MARTIN Dinha is a trained lawyer or so we think and would like to believe. He serves as Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs minister.
Comment: NewsDay Editor
However, it is clear to the discerning eye that he is not the most intelligent of Zimbabwe’s senior government officials.
The iconic picture of him kneeling before First Lady Grace Mugabe for whatever reason, remains as poignant as any on Zimbabwe’s tortured political landscape. Not that Grace does not deserve the respect of Zimbabweans, she does because she is the country’s First Lady.
But the measure of respect must differ, and it leaves a lot to be desired when grown-up men kowtow to her than they may ever do to the constitutionally-elected President Robert Mugabe.
Dinha by the way holds a constitutional government position, while Grace does not. Is it not ironic that a top public servant literally prostrates before a party political activist, then wants to lecture us on the decorum of how to handle information? It is a fact that the President’s wife has forced hundreds of people out of Manzou and Arnold farms to just sustain and grow her business at their expense. This has nothing to do with national development, as Dinha would have us believe.
We know the junior minister is only singing for his supper. His political career is intricately tied to the Mugabes, and abetting their excesses is the only way he can pay back and pump oxygen into what basically is a non-existent profession.
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In fact, it is important to note that Dinha has a pending case of extortion at the High Court. Need we say more, suffice to say let the law take its course.
As for the First Lady, we are astounded that she has kept quiet while her name is being dragged in the mud, supposing she’s morally clean. Does she really need the likes of Dinha to speak on her behalf?
Hundreds of families have suffered at the hands of people claiming to operate on Mugabe, Zanu PF leadership or First Lady’s orders. Zimbabweans are within their rights to ask whether she really needs the land and why contingent plans were not made to relocate the affected families? Besides, if this is anything to go by, the villagers settled at the farms first, and so why should they pave way for a latecomer, who already has vast tracts of underutilised land across the country.
It is a fact – which Grace has confirmed – that she has power to make things happen and indeed even State institutions can move mountains at the snap of her finger. But then, what is consciousness when you are First Lady of hell, with surrogate ministers like Dinha.
While this is not an ideal situation in a democratic State, it is reality in Zimbabwe and at times it is important to accept that it is the way things are.
Thus, if Dinha chooses not to see that the eviction of the villagers is a tragedy, how else can we describe him and his handlers. It is indeed a misfortune to have clowns like Dinha, whose hearts are cold and selfish, presiding over our great nation. Clearly, the current happenings in the country are certainly a calamity waiting to happen.
Whether there is one or half a family is a matter for another day, the issue is no one should suffer because the President’s wife wants one square-metre of land more than she already has!
