Mugabe belittles James Chikerema

President Robert Mugabe took former liberation struggle stronghold James Chikerema to the dry cleaners for enticing members of ZAPU and ZANU including the late Nathan Shamuyarira to form the Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe (FROLIZI) in 1971.

Opening his speech at the burial of Nathan Shamuyarira at the Heroes Acre on Saturday President Mugabe went straight into castigating Chikerema for misleading people into FROLIZI absolving Shamuyarira of any blame in starting up the party that split from the two main revolutionary movements ZAPU and ZANU. Absolving Shamuyarira of the FROLIZI insurgent, Mugabe said that the late Shamuyarira was the first one to pull out of the short lived movement claiming that Chikerema had lied to them about the purpose of the movement which was formed in exile.

Turning back to his cousin Chikerema, President Mugabe described him as a know it all character who wanted to control everyone he worked with. The President scorned Chikerema saying that the radical Chikerema even went around claiming that he was the one who built Joshua Nkomo's political path by allowing Nkomo to head ZAPU in his place at its formation. Chikerema was part of the founding members of ZAPU.

"You look at the tiny little Chikerema standing up and claiming to have raised high a huge person like Nkomo, that's how clever Chikerema was and its that cleverness that destroyed him," said Mugabe amid huge laugh from the crowd at the national shrine.

"There was nothing that Chikerema could work to completion, yes he was very clever but his know it all attitude always let him down leading to him forming the useless FROLIZI."

Mugabe explained that Shamuyarira who had previously been part of the leadership of the Dare reChimurenga fell out of favour with Chikerema's FROLIZI and went to further his studies before rejoining ZANU in Mozambique before independence.