ZBC strips Mujuru, Mutasa of Cde title
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ZBC strips Mujuru, Mutasa of Cde title

THE ZBC may have cleared any last doubts that fired VP Joice Mujuru and her colleagues are history at least in as far as Zanu PF is concerned by stopping referring to them as comrades.

Mujuru and former intelligence minister Didymus Mutasa alongside their colleagues were removed from their party positions and subsequently fired from government following allegations that they were part of a plot to overthrow President Mugabe.

Nobody believes the allegations against Mujuru and her allies and there doesn’t seem to be any hurry to charge the former VP. But the ZBC has moved to strip them of their cherished comradeship title.

Both Mujuru and Mutasa have been in government since 1980 and for the first time ever they are no longer referred to as Cde in the national broadcaster.

The two are also known to have been amongst Mugabe’s most obsequious followers, something which may make their fate difficult for them to accept.

The in-house style of the ZBC and other state controlled publications dictates that Zanu PF politicians and supporters should be referred to as comrades.

According to one of the definitions of the Oxford dictionary, the word comrade means a colleague or fellow member of an organisation.

But recent ZBC news bulletins monitored by the NewZimbabwe.com clearly revealed that Mujuru, Mutasa and their allies have been stripped of the comradeship title and are now referred to by their surnames only like the MDC officials.

“It is common knowledge that Mutasa and people like Ray Kaukonde no longer deserve that title because they have rebelled against Zanu PF. Our editorial policy is that only Zanu (PF) members and members from other friendly liberation movements from the region are referred to as Cdes,” said a senior manager at Montrose Studios who declined to be named.

Other state publications continue to refer to them as comrades though but continue to publish abusive stories.

Mutasa, two weeks ago, issued a damming press statement denouncing the party’s last congress which was held in December last years. Mutasa said he and a clique of other disgruntled party members were planning to challenge the outcome of the congress in court.

However Zanu PF officials have reacted angrily to Mutasa’s move with Mugabe leading the attack on his former intelligence minister whom he described as a “stray braying donkey”.

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