At the politburo meeting of last week, he told Oppah Muchinguri to ‘put out the fire that the women’s league had started,’ perhaps referring to the ongoing catfight between Mujuru and Grace. To call it a ‘catfight’ is not the most accurate description as it is only Grace who has been on the offensive, while Mujuru, secure in her position, has opted for civility – like when a Chihuahua barks at a Great Dane. Every man knows that a happy wife makes a happy home. And every man will be mindful of that old adage; hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Mugabe’s silence might be out of fear of sleeping on the couch.
Or he might well be playing both sides, for his own benefit. As long as the factions fight, he remains the party’s indispensable ‘unifier.’ It is almost like a parent permitting delinquency among his children, just to prove that the household cannot function without him.
It is not only Mugabe who is doing his best to run away from the contentious issue of succession.
Mujuru had been expected to speak at the reburial of exhumed remains of liberation war combatants but the ceremony was postponed at the 11th hour. The evergreen grapevine says the powers that be had learned of a plan by Jabulani Sibanda to hijack the event. Oh what hell it is, when the trained attack dog turns on its masters.
Post published in: Analysis