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NewsDay

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As the Zanu PF Big Brother Eviction circus goes on and on, Zim burns

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WE have all seen her on TV screens, walking the length and breadth of Zimbabwe, spitting venom and calling for the resignation of the country’s second-in-command.

WE have all seen her on TV screens, walking the length and breadth of Zimbabwe, spitting venom and calling for the resignation of the country’s second-in-command.

BY Garikai Tunhira

Her “Meet the People” whirlwind tour has taken her to all parts of the country.

Even the perimeter and diameter, if at all it’s there in this beautiful nation, she has all traversed during the so-called “Meet the People” rallies.

And First Lady Grace Mugabe has made sure she will leave no stone unturned in her quest to see President Robert Mugabe’s deputy, Vice-President Joice Mujuru, gone.

At first, Grace spoke covertly about factionalism threatening to rip the former guerrilla movement apart before letting loose towards the end and calling on her husband President Robert Mugabe to “baby-dump the Dotito demon”.

zanu pf congress road (3)

She was beating about the bush, going round in circles and not wanting to point a finger at Mujuru.

But during the last of her tour rallies held at the Mazowe Orphanage, she went for the so daring and brazen act — she pulled the biggest of her Houdinis from under her sleeves.

She fingered Mujuru. And since then, she hasn’t looked back.

Grace’s attacks began with a broadside on Justice deputy minister Fortune Chasi, attacking him for blocking the First Family from taking over a farm in Mashonaland Central.

The nation thought it was one of those gimmicks to hoodwink them into believing that even the First Family was not immune to “privilege denials”.

Then next was the attack on Mujuru, Mash East suspended provincial chair Ray Kaukonde, Harare suspended provincial chair Amos Midzi, and Harare province youth chair Godwin Gomwe, and everybody thought or believed to be aligned to Mujuru.

Only a few, Kaukonde and ousted war vets leader Jabulani Sibanda — despite their ousters — stood their ground against Grace.

Mugabe-speking-to-Mujuru-at-the-zanu-pf's-national-people-congress

Whatever came after that, the votes of no confidence, the provincial chairpersons’ suspensions, the youth provincial chairs’ suspensions, rumours about service chiefs being under fire for supporting Mujuru, rumours about this, rumours about that, rumours, rumours and more rumours, that’s a non-event.

Yet the purges continued and are still continuing.

In the presidential and parliamentary “harmonised” election held July 2013, Zimbabweans heard the party “Nikuved” the elections and won resoundingly against “a shaky” and “focus-less” MDC.

And now the party has turned daggers on itself. The top brass is purging and purging, no, “weevil-ling” and “gamatox-ing” themselves.

The “Dwarfs in long robes” are now clothes-less, they have been stripped of their “political long robes”.

To make it worse, arrests have since started with that of Sibanda, and there are reports that Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa and Manicaland suspended provincial chair John Mvundura could also be arrested.

Zimbos left spectators as always, in fear

And whatever will happen, Zimbabweans are watching from the sidelines — spectators as always.

They wait in fear that the bottled pressure in an old container will in no time burst.

They don’t fear the burst, they fear the after-effects of the burst.

Theirs is fear of what direction the internecine fights will take with the immediate fear being that everything might go horribly wrong and turn these ugly fights into a similar Rwandan social explosion.

With the amounts of hate and scorn being spewed, Zimbabweans fear the implosion and explosion will take an unfortunate turn.

Theirs is a whole country, so they feel, held at ransom by only a cabal, a coterie of the elites “those in power and” wishing to perpetuate their stay there.

As Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the author of Declaration of Independence (1776) and third President of the United States (1801-1809), said: “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”

zanu pf congress road (1)

Again, he said: “A government afraid of its people is a democracy. Citizens afraid of its government is tyranny.”

But does the nation give a rat’s ass? No! It doesn’t care, not at all, about the purges going on in Zanu PF’s backyard, and not at all about the fate of the alleged rebels.

As long as whatever they are doing in Zanu PF doesn’t go nasty, the hearts of many a Zimbabwean will never skip a beat.

