VP Joice Mujuru is interim president but does not have full powers. She cannot, for example, convene cabinet meetings. Presidential Affairs minister, Didymus Mutasa, dismissed the opposition party’s complaints as madness. ‘They are insane, vanopenga…. do you think the problem will get better whether the president is here or not?’ Perhaps Mwonzora has a copy of the presidential terms of service handbook that says Mugabe is not entitled to annual leave. Even tractors and scotch-carts at some point have to be serviced. It is this sort of pointless jabber that will validate Mugabe’s claim that the MDC are ‘cry-babies.’
The MDC-T shows more silliness by announcing that the country should brace for fresh polls because ‘Zimbabweans have seen that the promises made by Zanu (PF) were false.’ Didymus Mutasa’s response is the MDC-T should ‘stop daydreaming.’ Perhaps Mwonzora is merely speaking out of the need to remain relevant – a fear of becoming obsolete. If the MDC-T feels cheated – and signs point towards election robbery – then they really have two choices: to suffer in silence for another five years under Zanu (PF) with the rest of us or to stop talking and act.
Gays in Mugabe’s Camp
Mugabe’s worst nightmare has come true. When the soon-to-be 90-year-old President returns from holiday, he will discover news of homosexuality in his own camp. It has emerged that five Zanu (PF) youth league members attended a gay party in Bulawayo. Leaving piles of unsolved murders and rape cases on their desks, the police who are always quick to plead lack of transport, improvised the transportation necessary for the arrest of five members of Gays and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe, whose only offense was to wear T-Shirts in support of homosexuality, during the festivities. Members of Zanu (PF), schooled in homophobia by their dear leader, have demanded expulsion of the five party members who attended the event.
Those that do not know their history are doomed to repeat it. In Rhodesia, it was illegal for a black man to drink non-traditional alcohol. In the 1940s, a mad man with a moustache that looks very similar to one we have endured for 34 years was certain that the Jews were evil and should be exterminated. After convincing an entire nation of the wickedness of Jews, he murdered 6million innocent people.
Until the abolition of slavery, it was perfectly normal to own another person and to hire him out as a stud for the purposes of breeding more slaves. Mugabe’s persecution of gays is no different from the injustices of slavery, anti-Semitism and apartheid. Mugabe has convinced those in his camp that anyone of a different sexual orientation is subhuman. ‘Worse than dogs and pigs’ is the presidential decree. When the insatiable earth finally claims this current generation of backward thinking fossils, future generations will find it hard to believe that one man could make it his prerogative to choose what is sexually acceptable on behalf of 13million Zimbabweans.
Dead Man’s Wages at Pockets Hill
The ongoing audit of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation has revealed that the names of former employees, some of them deceased, are still on the parastatal’s payroll. According to the testimony of employees, as recently as December, former reporters who quit several years ago received allowances. In a perfect world, the secretary for media would resign and dockets for fraud cases would be promptly opened.
It is understandable that suspended CEO, Happison Muchechetere, was clueless about the goings-on in his salaries department. When a man’s waist is that large, he cannot see his own shoelaces, let alone notice money disappearing from human resources department. It should not surprise anybody because these same fist-clenching ‘pamberi neZanu (PF)’ chanters chosen to run ZBC are cut from the same cloth as the registrar general who maintains a voters’ roll bearing names of dead and fictitious voters.
More Signs of Vote Rigging
Against a standing agreement with the IMF to freeze recruitment, government stealthily recruited 10,000
workers, between March and September 2013. The IMF-prescribed recruitment freeze is intended to assist in managing the country’s $6B foreign debt. The MDC-T was unaware of the staff recruitment. Douglas Mwonzora alleges that the secretly appointed employees may have been brought in specifically to rig the July 31st election. ‘They were employed so that they could qualify as civil servants who could be employed as election officials.’ Zapu’s Dumiso Dabengwa concurs. Didymus Mutasa has put on his poker face and challenged the IMF to prove these claims. The ruling party’s dishonesty is well known.
But what is worryingly evident is the naivety of the opposition parties who knowingly entered an election with the playing field tilted in Zanu (PF)’s favour. It is hard to understand how the MDC, which was part of government, failed to spot the arrival of 10,000 new faces. Not only did the MDC formations fail to spot 10,000 new employees enter various ministries, under their collective nose, which drips the milk of political infancy, but both MDCs were in government when Zanu (PF) paid Nikuv its vote rigging fee from state coffers. One wonders if the MDC formations expected Zanu (PF) to play clean.
The fact that Zanu (PF) leaders swopped guerrilla denims for business suits in 1980 did not alter their mentality. Morgan Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube paid the price for agreeing to play poker with a man who not only owns the croupier but keeps two decks of cards concealed up both sleeves. The fact is we owe $6B and breaking an agreement with the IMF is much like having a friend who owes you money and then you see him buying drinks and handing a generous tip to the smiling barmaid. Sadly, the victim in all this is the man on the street. Those responsible for the breach of IMF agreement arrogantly ask the IMF to prove it, knowing that they are cushioned from the current hardship by their piles of ill-gotten wealth.
There is news of a further breach of agreement by Zanu (PF). Zimbabwe is a signatory to the 2001 Abuja declaration, in terms of which all member states should allocate 15% of the national budget towards health. Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa only allocated 8%, which is lower than the 10,7% allocated to health the previous year during Tendai Biti’s tenure. From the government that has brought cholera and typhoid epidemics to your doorstep, what else can you expect? – Till next week, my pen is capped. – Jera@workmail.com
Post published in: Analysis