President’s mythical powers to decline senior government workers’ resignations.

President Mugabe has absolutely no legal means with which to stop anyone resigning from the Public Service

For many long suffering Zimbabweans, any misfortune that visits hard-line Zanu PF supporters and or leaders is an occasion that calls for spontaneous celebrations notwithstanding that they will not directly realise any marginal reprieve from their suffering as a consequence of the unfortunate event.

It all started when maverick Zanu PF political commissar Border Gezi died in a road traffic accident in April 2001 having mesmerised the populace with his dance routine at Zanu PF gatherings in support of the land invasions.


The news of his death sparked spontaneous private binge drinking parties within opposition MDC supporters who had been targets of the notorious National Youth Service trainees under the late commissar’s Ministry who had caused untold suffering through torture, rape, assaults and general impunity against perceived or real opponents of the Zanu PF regime.

When the late Harare Provincial Zanu PF spokesperson William Nhara died following his brief arrest and incarceration over allegations of illegal diamond dealings and externalisation of forex charges, the private partying celebrating his death were barely disguised throughout the country.

But it was the death of Border Gezi’s successor as Zanu PF National Commissar Elliot Manyika that really sparked open and unrestrained celebrations throughout the country whose cultural norms are starkly against such behaviour during bereavement to a neighbour let alone a national leader conferred Hero status.

The nation had barely gone through the private giggling about the deportation of Zanu PF children who were studying in Australia notable among them Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri’s son Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono’s children.

The deportations were so painful for Chihuri and Gono they have never really forgiven Premier Morgan Tsvangirai for them as they strongly believe he had a hand in motivating the premature termination of the luxurious and reputable courses their siblings were pursuing.

Tsvangirai denies any part in motivating the deportations and claims it was by mere coincidence that he was on the same plane in which the deported children were bundled as he was returning home from an official visit to the country on behalf of his MDC party business which had nothing to do with the deported children.

It is doubtful that Chihuri and Gono will ever buy into that explanation and find it in their vindictive minds to forgive the Premier for a crime he genuinely did not have a part to play as the deportations were a Civic Society campaign launched and coordinated by Zimdaily.

I sometimes wonder what would happen if one day the nation would wake up to the news of the resignation/retirement let alone death of President Robert Mugabe.

President Mugabe being an elderly grandpa does not take kindly to anyone who talks about his departure from political leadership let alone death.

He tapped vocal cleric Archbishop Pius Ncube and exposed him badly in a choreographed set up sexual romp with a CIO operative’s divorcee after the cleric had disclosed he was praying for the President’s death.

Pius Ncube has not uttered a single word against the President ever since he went through the nasty experience.

All the same I think if Mugabe was to announce his retirement and or resignation, Zanu PF would most obviously decline the dear leader permission to resign and or retire let alone die at this time when the party and nation are in turmoil.

Whichever route he leaves political leadership of the country President Mugabe’s demise will trigger month-long celebrations throughout the country and the entire world.

President Mugabe has created more enemies than friends during his hegemony on Zimbabwe politics and his departure will torch celebrations across the political divide in the country.

It will be a day many Zimbabweans have yearned for decades but that never seems to materialise even when all pointers were to its imminence.

Other than the departure of President Mugabe, the other departures likely to torch wild celebrations are those of Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, Attorney General Johannes Tomana, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, Military Commanders Augustine Chihuri, Paradzai Zimondi, Constantine Chiwenga, Perence Shiri and Happyton Bonyongwe.

If anyone of these ruthless Zanu PF Zealots should tender his resignation, it is likely we will hear that President Mugabe has refused to accept the resignation.

Most of these are way past prescribed retirement ages in their occupations therefore retirement is not an available option for them to leave office at least as of now.
That leaves death as the only option that could rid us of these menacing despots.

Sadly most of them look to be in such good health sudden death other than accidental or assassination is unlikely to intervene in favour of the many who wish them away by whatever means but like me do not have the courage to take responsibility for eliminating them through death.

But it is on the subject of the resignation and or retirement that I fail to understand why whoever is keeping them in service should not act to force them out unless he is deriving benefits from associating with these hard hearted people.

So often we hear rumours that so and so have personally tendered his resignation but the President has declined it.

