic gripped Zanu PF and they started singing the discordant song about sanctions being the main outstanding GPA issue still to be addressed and President Mugabe mulling appointment of Acting Ministers in place of those boycotting Cabinet to ensure decisions reached are implemented.

The death of the late Senator Chando provided Mugabe the perfect opportunity to speak publicly in front of a captive audience about his anguish over the MDC-T disengagement initiative.

The MDC has demanded that for it to re-engage Zanu PF in the coalition government organs it is boycotting President Mugabe must forthwith implement agreed GPA issues and bring to finality outstanding implementation issues that include;
 Swearing in of Roy Bennett as Deputy Minister of Agriculture
 Swearing in of the 5 MDC-T nominated and 1 MDC- M Provincial Governors
 Reversal of the unilateral appointments of the Attorney General and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor by President Mugabe
 Appointment of the Media, Human Rights and Electoral commissions as per recommendations from Parliament.
 Cessation of punitive judicial persecution of MP’s and activists on party political considerations and
 Cessation of hate publication and hostile press coverage of the party in State Media.

But Mugabe having become accustomed to having his way against feeble and mediocre political challengers since he became head of State in 1980 has become delusional and believes he is the benchmark of political integrity in the country.

His political life has been such a massive lie that he is now convinced he is not just the benchmark of ethical politicking but also the champion of political correctness and ethical practice when to the contrary most Zimbabweans see him as a desperate political despot with unrivalled inclination towards dictatorship.

This was aptly demonstrated in his eulogy at the graveside of the late Senator Misheck Chando on Saturday 31 October 2009.

"Even if some person is not mentally stable he is still your partner,” he stated in reference to his coalition government relationship with Premier Morgan Tsvangirai.

Most Zimbabweans believe it is Mugabe who has lost his mind and not the Premier he was denigrating

"We bound ourselves to work together even though we had disparate positions. We will continue talking, no matter what,"

Mugabe believes that the bond between him and his Zanu PF Party on hand and the MDC-T in particular is to work together only if he is allowed to appoint his loyalists to key government positions without them having a say in who should be appointed.

He is deranged into the belief that working together with the MDC means he can flagrantly refuse to swear in nominees from other parties in the coalition government, selectively order the arrest and persecution of Ministers MP’s and activists from any other coalition partners’ formations, allow the State owned media to retain information dissemination monopoly and spread heresy against Zanu PF competitors and opponents alike, renege on written agreements between Zanu PF and any other party as and when he deems it fit to do so and use State power to deny access to anything Stately for opponents of Zanu PF.

That is the extent of the delusion that informs Mugabe to act as he often does. He believes that he has the mandate to do as he pleases and does not brook any opposition to his desires.

"There can be disagreement but that's ours to handle," he said. "We are glad we are talking about it.On an odd day, one party decides it should not be fully in the process. It has one leg in, and one leg out and you begin to wonder if you are with people who know what agreement means," Mugabe told the ‘Heroes Acre’ captive audience as he berated his Prime Minister who was conspicuous by his absence from the event because he and his party had not been involved in determining the Hero status bestowed on Chando by the government he supposedly heads.

It beggars belief that a President fails to understand that agreements by their nature impose obligations on parties to the agreement and where a party refuses to live by its obligations it cannot reasonably expect the others to abide by their obligations.

If Mugabe understands the meaning of agreement as he claims to do can he tell the nation on what basis he refuses to swear in a nominee from a party in the coalition government quoting the clause of the GPA that allows him to act as he has done to date over Roy Bennett?

While at it he may as well put the minds of the nation at rest by quoting which clause of the GPA he had signed on 15 September 2008 allowed him to appoint Provincial Governors, the Reserve Bank Governor and the Attorney General without consulting the Premier.

Simply pointing out that he appointed the incumbents because the Premier was not yet in office will not suffice because if that were the case he should have appointed the incumbents in an acting capacity pending the finalization of the Premier’s appointment which was within his realm in terms of the GPA he and his Party had entered into.

