Mudenda turns against Mugabe

Spending too much time in leadership turns people evil, National Assembly speaker Jacob Mudenda has said.

Mudenda told delegates at the on-going Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) congress here that leaders who consolidate power become very evil.

Without naming anyone in particular, Mudenda - who took over as leader of National Assembly in 2013 - said it was only human for leaders who stayed in power too long to act in a certain "unacceptable" way.

"So… when we discuss issues of corporate misdemeanours, let us understand that it is a human phenomenon indicating the weakness of human nature, anywhere in the world.

"And the more you get power, the more the devil comes closer to you. The more you get power, the more the devil comes next to you and you begin to do certain things that are unacceptable."

Mudenda said the "temptation" was very common, and no one was immune.

"And there is no one who is not free from the temptations. Others are very subtle, they survive until they die, but that doesn't mean they have been angels. They survive because of their subtle nature in their doings," the Speaker said.

The advocate also said Zimbabweans were passive and needed to speak up against injustices.

"Another very powerful force, outside the Executive and Judiciary to pounce on those who have been found wanting by the parliamentary committee is the people themselves, you the people.

"But the power of the people is more biting when they stand up and say ‘enough is enough', but that culture is not yet in Zimbabwe.

"It is there in South Africa, but in Zimbabwe, we are law-abiding citizens to the extreme," Mudenda said.

He gave examples of South Korea and Brazil, where the people had stood up against poor governance and won.

"Take South Korea where the president was involved through a friend in certain dealings the electorate stood up and said the president must be prosecuted and she tried to cling to power with a host of lawyers but she didn't succeed.

"She was arrested because of the power of the electorate, they demonstrated against her behaviour," he said, referring to former South Korean leader Park Geun-hye ousted on charges including bribery, in a corruption scandal that sucked in the country's business and political elite.

In a dramatic fall from power, Park, 65, became South Korea's first democratically-elected leader to be thrown out of office after rolling protests against her.

She is accused of colluding with a friend, Choi Soon-sil, to pressure big businesses to contribute funds to foundations that backed her policy initiatives.

"You go to Brazil, it was a lady again and as someone said in one debate, when you put women in positions of power they are less inclined to corruption. But again, the electorate stood up and she's out.

"Now, the deputy who has taken over, if you have been following CNN, is in trouble because of what? The people! Who are saying we can't condone this type of behaviour," Mudenda said.

Brazil's top electoral court earlier this month dismissed a case that threatened to unseat President Michel Temer for alleged illegal campaign funding in the 2014 election, when he was the running mate of impeached female President Dilma Rousseff.

The ruling gave Temer some breathing room but will not end a political crisis enveloping the beleaguered centre-right leader. He is being investigated separately by federal prosecutors for corruption, obstruction of justice and racketeering.

Wading into Zanu-PF factional fights, the Speaker also cautioned that he was not part of the Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa-affiliated Team Lacoste.

"Sometimes when I give my thoughts on issues you hear people say ‘he is Lacoste' but that is not the case, it is just an issue of saying this is wrong when it is…" he said.