Is there any legitimate ground upon which the President can decline anyone from resigning from the government or is it just a myth most of us have bought into without giving it serious thought.

Former Industry and Commerce Minister Nkosana Moyo left the country before faxing through his resignation notice to the president and in so doing gave credence to the myth that once appointed a Minister or to any other position of national importance by the president resignation is impossible unless the president accepts it or decrees it.

But that is all crass.

Every appointment in government is a contractual appointment that is done after agreement is reached between the job incumbent and the State and in all instances the contract stipulates the terms governing termination of the contract by either party.

Unless Zimbabwe government appointments are contracts for slavery it is hard to fathom how it then becomes impossible for the employee to invoke the separation clause of his /her employment contract.

For the record president Mugabe or any other employer’s representative for that matter does not have legal power to decline any notice of resignation and or withdrawal from state service duly served upon him by any member of his political party and or any employee serving in the Zimbabwe government at his pleasure.

At the best the president’s power is limited to persuading whoever notifies him of the intention to resign at a time he feels inconvenient for the smooth operation of state business or for political expediency to reconsider the tendered notice and withdraw it.

If the employee is adamant there is absolutely no power to compel the employee to continue serving the State against his/her wish.

If however the employee wishes to resign without serving the prescribed period of notice the principal has the right to decline such a request as he deems fit but even then he cannot compel the employee to report for duty.

At the very best the president can only take legal action to force the employee to pay the state the equivalent of what he /she would benefit from the state during the prescribed period which he would otherwise be required to serve notice but even then most rational employers will not enforce that as it will be too costly and in any event most employees would simply fail to purchase the notice period at the same time they will not be in possession of assets which if attached will offset the indebtedness.

In Zimbabwe the minimum notice period to be served by any employee is three calendar months.

The period of notice varies from contract to contract depending on the terms agreed on appointment but nothing can preclude the state demanding the prescribed three months notice be served to avoid a claw-back suit.

So for any of the detested incumbents in influential positions to flog that they are being compelled to work for the state against their wish is totally dishonest mischief of the worst order.

Text: President Mugabe's Address to the Ministerial Retreat

President Mugabe slowly but surely reforming

Honourable Vice President Joseph Msika, Honourable Vice President Joice Mujuru, Honourable Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Honourable Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe, Honourable Ministers, Honourable Deputy Ministers, Heads of Ministries and Departments, Ladies and Gentlemen, Comrades and Friends.

It is indeed an honour and pleasure to...welcome all of you, and to be one amongst you, at this inaugural strategic Retreat of the Inclusive Government, born out of the Global Political Agreement signed by our three major political parties on 15 September 2008.

This Retreat, as you will get to know, is a means to afford you as Members of Cabinet, the opportunity to build consensus that guarantees the successful timeous implementation of the Short Term Emergency Economic Recovery Programme (STERP), which I had the honour of officially commissioning a couple of weeks ago. I have no doubt, therefore, that the quiet and serene environment of the Victoria Falls provides an ideal venue for such a Retreat as this, that seeks to engender constructive ideas and realistic deliverable targets for the Inclusive Government.

As most of you are aware, Article 3.1(a) of the Global Political Agreement prioritises the pursuance of economic stability and recovery by the Inclusive Government. This provision also bequeaths upon Government leadership in the process of developing and implementing an economic recovery strategy which seeks, most importantly, to address the priority areas of increased production, food security, poverty eradication and employment creation. I am pleased to note that immediately after its formation, the Inclusive Government has got down to serious work by producing the Short Term Economic Recovery Plan in record time.

The successful production of the STERP document within a compact time-frame is indeed a notable achievement by the Inclusive Government. Let me, therefore, heartily congratulate all our Ministers and officials who took part in crafting the document for a job well done. This, I believe, should go a long way in silencing the uninformed skeptics of the Inclusive Government, while simultaneously giving us ever-renewable and positive momentum to drive home the point that with unity of purpose we can as a people, carve for ourselves a prosperous future.

I wish to remind you that our people, be they the many from rustic dwellings, or emergent farmers, or indeed, the suave urban dwellers share high hopes of progress during the tenure of the Inclusive Government, and so we have an onerous responsibility of ensuring that we do not dash their hopes and disappoint them.

