      
       
            Reliable sources, who emphasised anonymity in fear of reprisals, have reportedly said: The old man actually conceded defeat and was ready to help with the transition of power.Despite failure by Tsvangirai to reach the 50 percent mark, Mugabe is reported to have admitted that he was no longer electable after he learnt that he had lost both the presidential and parliamentary polls.
Soon after the March 29 harmonised election results were relayed to Mugabe, the sources said, he sanctioned immediately transitional talks with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) aimed at handing over power to the victorious Tsvangirai.Talks broke down, however, because Mugabe was reprimanded’ by five of his security forces commanders over his decision to concede defeat.
They are Police commissioner Augustine Chihuri, Air Force commander Perence Shiri, Defence Forces commander Constantine Chiwenga, director-general of the Central Intelligence Organisation, retired Major-General Happyton Bonyongwe and Zimbabwe Prisons Services boss Paradzai Zimondi.
Tsvangirai recently confirmed the high profile secret negotiations between Zanu (PF) and MDC in a BBC Panorama interview. The talks were meant to oversee a smooth transition of power soon after it was known to Mugabe that he had irretrievably lost the elections.hat troubled Mugabe was not only the outcome of the historically shielded presidential results, but the idea of losing control of Parliament for the first time since independence of Zimbabwe in 1980. He made up his mind to throw in the towel and went further to inform his close allies, the sources added.
Speaking by a cell phone from Manyame Airforce base, Zimbabwe’s air force headquarters in the capital, Harare, one source said Mugabe was now a reluctant leader being puppeteered by his army generals.
The security forces commanders are very bitter that Mugabe hammered out his exit package without including them. Now they can only let it go if there is something tangible for them in terms of immunity from prosecution, the source said.
It has also been revealed that an exit package for the veteran leader was finalised last November between South African leader Thabo Mbeki and the MDC leadership.his source said that as soon as Mugabe was informed by the intelligence that Zanu (PF) had performed dismally against the MDC, he conceded defeat and informed his close lieutenants that he would give way for a new political leadership.Mugabe, the sources said, was particularly angry with war veterans commanders, Jabulani Sibanda and Joseph Chinotimba for misleading him about his popularity through the so-called million-men march. He is reported to have angrily severed direct communications with Sibanda and Chinotimba.
 What changed the political environment, however, were the five security commanders who confronted Mugabe about their welfare under a Tsvangirai government.Chihuri told Mugabe that we killed to perpetuate your rule, but now you are privately negotiating your own exit package alone why? Shiri also ordered the president not to abdicate power until the environment was safe for them, the source confirmed.t was also alleged that, the five threatened a coup in the event Mugabe defied them by stepping down. They believed a coup was the only way for their safety and freedom in regard of gross human rights violations they have committed for years under the Mugabe regime.
For example, Shiri stands accused of not only founding the murderous 5 Brigade, but for also personally commandeering the troops that left approximately 20 000 Ndebele speaking people dead and hundreds more maimed and orphaned.he 5 Brigade left a trail murder and a legacy of tribal divisions, a crime prosecutable at The Hague under the 1949 Geneva Conventional Additional Protocol of 1977, Article 51, which states that when a government sends an army to a troubled spot within the country and then that army happen to target civilians, the entire government has committed prosecutable crimes.uring the run-up to the March 29 elections, General Constantine Chiwenga threatened to stage a coup if Mugabe lost because, he said, the army would not support an opposition-led government.
Chiwenga has his muzzle so deep in the feeding trough that when questioned about the role of the army in protecting a democracy, he burst out, “Are you mad? What is wrong with the army supporting the President against the election of sell-outs?”The Zimbabwe Prisons Service chief, vowed that he would resign and ‘go back to defend my piece of land’ if Mugabe lost the election and ordered his officers to vote for Mugabe.I am giving you an order to vote for the President,” Zimondi said at a ceremony at which he was conferring new ranks on senior officers, raising questions whether the promotions were rewards for the expected votes.
Post published in: Opinions