Is it the President’s understanding of the 15 September agreement that he entered into with the Premier and Deputy Premier that he could delay the appointment of the Premier to create the excuse for appointing his loyalists into senior positions in government and thereafter the Premier?

If that is the case then it is the President who does not understand the meaning of an agreement if you ask me.

"The countries of Europe and America want to dictate which way our politics should go and they talk about regime change. They want us to go down on our knees and beg. One day we should think about fighting them in the international courts," Mugabe told the nation from the Zanu PF Heroes Acre.

Whenever he has staged elections during his tenure as President it appears Mugabe was not concerned about the electorate choosing a new regime to lead them but rather the electorate endorsing the old regime to continue even if the electorate had misgivings about its competencies.

While there is merit in President Mugabe refusing external interference in initiating regime change in our country it is absolutely ludicrous for him to suggest that it is America and Britain that want regime change in Zimbabwe when there is evidence from elections in which these countries were completely excluded from not just funding but also organizing and observing, that the electorate voted overwhelmingly against Zanu PF and President Mugabe.

Those votes against him and his party are the real demands for regime change that he refused to heed that causes countries like Britain and America to remind him that Zimbabweans demanded regime change that he did not heed and must of necessity take heed if he wants them to recognize his tenure as President’s legitimacy.

After stealing the election and negotiating a regime change convenient to Zanu PF and himself President Mugabe is now failing to live by that agreement and still wants us to believe it is because America and Britain are demanding regime change in Zimbabwe when to the contrary it was before SADC that Zanu PF conceded to the current changed regime order obtaining in the country.

The problem with a delusional Mugabe is that he is afraid that he and his party have lost favour with the electorate and the hard line stance they are publicly displaying is camouflage for deep rooted fear that the Party will lose any election to the MDC-T unless the electorate remains gripped with fear of reprisals like those they witnessed post elections ever since Zanu PF took charge of the governance of our country.

But it is the attempt to portray the Premier and his party as the violators in chief of the GPA that exposes the extent of Mugabe’s derangement.

Zanu PF has lost its political marbles and in Mugabe it carries its greatest liability. Who in his right frame of mind would vote Mugabe for another day in
office as President when he does not even understand why he is currently regarded as such less than a year after he was legitimized by the very GPA he is failing and or deliberately refusing to implement fully.

By reneging on the GPA and holding onto the tired sanctions mantra Mugabe is dragging Zanu PF into the dungeons of political obscurity.

Now he is facing another unsavory experience of explaining himself to Sadc over issues he undertook to implement in writing before them.

His defense that the MDC-T has refused and or failed to get the sanctions lifted is without merit as the MDC was not held accountable for that issue but rather the parties were agreed that sanctions were not necessary but counterproductive to the coalition government’s economic turnaround initiatives and should be lifted.
The major obstacle to the lifting of sanctions is not the MDC-T but rather Zanu PF culture of impunity.

Obviously a President Mugabe who does not understand why his coalition partner is protesting unfulfilled GPA agreements and who does not subscribe to regime change as the only constant in governance will not appreciate what it takes to have the sanctions lifted until he falls prey of the regime change initiative that will conclude the coalition government.

The significance of Ian Makone’s Appointment

The confirmation of Ian Makone’s appointment as Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office and Council of Ministers by the Public Service is a significant step in the rationalization of the bureaucracy and the assertion of the Premier’s power over government functions.

Hitherto the PSC was maintaining close consultation and liaison with Dr Misheck Sibanda in matters relating to Senior Government appointments as the premier’s office had no officially recognized senior civil servant to sit in those consultative meetings and input suggestions and or opposition to some politically inspired appointments that have wormed into the Bureaucracy.

George Charamba aka Nathaniel Manheru had teamed up with Mariyawanda Nzuwah, Austin Zvoma and Dr Sibanda to exploit the void and push through appointments that many saw as Zanu PF inclined.

With the appointment of Makone all matters to do with senior Civil servants appointment will now be subject to him vetting the applicants and satisfying himself that they are on merit rather than political considerations.

The Premier’s Office was conceived in February this year and was not part of the bureaucracy. There are many administrative procedures that the aides in the office are not familiar with and that they have tumbled on as the old order threw them in their way to retard momentum of the Premier’s initiatives.

