In other jurisdictions, the CIO would have given the President a half pager telling him that according to elementary 4th Grade science, diesel may not gush out of a rock in the oil-rich Kuwait, let alone flood-prone Chinhoyi.
James Maridadi
However, Cde Didymus Mutasa, once Minister of State Security, recently told us what our secret service is good for, keeping profiles of consenting adults’ illicit sexual escapades like what they did to some Arch Bishop.
Of what material value is this to a nation and is this what a civilised nation should take pride in, getting into people’s bedrooms and splashing contents thereof for public consumption?
Stone Age, laughable, shameful and retrogressive is thy name. Diesel is a by-product of crude oil and the refinery process is as sophisticated and as complex as child conception to live birth. Dr Olivia Muchena, PhD, was a member of the special Cabinet Task Force on Chinhoyi Diesel.
She is the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Development.
She was Minister of Science and Technology Development at the material time. Need I say more?
Instead of focusing on unhelpful issues like Baba Jukwa, the nation must be talking about the possibilities and frameworks of an all-stakeholder engagement to get the country out of this economic malaise so that we might salvage something to bequeath our children and those who will come after them.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
This is far more productive than engaging in a half directionless succession confrontation which threatens to tear the country right in the middle.
Postulating possible post-President Robert Mugabe economic and social scenarios is acceptable as long as it is done civilly and within the confines of the Constitution.
It is common cause that an incumbent president will someday cease to be a factor and the fact that Zimbabwe has a Vice-President is actually a constitutional preparation for that eventuality.
Why then should fully-grown men and women get their undergarments all twisted up tearing each other to pieces over issues of succession as if this were some unnatural phenomenon peculiar to Zimbabwe?
In progressive jurisdictions like South Africa, a successor is anointed the day the incumbent is coroneted.
The successor of that successor is also known like in the United States, President Barack Obama will be succeeded by Vice-President Joe Biden and in the event that both Obama and Biden are incapacitated at the same time, Foreign Affairs secretary John Kerry will take over.
This has been the position of the US on succession since the presidency of George Washington more than 200 years ago.
Zimbabweans have this tendency of looking down on other nationalities like Malawians calling them “totemless” hence less wise and yet Malawians are managing issues of succession and transition with distinction.
They are on their 4th President since the demise of Kamuzu Banda in the ’90s and in all cases power has been transferred smoothly.
We are battling on how to handle one succession which has not even come.
I would advise Mugabe to be wary of those who shout “Fuhrer” the loudest and the most as they are usually the ones who least mean it.
Those proposing Mugabe for another term post-2018 are simply hypocrites, “stiff-naked people of calloused feet”.
They are not doing it out of their love for the old man, but are merely grandstanding for their own narrow-minded selfish ends.
All progressive people will contend that the President has run his race and it is time to hand over to a faster pair of feet and a sharper pair of eyes and ears.
It is undeniable that today’s Mugabe is not the same as the one who had the world eating out of his palm on April 18 1980. The fact that today our President is 34 years older than he was in 1980 is hardly a negative one.
It is the progression of time which ultimately defines every living creature and all of us who were there in 1980 are equally 34 years older today.
It is natural that as we age, the body and the mind correspondingly and progressively slow down.
In the next soccer World Cup, the Lionel Messis and Cristiano Ronaldos will not be factors anymore.
The star will be shining on the more youthful James Rodriguez and Neymars. It is only natural.
Mugabe must turn down his nomination for party president at the next congress and instead help Zanu PF to observe its constitution and elect a new leader who possesses the pre-requisite emotional intelligence and physical capability to take both the party and hopefully the country forward.
The country should now be given an opportunity for a fresh start and it is incumbent upon all of us to ensure that this comes to pass.
Hypocrites will “revere” the Dear Leader during the day and nocturnally visit Western Embassies to say less than flattering things about the same leader as revealed in American confidential cables WeakiLeaks.
Long live Zimbabwe! For today, I rest my case right here.
