They are mad: Mujuru
Politics Zimbabwe

They are mad: Mujuru

mujuru1

Former Vice President Joice Mujuru has dismissed as “outright madness” unrelenting State media reports that she is working with opposition parties, some prominent Zimbabweans and foreign governments to plunge the country into unprecedented chaos in a bid to trigger early polls.

The murky claim that analysts have dismissed as “far-fetched” and “fit for Bollywood skits”, is the latest in a long line of widely-discredited allegations — ranging from treason to witchcraft — that President Robert Mugabe, his wife Grace and Zanu PF hardliners have made against her, and that lickspittle State media have carried with glee over the past few months.

Unsurprisingly, police have not moved to either charge or arrest her and any of her allies, despite the battery of serious allegations that her Zanu PF enemies, including Mugabe, have consistently and repeatedly thrown at her.

Asked by the Daily News yesterday to comment on the latest allegation against her that she was working with opposition parties, some prominent Zimbabweans and foreign powers to plunge the country into unprecedented chaos in a bid to trigger early polls, Mujuru said the continuing fixation that her erstwhile Zanu PF comrades had on her was disconcerting.

Insinuating that her continued harassment by the powers-that-be was meant to hound her out of Zanu PF altogether, having been ousted from both her party and government positions last December, Mujuru said this would not work as Zanu PF was “the only party” that she had ever known.

Prodded further whether she was working with others to fan chaos in the country, Mujuru described the latest claims as “outright madness”, adding that she was getting used to the malicious allegations.

“I am home, ndakanyarara (and am quiet). It is now the order of the day to lie about me, which is what idle minds do. Next time, somebody whose wife would have been impregnated will say it’s Mai Mujuru,” she quipped.

Questioned if she was talking to and working with some opposition parties as alleged by the lapdog State media, Mujuru asked rhetorically, “When, where and for what purpose?”

Typically quoting unnamed sources on stories of this nature, the lickspittle State media have claimed that Mujuru and her allies were working with the MDC, foreign governments and civic society organisations to destabilise the country.

The accusations followed the recent demonstrations at the University of Zimbabwe and violent riots over food and other conditions at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, that saw five inmates being shot dead by authorities, as well as the mass demonstrations that rocked central Harare following the abduction of pro-democracy activist Itai Dzamara, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

The attacks on Mujuru have also escalated as tensions within Zanu PF continue to worsen at a time that the country’s economy is plummeting precipitously, causing untold pain to millions of long-suffering Zimbabweans.

This has seen increasing calls by some Zanu PF hardliners for Mujuru’s expulsion from the ruling party, as recently happened to former Cabinet minister Didymus Mutasa and ex-party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo — a move that would benefit her senior party opponents and completely eliminate her from ever being considered for high office in the party.

In the telephone interview with the Daily News yesterday, Mujuru also dismissed as “mere speculation” claims by Mugabe and other Zanu PF bigwigs that she was about to form her own political party.

“I am Zanu PF and no one will remove me from that party because I did no one any wrong,” she said emphatically.

Among other bizarre claims, Mugabe recently alleged that Mujuru had consulted Nigerian witch doctors, “half-naked”, in a vain bid to topple him from power.

Previously, Mugabe and his wife Grace had also claimed that Mujuru, Gumbo and Mutasa had connived to oust him from power and to have him killed.

Commenting on the latest Zanu PF conspiracy yesterday, MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu said the ruling party should not drag the main opposition party into its “dirty factional fights”.

“For the record, the MDC is not working in cahoots with any of the numerous factions within the beleaguered and terminally-fractured Zanu PF party.

“It is a fact that there are at least two main factions within Zanu PF: the Gamatox (Mujuru) faction and the Weevils (VP Emmerson Mnangagwa) faction. There are also other smaller factions,” Gutu said.

He said even after the Weevils had ganged up with Grace to eject Mujuru from her party and State positions, Zanu PF remained in the “vicious throes” of its succession wars, with the party’s ostensibly victorious faction now split along tribal and generational lines.

As a result, Gutu said, Zanu PF’s days were numbered and it would soon “collapse like the proverbial deck of cards”.

“Zanu PF is a sunset political formation that is faced by an inevitable and crushing collapse.

“The allegation that the MDC is planning protests to destabilise the country is palpably false, spurious, frivolous and utterly vexatious.”

Source: Daily News

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *