DRAMA AS ZANU PF YOUTHS TRADE ANTI-GAMATOX, WEEVIL BLOWS The ZANU PF succession fiasco has reached boiling point as evidenced by yesterdays Dr Grace Mugabe Meet-the-People rally in Marondera which more than confirmed that indeed there were two opposing camps determined to take over the reins at whatever cost whenever President Mugabe decides to retire. There was drama yesterday at the rally as each camp struggled to show its supremacy and dominance in terms of grassroots support. On one hand is the the Anti-Weevils orchestra presumed to be loyal to Vice President Joice Mujuru, buttressed by Manicaland godfather Didmus Mutasa and operated, engineered and financed by Mashonaland East Provincial chairman Ray Kaukonde while on the other hand is the Anti-Gamatox crusade headed by Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and presumably orchestrated by Professor Jonathan Moyo, Saviour Kasukuwere, Oppah Muchinguri, Patrick Zhuwawo and guaranteed by maverick businessman Phillip Chiyangwa. It doesnt need to rocket scientist to prove that ZANU PF is now heavily divided on factional grounds, a situation that has generated and evolved over time until its present catastrophic effect. With speculation that President Mugabe is now inclined to the Mnangagwa faction explaining why he has offered his wife in a messianic way to that faction, disaster looms over the Joice Mujuru loyalists who may face not only relegation from the Politburo but also joblessness and financial doldrums come Congress in December and the subsequent March 2015 cabinet re-shuffle. At the Marondera rally, Grace tore into the guarantors of the Joice Mujuru faction; particularly Ray Kaukonde whom she warned against fanning factionalism through use of money. Kaukonde, a multi-millionaire is the wealthiest of all Zanu PF Provincial chairpersons and is thought to be the chief architect and proponent of the Simba-Makoni led Mavambo/Kusike/Dawn project working in cohorts with the late General Solomon Mujuru when the party was established in February 2008. Mujuru, himself a highly decorated military chief who delivered independence to Zimbabwe through his hard work and also reportedly helped President Mugabe overcome his competitors for the highest office is also gossiped to have influenced the formation of the opposition MDC in 1999 as a competitive force to push Mugabe out of power. When the MDC failed to dislodge the President in successive elections, he is said to have hatched the MKD plan in which he promised Makoni and Dumiso Dabengwa that he would influence more big wigs to join the break away party. By the time he died in an infermo at his Beatrice farm, he was said to have been working on another strategy to overthrow the President so as to install his wife Joice, this time using a politburo resolution. His death has done little to stop his manouevres on the presidency as the foot soldiers in his grand plan mainly in the politburo shifted loyalty to his wife after his death. There is every reason to believe that President Mugabe at one time agreed with Mujuru on a number of key issues some of which to do with future leadership. A case in point is the 2004 astronomic rise by Joice Mujuru to the Vice Presidency ahead of a more sinior Emmerson Mnangagwa, President Mugabes blue eyed boy who had secured the required six nominations out of ten provinces. The late general Mujuru is said to have influenced a policy shift in ZANU PF that favoured a female candidate to occupy the second-in-command seat. It is the generals aggression overhang particularly on the presidency that continues to haunt ZANU PF to this day. A number of things have however changed after General Mujuru warranting a mind shift for those angling to succeed the President Mugabe using his tactics and ideology. Chief among them is the fact that President Mugabe has released his wife Dr Grace Mugabe into the political game; a step that forces him to be decisive and at least aligned to those in support of his personal will. While those in the Mujuru camp may say that they would want to introduce a moderate approach that allows cooperation with the Americans and the British on the economic front, they fail to realize that the President has over the years worked hard to prove to the former colonizers that Zimbabwe does not need them to sustain herself although it would accept cooperation based on equality, sovereignty and mutual benefit. While he seems to have reached a stage when his enemies are beginning to curve in to his demands as evidenced by the EU and IMF re-engagement initiatives, he is disgusted by reports that his deputy nicodemously meets with ambassadors of those countries planning a hostile take over that could jeopardize his own business interests and reduce his wife to a prisoner. This situation proves that Joice Mujuru advisers have fallen short of forecasting skills. Also important to note is that Emmerson Mnangagwa remains the only voice the President can attentively listen to after Solomon Mujuru is gone. He is clever, alert and a proven strategist whom one can underestimate to his own peril. Judging from the Dr Grace Mugabes Meet the People rallies, the Mnangagwa camp looks set to bulldoze into the Mujuru strongholds and take with it the most support. Their anti-gamatox slogan has grown faster and firmer than the anti-weevils one propounded by the Mujuru camp. Their biggest advantage is that Grace, after proving that she is a competitive political item herself as evidenced by her deep understanding and mastery of the political and socio-economic situation in her meet the people speeches is against the possibility of a Joice Mujuru presidency. She has openly criticized factionalism and declared war on anyone trying to take over from the President without her blessing. It is no doubt that she is the Kingmaker and anyone who dares to stand on her way will learn the hard way. (Energy Mutodi recently completed his Masters in Business Administration Degree at the University of Zimbabwe. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography and War Studies and an Executive Course in Defence Management. He is an author and musician as well as a businessman in property development and housing finance. His MBA thesis was on Treasury Bills and at the moment, he is preparing his PHD thesis premised on the Zimbabwe Stock Market under the University of Cape Town UCT).
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 11:08:14 +0000
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