It is, therefore, incumbent upon us to ensure that we emerge from this Retreat with a clear, recharged and re-energised, compelling sense of achievement deriving from our design of implementing STERP. We dare not indulge in the luxury of engaging in unending theoretical discourse, for our thematic slogan should be resonantly Implementation! Implementation! and Implementation! again.

I am aware that this Retreat will come up with a 100-day Action Plan for the implementation of STERP. I have every hope that the Action Plan will have clear-cut roles and responsibilities for all the key players, namely, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Heads of Ministries and Departments, the private sector, civil society, as well as heads of parastatals and state enterprises.

The roles and responsibilities should be well-defined, performance-based and time-framed. I am also confident that the Programme will receive much support judging by the various stakeholders workshops held recently across the country.

It is our collective hope that after the 100 days, the country will begin experiencing a firm and determined walk on the road to economic stabilization and recovery. Honourable Prime Minister, you have the challenge of carrying this assignment and, indeed, Cabinet will look forward to your regular briefs on progress in implementation of STERP. However, every one of us should rally behind the programme in order to realise its goals and objectives.

The country greatly appreciates the offers of much-needed financial assistance that are beginning to flow in, first from the region and also beyond. This assistance shall be effectively applied as agreed with our cooperating partners.

I should, however, hasten to point out that the mobilization of our own resources should be considered as key to the successful implementation of STERP, with outside support being complementary. This strategic posture is not only necessary, but also prudent, and far-sighted, more so in the light of the prevailing international financial crisis.

In conclusion, let me once more reiterate the need for binding unity of purpose throughout our deliberations, so that at the end of this Retreat, we can emerge with a clear sense of ownership and direction of the Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme (STERP).

May I now declare this Retreat officially open, and wish your deliberations all the success.

Ngiyabonga!
Ndinotenda!
I thank you.

Tsvangirai and Mutambara take it in turns to pulverise and unmask Mugabe’s invincibility armour

President Mugabe centre being reduced to size by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangrai Top left and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara Bottom right

Slowly but surely Zimbabweans are watching the dismantling of the Mugabe mystique as Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara take it in turns to unmask the aura of invincibility that Mugabe has assumed for more than half a century uncontested leadership of both country and Zanu PF.

Deluded in the comfort of unquestioned rule by decree for nearly 3 decades, President Mugabe must be wondering what it is he has done or not done to deserve the indignity of having to contend with a crop of politicians young enough to be his children tearing into his repute and directives.

Having legitimised his continued hegemony on the political space through the SADC and AU inspired Inclusive Government that saved him from a catastrophic defeat in the March 29, 2008 Presidential election, Mugabe must have felt he was back in undisputed control of the country’s politics.

Ever since the Global political agreement between Zanu PF and the two MDC formations was signed on 15 September 2008 Mugabe and his Zanu PF acolytes have experimented with numerous initiatives to show they are still in sole charge the country without much success.

The first of those initiatives was 27 June 2008 when Mugabe participated in a Presidential runoff election in which he proclaimed himself winner by a landslide 85% of the valid vote.

The experiment collapsed ignominiously when he attended the 30 June African Union (AU) summit in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt as the summit’s newest Head of State.

The other Heads refused to endorse his headship and he returned to the country with his tail under his knees burdened by the weight of the AU resolution for him to form an inclusive government if he wanted their unconditional support and camaraderie.

Severely wounded by this embarrassing episode President Mugabe pleaded with then South Africa President Thabo Mbeki to revive the mediated SADC dialogue he had unilaterally suspended in preference of reasserting his authority through the March elections that ended in his embarrassing defeat.

Mugabe‘s prayers for salvation were answered when on 21 July 2008 then South African President Thabo Mbeki presided over the signing of a tripartite Memorandum Understanding (MoU) by Professor Arthur Mutambara, Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe.

Therein the competing political leadership trio committed their respective political formations to negotiating an Inclusive Government in place of one that could not be consummated after the defeat of Mugabe in the March elections was set aside by the silent Military Coup staged by Zimbabwe’s Military Commanders under the Joint Operations Command (JOC).

