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Mugabe to be forced out of office

by Itai Mushekwe/Mary-Kate Kahari
21 Apr 2017 at 07:08hrs | Views
President Robert Mugabe's days in office are reportedly numbered, as an alleged secret confederacy inside and outside government wants him gone as soon as possible, before year end, while giving their preferred successor ample time to bring back the faction-torn ruling party together, with the goal of winning the much awaited 2018 presidential and parliamentary elections at all costs, Spotlight Zimbabwe reported.

High ranking government insiders including two prominent ministers who requested not to be named, this week said the anti-Mugabe cartel, is not leaving anything to chance as they see the nonagenarian as a big political liability, likely to impede Zanu-PF's power retention next year. They said the country is not going to be the same within the coming six months, going on to predict a blood-bath, and possible assassinations and counter assassinations among feuding political camps inside the former liberation party.

The disclosures come hard on the heels of the opposition sealing two crucial alliances in the past 48 hours, to challenge Mugabe in the watershed 2018 poll. MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was roaring with a new political spring in his step late Wednesday and yesterday, when he put pen to paper on two coalition agreement deals with fellow opposition leaders. Tsvangirai first met former vice president and National People's Party (NPP) boss, Joice Mujuru, at his Highlands residence for the brief signing presser, followed by MDC leader, Welshman Ncube, the following day.

Although details of the agreements remain a close guarded secret, Spotlight Zimbabwe, can reveal that Tsvangirai is in delicate negotiations to offer and if they agree, both Mujuru and Ncube the vice presidency slots in the new grand government should they win power. Ncube's roping in is expected to see Tsvangirai winning a landslide of the Matabeleland vote, while Mujuru will bring with her Zanu-PF protest votes our information shows.

"The opposition is going to be very strong going into the 2018 elections," said one of the ministers. "This has presented a dilemma for the party, although many publicly stand with him (Mugabe), a good number want him to call it a day for the sake of winning those elections. Unfortunately matters have reached a climax behind the curtains, and I hear of a mafia-like confederacy hell bent on causing chaos, and creating order out of that choas, by forcing our leader out before year end to meet their hidden agenda."

The others said there was risk of civil strife escalating, and the possibility of rule by decree, should this scenario of pushing Mugabe play out.

"Off course we are likely to witness bloodshed and possible assassinations and counter assassinations, like has never been seen before since the Independence of this country. A lot is at stake, however we hope it does not degenerate to those levels, but the power struggle to succeed the founding president has now reached its final and most dangerous phase."

Adding political kerosene to the already raging fires of Mugabe's succession, and as if to confirm the danger at Mugabe's doorstep, the ruling party's under fire national political commissar and local government minister, Saviour Kasukuwere, told a private daily publication this week that his foes from another faction want him kicked out, because he was distressing their alleged agenda to remove Mugabe from power. Kasukuwere said his own investigations, and reports made available to his office revealed that the unnamed faction wants Mugabe out of power this year.

"My position in public and private has been clear, that president Mugabe was elected in 2013 and is our candidate for 2018. It must stand as a public record that president Mugabe should be allowed to do his job without being distracted by hopeless people who want his position," Kasukuwere was quoted as saying.

Kasukuwere also fired salvos at Minister of State for Mashonaland Central province, Martin Dinha, claiming that he was being used as a pawn by "successionists" to make sure they toppled Mugabe before the next elections.

"Dinha is an instrument to aid the regime change agenda. His activities in Mashonaland Central are clearly aimed at advancing a factional position. He has made himself the point man to advance a so called alternative narrative and at the same time lying that he is close to the first family and abusing this theory. I will soon expose his hidden agenda at fast tracking regime change and I will dispose of all his allegations one by one. Besides the hidden agenda he is pushing at the behest of the real people who no longer want the president, he has a personal agenda where he asked me to help him lobby to be the minister of Justice. If he wants that job, he has to approach the appointing authority who is president Mugabe. I have served the president well and will not be moved from that by chancers like Dinha, who praise the first family during the day and plot his (Mugabe)'s downfall in the middle of the night together with his fellow successionists," Kasukuwere told the daily.

Early this month, Spotlight Zimbabwe, reported that Mugabe was plotting to hand over power to his truculent wife, Grace, should he contest and win the 2018 plebiscite, thus possibly explaining why he is eager to go on to contest as Zanu-PF candidate one last time.

Intelligence sources say the master plan of Mugabe stepping down for Grace, was in line with his family's broader goal of eventually making former reserve bank governor, Gideon Gono, the ultimate Zimbabwe president. Under a Grace presidency, as opposed to a looming vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa one, it will be easy to fast-track Gono into the top echelons of Zanu-PF and government it is thought.

As first revealed by Spotlight Zimbabwe on 4 July 2016 Gono, is also allegedly being prepared by the national security apparatus, to revive Zanu-PF and topple Mujuru and Tsvangirai from power, should the duo win the 2018 elections instead of Zanu-PF.

Mugabe's press secretary and spokesman, George Charamba, could not be reached for comment yesterday. His mobile phone was unreachable, while his office line went unanswered.

Source - spotlight
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