With the formalization of his appointment Makone will now have the responsibility of defining roles in the Premier’s office and ensuring that the positions are approved on the Public Service establishment and those already earmarked for the positions are formally confirmed to the fixed establishment.

After that Makone will ensure that all his staff will be properly inducted into Public Service administration through a planned battery of courses to appraise them of standing rules and regulations as well as protocols.

But perhaps the more critical task that Makone has at hand is to assert himself as the official information disseminator in matters pertaining to government operations in terms of policy formulation and implementation.

Media Information and Publicity Secretary and Presidential spokesman George Charamba has for long abused his fortuitous retention in the coalition government to distort his role as government spokesman to also extent and include the involvement of his Principal the President as Head Government.

Fortuitous yes, because the only reason why the MDC carved into the unilateral appointments of Permanent Secretaries by Mugabe on advice from Nzuwa, Sibanda and Charamba was because after reviewing the list of names of the appointees it turned out that 70% were pro MDC and the insistence on a power sharing quota would result in the party losing out and raffling feathers among the key position holders secretly in favour of its policies.

Forget the public posturing, Charamba and his acolytes now straining to remain relevant by destabilizing the coalition government are aware of this and know exactly the fate that awaits them when the coalition government folds after the Constitution making process.

The obsession in the MDC now is not with the trivia. MDC is preparing for a landslide election victory that will sweep it to power without the need for negotiations after the elections.

To achieve that the MDC is happy that it has halted the economic decline that characterized Zanu PF misrule and is keen to consolidate that and improve the country’s economic performance such that when elections are held people will decide on who is the better manager between Zanu PF and MDC.

The MDC is resolute that the best way to campaign for the next election is to improve the country’s productive capacity and ensure economic and social progression for the people.

The second critical agenda for the MDC is to ensure media reforms are in place before the next elections.

That is why there is so much push towards the appointment of the Media Commission.
At the top of MDC priorities is the democratization agenda. The MDC wants a new Constitution to be in place before the next elections are held and is not unduly concerned about the process that will led to the attainment of that objective.

The MDC wants a Constitution in place that will ease the Zanu PF stranglehold on the electoral process and that will minimize or eradicate military involvement with the process.

The target is to limit Presidential terms, defuse draconian Presidential powers over the electoral process through the establishment of a truly Independent Electoral Commission that is accountable to Parliament and the people rather than the President and the ruling party as is currently the case.

The concerns about the process are noted but the argument is that the flaws in the process will not be of material consequence if the results are such that the Presidential powers will be curtailed and shared between that office, Parliament, the Judiciary and the Executive and also the terms of office are limited.

If that is achieved by the flawed process the thinking is that it will be a major achievement and the government that comes out of that process will decide whether or not there is a need to embark on another flawless Constitution making process that is not aimed at managing a skewed political environment but rather that is forward looking in regulating future management of the country’s political management practices.

Makone being the Premier’s Office permanent secretary has the key role of ensuring government drives towards these objectives with the human, financial and structural resources available to the bureaucracy at present.

Basically Makone must move swiftly to ensure that the Office of the Premier is manned by well trained officials versed in all facets of government administration and capable of not just innovating policies but also carrying them through to fruition.

On the political front Makone has the arduous task of ensuring Civil servants work for the populace at large and not partisan political interests that seclude and induce corruption.


Public servants like Charamba must be tamed and put in their rightful place.

In his capacity as Media Information and publicity Secretary Charamba has prevailed upon the State Media to coin a lengthy title for the President and rebranded him as the Head of State, Head of government, Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces, Comrade, His Excellency, First Secretary and Supreme leader of Zanu PF.

It is a mouthful that many news readers are finding difficult to state accurately yet Charamba demands of them to pronounce at each mention of the President’s name.

With such titles Charamba and company think they are presenting Mugabe a the doyen of Zimbabwe politics when in reality many Zimbabweans believe he is nothing but a megalomaniac despot clinging onto power at the behest of a distraught party and misguided military command.

