ON Monday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa for the first time revealed his true colours on Constitutional Amendment No 3 Bill (CAB3) and his dream of becoming Emperor Munhumutapa, who is not accountable to anyone.
This is scary, a coup in a constitutional democracy.
It is clear that his minions would be in overdrive to explain the President’s utterances as a joke.
However, we should never lose sight of the fact that: there is an element of truth in every joke.
Mnangagwa is tired of living in a colonial State House.
He wants something fresh and fit for a king.
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“This was designed by colonialists. We are going to design our own as the people of Munhumutapa,” Mnangagwa said.
This talk about Munhumutapa is not new.
It has been going on for some time.
It came out for the first time as a statutory instrument changing Zimbabwe Sovereign Wealth Fund to Mutapa Investment Fund.
Nobody did really give care to the change of name, but there were discussions about this multi-billion fund directly placed in the Office of the President and Cabinet.
Mnangagwa followed this up by creating Munhumutapa Day, a day observed annually by all intents.
The day is celebrated on September 15 and it’s his birthday.
First commemorations were held at Great Zimbabwe.
The coincidence is just too much to miss even for the uninitiated.
It has to be remembered that Mnangagwa post the November 2017 coup was portrayed as a transitional leader.
He even had interviews on international television stations such as France24 and CNN where he called himself a constitutionalist and that he would leave office in 2028 at the end of his second elected term.
Boom, Mnangagwa now supports CAB3 and he calls it democracy in action.
The man, now with the benefit of hindsight, seems to have been planning this since Day One.
Mnangagwa in the recent past travelled without announcing his destination or purpose, even though the trip was funded by public funds.
On being asked where was he, the President responded to ZBC-tv that a king does not disclose his movements.
Case closed. No accountability. He is now an infallible imperial king.
Let us get back to the new State House issue.
The house is on the New Mt Hampden master plan.
However, the big question is: Why is the house being treated as an emergency?
It is curious because recently, the current State House underwent a security refurbishment worth more than US$20 million.
The tender was awarded to Prevail Construction. The winner of the tender is Tungwarara, an advisor to Mnangagwa on investments.
Why the new State House now, with less than four years to 2030?
The answers would include that there is a new city where all government departments would be.
Some would even argue about the new Kenyan State House in Nairobi or Donald Trump’s extension and renovation of the White House to put a new ballroom.
However, the real answer is on awarding contracts.
Zimbabweans remain aware of the multi-billion Command Agriculture funding that was awarded to Sakunda.
The citizens also know the multi-million Geo Pomona waste management tender awarded to Dilesh Nguwaya and one of the President’s sons.
Other multi-million tenders awarded in the recent past include the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission tender for election materials to Wicknell Chivayo, The Trabablas interchange to Fossil Contractors, National Sports Stadium refurbishment to Sakunda and the purchase of 35% of Kuvimba Mining House by Mutapa Investment Fund at a cost of US$1,9 billion.
A cursory look at the companies and personalities who have got the big tenders under Mnangagwa are mostly his associates and they are all supporting CAB3.
It is anyone’s guess on who will get the multi-million or multi-billion tender for new State House.
Naturally, the next question is what happens to the current State House?
There is also the Zimbabwe House opposite it that has been vacant for years.
History since the late former President Robert Mugabe’s days is replete with cases of asset stripping by Zanu PF politicians.
There has been systematic asset stripping of State properties and companies.
Ministers got houses for free or paltry amounts or stands in plush suburbs.
Some used fronts to buy State-owned enterprises.
We can, therefore, only speculate what will happen to the old State House, a property in the most secure location next to Harare’s Tongogara Barracks, Tomlison Police Protection Unit Depot, State House, Zimbabwe House, Presidential Guard Barracks, Royal Harare Sports Club.
This is prime land, even if the new city moves to Mt Hampden.
Will the new Munhumutapa House be the crown jewel of Mnangagwa’s immortalisation?
So far, here are some things renamed after him in the last decade: Enterprise Road, Mbudzi Interchange, Midlands State University Law School, semi-public Mutapa Day and the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
It reminds of imperial Queen Victoria whose name is on roads, buildings and schools across the Anglophile Africa.
It is now a matter of concern that Parliament, in a bi-partisan approach, should openly demand the tender documents for the new State House, expected cost of the project, funding arrangement and if this is a priority in a country struggling to provide basic services such as potable water, public primary health care, public education (misuse of Basic Education Assistance Module funds, Sadc conference).
The King is ready to anoint himself in a constitutional democracy.
Any democratic means should be used to stop this self-glorification and deification of a leader.
It’s now or never and posterity would be correct to ask how brave men and women were cowards in the face of brazen usurpation of power by one man?
American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) captures it well when he said: “Power concedes nothing without demand.”
I’m out!