A senior MDC-T official involved in formulating the MDC-T's defence policy told The Zimbabwean that Mujuru had seriously been considered for a figurehead
role as defence forces commander. He would have been expected to lead the training of a non-partisan force and responsible for weeding out Zanu (PF) thugs dressed up as professional soldiers.
"If Prime Minister Tsvangirai had become president, we would have recommended giving General Mujuru the post of defence forces commander so that he could help us build a professional force. Mujuru personally hated violence as an election tool. He famously chased the violent Joseph Chinotimba out of Chikomba district and protected journalists from attack in Bindura. We were aware of all this and we thought he could help us restructure the armed forces and make the army more
professional," the official said, requesting he be not named.
The revelations seem to explain the flurry of positive comments from the premier and senior MDC-T officials since Mujuru died in a mysterious inferno that gutted his Beatrice farmhouse on August 16.
Tsvangirai described Mujuru as a true hero and said the multitudes who turned up for his funeral confirmed this. Tsvangirai's spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka wrote a moving eulogy based on his personal encounter with Mujuru during the blood-filled 2000 election campaign. Tamborinyoka recounted how, as a staffer for the Daily News, he was rescued from certain death at the hands of marauding CIO operatives and so-called war veterans who had virtually shut down Mashonaland Central province.
Some have warned, however, that the MDC risks losing its credibility by aligning itself too closely with a man who had a record for violent seizure of farms and mines.
Post published in: News