Protracted negations ensued the signing of the MoU with Mugabe attempting to retain control of all the levers of power he had lost control of and the MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai trying to unseat him while Arthur Mutambara was focussed on regaining political relevance lost by his MDC faction due to humiliating defeats suffered by its leadership in the march Parliamentary, Senatorial and Local Authority elections.

The negotiations nearly collapsed when Mugabe attempted to hold onto the draconian powers that underpinned his leadership of the country prior to March 2008.

In August 2008 multi faceted experiments were set up by Zanu PF to test possibilities of retaining exclusive power by stalling SADC mediated negotiations for power sharing.
First the Military Junta instructed the Registrar General not to renew his Tsvangirai’s passport which had been used up to ensure he would not travel outside the country to countries they believed were sponsoring his party’s regime change agenda.

Over 1500 MDC supporters remained in detention over trumped up political violence cases committed in the run up to the 27 June Presidential runoff election that had been internationally discredited.

By 11 August Zanu PF had forged alliances with the rebel MDC faction led by Mutambara in attempts to neutralise Tsvangirai’s demands for equitable distribution of power between him and Mugabe before the Inclusive government could be consummated.

The power sharing talks collapsed on 12 August as a consequence of this alliance which buoyed Mugabe into believing he could form a partially inclusive government with Prof Mutambara and excluding the detested Tsvangirai.

On 15 August SADC Heads of State convened an emergency meeting to find ways of resolving issues that had led to the collapse of the negotiations for an inclusive government.

At the end of the summit they authorised Mugabe to carry out his experiment of forming an partially inclusive government with the Mutambara MDC faction by convening Parliament and proceeding on that basis.

A spate of bombings that looked controlled and stage-managed were reported at police stations and on railway lines and bridges in what the MDC led by Tsvangirai said was a prelude to a plan aimed at eliminating its leadership through trumped up charges of committing acts of banditry.

On 25 August Mugabe convened Parliament hoping the alliance he had forged with Mutambara would vindicate his belief that he could form a partially inclusive Government with the support of the MDC faction Members of Parliament (MP’s) provided the alliance secured Parliament Speakership in a parliament where the MDC dominated it by one extra MP.

Despite vigorous denials of the alliance by Mutambara and his faction Zanu PF withheld fielding a Parliamentary Speaker contestant and whipped its MP’s to support the candidature of Paul Themba Nyathi putting to rest the speculation about the alliance.

Professor Mutambara with a paltry 10 MP’s in the 210 Chamber could not have put up a Parliamentary speaker contestant with any hope of winning against an MDC and Zanu PF fielding. When Zanu PF did not contest it confirmed why Mutambara had fielded Paul Themba Nyathi against MDC-T’s Lovemore Moyo.

Mugabe’s 3rd major experiment bombed out when Moyo defeated Nyathi for the Parliamentary Speakership and the following day Mugabe suffered the humiliating experience of opening an MDC controlled Parliament.

The MDC Parliamentarians did not make it any easier for him as they jeered and heckled him throughout his speech and made him very uncomfortable.

If Mugabe was convinced that he had outmanoeuvred partners to the MoU and was set to reclaim his undisputed political superiority that had been dented by the March defeat events in parliament on 26 August convinced him otherwise and he was back to the SADC mediation table in a hurry after that humiliating experience.

Within three weeks he had conceded power to Tsvangirai and the compromise was final agreed upon on 11 September 2008, where Mugabe retained the Presidency, Tsvangirai secured the Premiership and Mutambara the Deputy Premiership, all with Executive powers., the newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister has come back with guns blazing after he was publicly berated by President Mugabe on television Thursday.

Having been forced to concede more powers to his opponents than he anticipated Mugabe sought to experiment retrieving some of the powers by instructing Patrick Chinamasa to significantly alter the agreement reached on 11 September in Zanu PF’s favour behind the backs of the other subscribers to the MoU.

It nearly paid off when the alterations were in the document publicly signed by the subscribers on 15 September, but for the eagle eyes of scrutinisers in the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai the alterations were flagged and annulled leaving Chinamasa embarrassingly exposed as the agreement fraudster.

For the fourth time Mugabe and Zanu PF’s experiment of means with which to retain exclusive power had been foiled.