Makone is now better placed to discuss with Charamba and agree what his role is as a Government spokesman and how it is divorced from his role as Presidential spokesman and ensure that whatever is published by the State media is a true reflection of the realities of the power divide in the current government.


This will not be a stroll in the park for Makone but as was the case with the economic stabilization initiative that the MDC has so ably executed, there is no doubt Makone will be up to the task of taming the truant Charamba with the goodwill of the people and support of a neutral Media Commission.

The paranoia behind the long title is the misguided belief by Charamba and his Zanu PF acolytes that by repeatedly presenting President Mugabe as the Head of State, Head of Government, Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces, Supreme Leader of Zanu PF and First Secretary they will, entrench a lasting invincibility impression of Robert Mugabe in the minds of the electorate.

The aim is demoralize the electorate that come the next elections when he will be the uncontested Zanu PF presidential candidate, the electorate will know that he will remain at the helm of Zimbabwe politics regardless of whichever way they choose to vote.


Off course all this is sweet music to the MDC which believes that a Presidential election contest between a heavily decorated Mugabe against their party President Morgan Tsvangirai adoringly known to them by his totem Save or first name slang
Morgiza will produce a result no different to the March 2008 election result.

But what will win the next elections is not the titles bestowed on anyone but the perceived or realized ability attributed to each of the contestants for the Presidency

At present the electorate does not understand the discordant noise from Zanu PF about sanctions inhibiting the realization of the full potential of the coalition government to make a difference in their lives.

This is so because most if not all of the day to day necessities that had disappeared from retail outlets are there for anyone to buy and many of them imported from across the globe.

Surely a country under Western economic embargo cannot have so many products retailing from the same countries.

The point Mugabe and his Zanu PF diehards makes about Zidera and its negative effects on the country’s ability to secure international lines of credit becomes even more discordant when the RBZ Governor on whose fate the President has stacked his makes so much noise about $500million grant to the country from the very IMF they accuse of blocking credit access by the country.

Makone is fully aware that the Zanu PF strategy is not working because it is still too early for the electorate to have forgotten the trauma of 2008.

But that can all change as people become more and more economically and socially stable and start thinking of the higher needs in life that we all want to actualize.

What Makone does as the Permanent Secretary in the Premier’s office does or fails to do to ensure the momentum of the Premier’s Office initiatives thrives on will retain or alienate the Party with its grassroots.

There will be changes in how the Premier’s Office will be covered by the State media which hitherto has made it their paramount objective to demonize and ridicule it even when its achievements are there for everyone to see and ominously contrast Zanu PF and President Mugabe’s failed economic management practices.
Makone will need all the support he can from the party that most believe has come to their salvation by its selflessness and ability to listen and respond to national needs.

That is not to say the Party is squeaky clean because there are some really bad apples in its parliamentarians who need to be whipped into line and stop the stupid and ill conceived Trade unionism thrust under the misguided leadership of Makhosini Shongwane of Zanu PF.

They are not making it any easier for the Party if they tow the Zanu PF line on cars and start believing that being a Parliamentarian is a profession when it is a civic responsibility they volunteered to spearhead.

Expunging Walter Mzembi from PM’s meeting with USA President riles State media.

Exposed Zanu PF War Collaborator and Zimbabwe Presidential Mole planted in the Premier's delegation was barred from eavesdropping on discussions between the Zimbabwe Premier and the USA President

After spending the better part of the past fortnight selling the Premier as an errand boy of the octogenarian President of Zimbabwe dispatched to undo the sanctions crippling the President’s movement to the Western nations, the Herald is bemoaning that trusted presidential escort Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi strategically assigned to shadow the Premier on the current mission to Western nations was expunged from eavesdropping discussion between the Premier and the USA President.

Obama bars Mzembi bemoaned the herald after the stalker failed to feed the National paper with the inner titbits of discussions that transpired between the USA President and the so called Zimbabwe President Sanctions and aid emissary Premier Morgan Tsvangirai.

Worse the USA president hastily cancelled... .the media brief that had been pencilled in to follow the meeting blanking any chance the Zanu PF appendage to the delegation had of gaining insight on what transpired in the Oval office meeting no matter how scant.