Politics out of touch with business, economy

The unfortunate part is that politics has meddled with the business aspect of this country, such that there are no investments at all going on now.

Zanu PF WOmen's League members sing in praise of President Mugabe at the party's 6th congress running till Sunday
Zanu PF WOmen’s League members sing in praise of President Mugabe at the party’s 6th congress running till Sunday
PF

What Zimbabwe is witnessing today is economic regress — total shutdown of whatever the government of national unity had tried to rebuild.

Let those is power start discussing issues to do with the economy, policies the nation feels take the country forward, everyone starts turning heads.

They stop breathing and listen attentively to whatever is good to their ears, as long as the citizens know it will be complemented by action.

Let them start discussing issues to do with bread and butter, everyone, even those in the Diaspora, will want to listen — and very much attentively.

What Zimbabweans want is nothing more than bread and butter, and jobs — oh yes jobs.

Those two million promised jobs, with consistent and positive policies, will surely turn the wheels of the nation — where employment is a high 90%+.

Nomatter how much digressing happens on the surface, Zimbabweans want only to hear about the economy.

The Zanu PF catfights will not put food on the table for many a poor citizen, that’s how they feel.

Instead, they feel the fights will only but propel the country into more of doom.

Zimbos and their sway to Mujuru’s side

So, what is happening now is that the majority of Zimbabweans have now opted to sympathise with Mujuru.

She has been labelled as “corrupt”, “not fit to hold the VP post”, “a gossiper”, “demonic”, “jealous and divisive”, “inept” and “unfit for consumption by flies and dogs”, among a litany of superlatives used by her erstwhile comrades the hordes of all sorts of names.

But she has not given up, and even surprised the Zanu PF “weevils” camp when she issued a statement two weeks ago, springing up to her defence and telling whoever cared to listen she still wanted to serve the nation in her capacity as VP.

She wrote: “Leaders are elected by the people to serve the people. I am an elected servant of people of Zimbabwe and as such I can only serve this country in any capacity, when elected by the people.

“No amount of malicious, hurtful and false statements about me, my late husband, my family, children, associates or business interests (real or imagined) can deter me from the mission at hand, that is to assist His Excellency President R G Mugabe in driving the social and economic programmes of his government to successful fruition.”

Many a Zimbabwean feel she is the better of Devils in the ruling party.

They feel maybe her connections with the whites will bring back major investments into the country.

Govt’s ruin of industries

They look back at the Ziscosteel situation, where Indian company Essar Holdings in March 2011 signed a $750 million deal with the Zimbabwean government in which the foreign investor agreed to take over and resume operations at the defunct State-owned Ziscosteel.

The deal renewed hope for Redcliff and Kwekwe residents, the industry sector and Zimbabwe at large, all that has since become a farce.

NewZim Steel claims the Zimbabwe government is still holding onto claims that it is supposed to have handed over long back.

Gweru is nothing now but a white elephant. Only a few industries are operational there.

Shabanie-Mashava as well has not been spared. It’s all doom there. At least had government resuscitated such huge mining and production entities, Zimbabwe would be a healthier country.

Bulawayo, the industrial hub of Zimbabwe, is worse off. There is no elephant to talk of let alone a white one.

The Zanu PF congress

Today, the Zanu PF “elective” congress begins. And there is no sign the powers-that-be have any eagerness to discuss the country’s future and the economy.

They are going there in a celebratory mood — celebrating the ouster of perceived “enemies”.

Last week Thursday, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa presented a $4,1 billion 2015 National Budget.

In the presentation, it was said 5 000 firms have closed shop between 2011 and 2014 due to the current economic problems facing the country.

Zimbabwe was told that the company closures have affected over 55 500 employees.

Despite the Distressed and Marginalised Funds being availed to resuscitate companies, it has done little or no effect on the market.

How good Zimbabwe is at policy formulation, yet how pathetic the country is on action.

The indigenisation policy is one such example.

It has apparently scared away investors.