Chiefs have palms greased

A midnight rendezvous was called by Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo on Thursday, after he learnt that traditional leaders had rejected the tabling of a life presidency plan by Chief Chisungo of Mashonaland Central. The proposal was raised for discussion at the Council of Chiefs annual retreat in Kariba that ended last weekend.

Just after Mugabe’s address, Chief Chisungo stood up and said the president must rule forever and that he would only be removed by God, attracting outrage from his contemporaries in the Council. The Zimbabwean understands there was an explosive domestic session after Mugabe’s address, where angry chiefs grilled Chisungo, charging the life presidency issue he had raised in the plenary was not agreed to by the Council.

“They put him to task and he apologised,” said a senior Local Government source, who attended the session which was closed to the media. Chief Chisungo is alleged to have said he was speaking for Mashonaland Central. Chiefs also emphatically said they did not want anything to do with politics and that they did not countenance political interference in their duties.

“They made this abundantly clear in the specific break away meetings led by Chiefs Council president Fortune Charumbira,” said our source. The Zimbabwean heard that soon after Chombo was briefed about the chiefs’ attempt to oppose the life presidency, he called the late night meeting for all 213 chiefs. He asked all the eight provinces to take a clear position on the life presidency issue in a session supposedly organised to discuss a review of the past two days. Each of the eight provinces were given brand new cars, and promised another 20 vehicles in the months to come. One by one, they were whipped into line, resulting in

Mugabe getting a ringing endorsement of his life presidency plan from all the eight provinces. Chief Gwebu from Buhera rubbished the proposed life presidency for Mugabe, saying it was “nonsense.” So outraged was Chief Malisa from Silobela that he refused to present the Midlands position to the plenary. The presentation was later done by another little known chief from Mberengwa. Midlands flatly opposed the life presidency plan.

Chiefs from the two Matabeleland provinces also fiercely opposed the proposal. So high are the stakes in the Zanu (PF) succession matrix that Zanu (PF) vice president Joice Mujuru, who is also jockeying to succeed Mugabe, openly campaigned at the Chiefs Council meeting, donating two in one blankets to each of the 213 chiefs.

“They are trying to scare any would-be contenders for the Zanu (PF) presidency,” said political analyst Ronald Shumba. “The Women’s League has said they want Mugabe to be life president, the Youth League has said the same, and the chiefs have said the same. Its part of the succession dynamic. They are trying to prime the chiefs for an election through intimidation.”

If Mugabe succeeds in pushing through his plan at the forthcoming 11th Zanu (PF) annual National People’s Conference opening on December 9, the President for Life title will remove his term limits in his party, in the hope that his authority, legitimacy, and term will never be disputed again in his party.

The President-for-life will make Zanu (PF) the first political party running a de facto monarch. An authoritative senior Zanu (PF) Politburo source told ***The Zimbabwean a motion would be moved at the conference to declare Mugabe the “First Consul for life”.

Mugabe, a very long-serving authoritarian president, is resolutely moving to prop up the traditional chieftaincy to secure political support. Mugabe agreed to address all the issues presented to him at the end of the Chiefs conference, including giving chiefs oversight over all drought relief, BEAM funds and all safety nets in their communities, exemptions at toll gates, giving them new vehicles,

electrification of all their homes and significantly increasing their allowances. The chiefs want councillors and political leadership to be subservient to them. They also said they wanted restoration of the dignity of traditional institutions, calling for the law to be changed so that their appointments are not done by politicians but by doyens of tradition. They also emphatically said they don’t want anything to do with politics and they don’t want any political interference in their duties,” said the source.

However, Zanu (PF) is determined to put them at the forefront of its campaigns. As a sweetener for backing the life presidency, Zanu (PF) will soon implement a scheme dubbed the “community share ownership scheme” which will be presided over by chiefs, entitling all the traditional leaders to 10 per cent shareholding for every strategic mineral mined within their jurisdiction, said our Politburo source, who described the plan as a “winner”.

Of the 10 per cent shareholding, 2.5 per cent will go straight into the chief’s pocket, and the remaining balance will be channelled into the coffers of the Council of Chiefs. The Zimbabwean understands Saviour Kaukuwere, the Indigenisation Minister, is almost through with the policy draft.