Walter Mzembi is the current Minister of Tourism. A former war collaborator from Masvingo, Mzembi is being sold to the nation by a press that knows little if anything at all about him as one of the moderates’ reform minded offerings that Zanu PF seconded to Minster in the coalition government.

But for those of us who know him better Mzembi is not a moderate reform minded Zanu PF cadre but a silent assassin with close CIO ties.

When his father passed away in 1997, may his soul rest in peace the house he rented from Mr Chigovanyika opposite Widdcombe primary school was flooded with CIO operatives, Security Chiefs, War veterans, State media chiefs including Tarzen Mandizvidza, Reuben Barwe and Happyton Muchechetere and Government tents were erected for mourners as is the norm at State funerals.

He was then not a Senior Civil servant, Minister or Member of Parliament but a Marketing Director of Ag-Venture (Pvt.) Ltd having left Stewarts and Lloyds Ltd, where as General Manager and with Leo Mugabe, they had stripped the hitherto vibrant steel works company to a shell.

Whatever reasons the USA President’s security had for barring Mzembi from the Oval office meeting with the Zimbabwe Premier- we hope it was not from effective intelligence they had gathered about Mzembi’s close links with the notorious Zimbabwe CIO- it has raffled feathers at the State media confirming the spying mission he is serving on the Premier’s delegation.

Mzembi is the Presidential mole that was attached to the Premier’s retinue to feedback the State media with information they have been using to sabotage the mission by reporting it as a loathed Presidential Mission that he was in full control of and knew exactly what who in the delegation had said when and to who.

With the Presidential spy expunged from the meeting facts of what transpired became impossible to obtain for the state media and it really hurt that they could not spin the events to the advantage of the on-the-ball president as they had done on previous encounters between the Premier and the Netherlands Head of State.

The State Media was left to speculate on what could have caused the USA President to announce the US$73 million additional aid and why it had been channelled through the Aid agencies and not the coalition government.

Minute details about how the Premier had turned the tables against the boastful Zimbabwe President by excluding his spy were analysed leading to the unsubstantiated conclusion that the premier may be encouraging the kingpin of Western policy on Zimbabwe to withhold desperately sought after aid to force Mugabe to concede further political space for the Premier’s party.

The fact is the barring of Mzembi has shown that the USA brooks no nonsense of entertaining representatives of human rights violators in their offices be they appended to morally upright leaders or not.

It is unlikely Mzembi will be allowed into future meetings of the Premier with remaining Heads of State he is scheduled to visit and that is alarming for the Zanu PF propaganda machinery planted in State Media.

Even more alarming was the fact that the USA President redefined the mission as the Zimbabwe Premier’s and not the State visit it had been sold as by the State media.
That statement distanced the USA from association with Mugabe through the conduit of the Premier’s office and spells doom for Zanu PF’s intended claim to credit for any of the Premiership successes at the same time it closes the door on intended factual claims the media was preparing to claim had caused any failures of the Premier’s mission.

It is no longer possible to claim that the west denied the Zimbabwe government aid and the lifting of illegal sanctions because of the land reform dispute because the spy that was supposed to vouch for that- Walter Mzembi- will be relying on hearsay.

The Ministry of information that ignored a request for information officers to be assigned to the premier’s mission because the most reliable are reserved for the President and assigning them to the premier would send the wrong signal that the Premier commands equal powers to those of the President, must now be scratching their heads bold pondering what to do next to ensure they obtain first hand information about the Premier’s discussions with Western Heads of State.
The alternative use of embassy information attaches to cover for the State media has already proved inadequate after they were excluded from the Finance Minister’s previous entourage in the USA.

That leaves Premier’s Chief spokesman James Maridadi and or Secretary in the Premier’s office Ian Makone as the only legitimate sources of information about discussions between the Premier and his hosts that the State Media can rely on given its frosty relations with foreign correspondents.

And yet State media relations with the duo are not anymore better than the relations they have with foreign correspondents.
Interesting!

How can a well meaning President openly spy on his very own head of government and expect to be taken seriously in a coalition government relationship?