Mnangagwa ally warns Mugabe

Prominent Zanu PF supporters, Energy Mutodi has warned President Robert Mugabe that he not only being defeated by an opposition coalition led by former PM Morgan Tsvangirai in next year's eagerly awaited national elections but also that this could have dire consequences for him and his family.

He said yesterday that Mugabe's failure to manage his succession was likely to backfire against him.

Mutodi was repsonding to Malema's comments on Zanu-PF cowards.

Below is his facebook post:

ZIMBABWEANS AGREE WITH MALEMA

Ordinary Zimbabweans do support statements by EFF president Julius Malema who among other things said that President Mugabe was now old and needed to rest.

Malema said this while addressing his supporters recently.

"The Zimbabwean situation is bad.

"President Mugabe can't even control a spade.

"You know they were trying to plant a tree.

And he can't control that thing.

That's how old he is. He is no longer capable of discharging his responsibilities", Malema said.

Descending on ZANU PF officials who keep on endorsing Mugabe as the party's presidential candidate, Malema said, "They can respond and insult us in anyway they want but they are a group of cowards those comrades in ZANU PF.

"To be scared to say to an old man like President Mugabe 'please, with due respect, let go!'", Malema said.

"We say this out of love not because we hate him.

"We celebrate Mugabe, we celebrate what he has done and will continue with that legacy.

"But Grandpa, it's enough now", thundered Malema.

Malema's statements have angered some ZANU PF ministers who have angrily responded to him, describing him as a counter-revolutionary.

However, they have been welcomed by ordinary Zimbabweans who have borne the brunt of President Mugabe's disastrous economic policies.

The country is ranked among the most corrupt in the world and has a dilapidated infrastructure that has contributed to its failure to attract foreign direct investment.

The ruling ZANU PF party is heavily divided on who must succeed Mugabe with a G-40 faction bidding for Mugabe's wife Grace who is a former typist while the other faction supports Mugabe's deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The G-40 faction however has tended to suggest Grace as a potential successor only to steal Mugabe's support when it's real choice is either Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo or Minister of Local Government Saviour Kasukuwere.

Mugabe looks undecided on who he must give his support.

Some members of his family suggest he believes in natural succession as dictated and guided by spirit mediums.

He has played different factions angling to succeed him against each other to his own advantage.

However time is running out for him.

He risks losing control of his own succession.

A grand coalition that is shaping up between his former deputy Joice Mujuru and former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai may end his rule; making him vulnerable to prosecution for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during his long iron fist rule.

His children and his wife also risk torture and extra-judicial punishment if a successor comes through a hostile take-over such as an electoral defeat.

Mugabe therefore needs to manage his succession properly by either calling for an extra-ordinary congress that will elect his successor or by nominating his choice through a politburo resolution.

Anyone nominated by him is sure to win against the coalition and will guarantee him a peaceful exit and an undisturbed retirement.

Tsvangirai has promised that he will not prosecute Mugabe for any crimes but Mugabe does not believe him.

The opposition leader is a victim of political violence under Mugabe's rule and will not forgive Mugabe and his corrupt ministers easily.

Even if Mugabe was to die in office, he would not have done any favor to his family as his wife and children are most likely to pay for his sins.

Only Emmerson Mnangagwa will guarantee Mugabe's safety after leaving office.

Any other way is a big gamble that could prove disastrous.

(Energy Mutodi is a doctorate degree candidate at the University of Cape Town. He holds a Bachelor of War Studies & Geography degree and a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Zimbabwe. He is a member of ZANU PF).