As soon as the GPA was signed Mugabe was off to the United Nations Assembly meeting in the United States of America instead of attending to the requirements of the GPA he had just signed.

As a consequence of his deliberate dereliction of responsibilities assigned to him the designated Prime Minister and his deputies could not take up government responsibilities because the constitutional framework allowing them to do so had been left in abeyance.

Leaving this crucial requirement in abeyance was itself a fifth experiment by Mugabe and Zanu PF to see if they could exercise exclusive power despite the agreement.

The convening of Parliament before consummation of the Inclusive Government had actually benefited his Party as Mugabe had unilaterally appointed 10 of his acolytes to become Provincial Governors which would not have been the case had he consummated the Inclusive Government as soon as agreement to its formation on 15 September 2008 was endorsed.

The time buying strategy has become central to Mugabe and Zanu PF strategies to salvage power that is now pouring through his fingers.

It allowed him to hold out for a co- Minister of home Affairs thereby creating one more position for his loosing acolytes and a further 5 Minister of State positions that saw Cabinet balloon from 31 GPA agreed portfolios to 42 and 15 Deputy Ministers increasing to 19. In addition to those Unconstitutional addendums to the GPA it allowed Mugabe to reappoint Gideon Gono as Reserve Bank Governor and elevate Johannes Tomana to Attorney General.

Mugabe was also afforded time to kidnap and detain opposing political activists and use them as power bargaining chips to a point where he now has no less than 43 priced ones in the custody of the Zimbabwe Prisons.

The impunity by Mugabe appears to have reached a dead end if events in the past week are anything to go by.

The MDC MP’s have outperformed the octogenarian MP’s Mugabe entrusted with making waves in the Inclusive Government.

Mugabe has been forced to terminate the appointments of the 10 Provincial Governors.

The irregular appointments of Gideon Gono and Johannes Tomana have returned to haunt him and have pushed him to the defensive wall.

The arrest and detention of political and Civic Society is causing him nightmarish nights.

To divert pressure he instructed Chief Secretary to his office and Cabinet to unilaterally announce reassignment and deployment of 34 Zanu PF acolytes as permanent Secretaries of the 41 Ministries in the Inclusive Government.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai promptly nullified the deployment which he rightly declared unconstitutional as his office had not agreed them with the Presidency before they were made as dictated by article 20.1.7 of the eight Schedule of the country’s Constitution.

Worse Mugabe’s trusted AG Johannes Tomana appears to be causing Mugabe further headaches by correctly invoking legal clauses that keep detainees behind bars but increases public and international discontent and mistrust of Zanu PF.

Dr Gono’s irregular appointment for a second term as Reserve Bank Governor is no less burdening for the Zimbabwe president under siege.

Deputy PM Professor Mutambara teamed with Finance Minister Tendai Biti to rubbish the Reserve Bank Governor’s recent Monetary policy statement and the Budget presented by Zanu PF Junta Acting Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa. Him of the foiled GPA fraudulent of 15 September 2008.

Mugabe says Mutambara is inexperienced and thus prone to error but we know that in the inclusive Government Mugabe’s experience is matched to the minute by Mutambara’s experience and the former’s experience of rule by decree is not of any use in an Inclusive Government.

More pertinently Mugabe argues that appointments by the illegitimate Junta regime that has made way for the Inclusive Government made binding commitments for the Inclusive Government which is politically mischievous given that he has not carried on with the Junta Cabinet appointments that endorsed them.

By dissolving the Junta Cabinet Mugabe acknowledged its illegitimacy and has no option but to admit the appointments he made on advice from the illegitimate Junta structures and Cabinet must be equally reviewed and accepted or nullified as the new dispensation assess them.

Mutambara says Mugabe is entitled to personal views but those must be separated from inclusive government views.

In any event it is not accurate for Mugabe to say the Budget presented to Parliament by Chinamasa cannot be revised or reversed because that is the responsibility of Parliament and as far as we know Parliament has not debated and passed that budget.

What will Mugabe do if Parliament refuses to pass the budget?

This is the reason why we must salute the dilution of Mugabe’s presidential powers. It is no longer a case of what he says goes. Rather he is now required to defend his personal likes and dislikes and be guided by the majority view.

And about time too.