Army has a right to comment on civil matters- Mutodi

Zanu PF outspoken youth member Energy Mutodi has said the members of the Defence Forces have a right to comment on any civil matters as they are also affected by such issues.

This come at a time when General Douglas Nyikayaramba has been rapped by sections of the society for delving into the corruption issues in his recent statement in which he said corruption can be a cause of civil unrest and a security threat.

"Reports in some sections of the media suggesting that some political analysts are saying the army has no business commenting on corruption and governance issues have proven beyond doubt that some scribes in Zimbabwe's private media houses are surviving from handouts given to them by corrupt government ministers who while they continue to loot from parastatals want to be portrayed as blameless and victims of tribalism and factionalism," Mutodi said.

"I would like to urge those journalists to stop supporting corrupt tendencies by public officials and join the people in condemning the scourge. Our country is now a laughing stalk with no currency of its own, no food, no jobs, no industry, no infrastructure and no hope because the politically linked ones are mercilessly looting from it everyday and remain free from arrest and prosecution."

He said the state has been used as an avenue to steal from the poor and to shatter the hopes of ordinary citizens of ever living in a self-sufficient country that can provide the needs and wants of its people.

"The poor who suffer to raise money to educate their children remain poor and become even worse as their investment in the education of their children will never pay dividends to them due to adverse unemployment. The Executive continue to promulgate disastrous policies that leave the people in worse situations while ministers and sinior government officials swim in looted state funds and neither experience nor appreciate the hardlife that citizens continue to live," Mutodi said.

"I am very much excited about the comment that General Douglas Nyikayaramba has passed on corrupt ministers and I am confident that he is expressing the views of every other army personnel. The army must not keep quiet when thieves brag about their ability to stop state institutions including the police from executing their constitutional mandate to effect arrest on suspected criminals and bring them before the courts."

He said all the power comes from the people including the mandate to rule that President Mugabe currently has.

"President Robert Mugabe cannot defend ministers who are stealing from the people because the people are the ones who have given him the mandate to be in office. The people want corruption to end and those accused must face justice without trying to confuse everybody with cheap politics like factionalism and tribalism," he said.

"I am also happy with reports that President Mugabe has said he will not stand in the course of justice and defend criminals as what his deputy Phelekezela Mphoko has done. Anyone who supports corruption is a devil and must be condemned in the strongest terms because corruption breeds poverty, argon and poor standards of living and low life expectancies. Corruption leads to underdevelopment, unattractiveness of the country to investment and unemployment. The vicious cycle of poverty is powered by public sector corruption."

"I am urging President Mugabe to leave ZACC to carry out its constitutional mandate without fear and move on anyone accused of corruption irregardless of the factions they belong to in the ruling party."

He said it is the people not factions who will vote for Zanu PF in 2018 as they have always done.

"The only way President Mugabe can regain the confidence of the electorate and win resoundingly again is when he deals with his fat cats in government who are depriving the people of a thriving economy through their unquenchable thirst for money.  If it is not possible to deal with corruption as a civilian government, then the army has a leeway to prepare and take necessary steps to seize power until we know what we must do as civilians to promote the emergence of an equitable, rational and accountable society," he said.

"It is true as what some have said that the war veterans of this country did not go to war so that a conducive environment for theft of public resources by opportunists would be created.  Action on corrupt ministers must be taken now without any further delay and there is no need for any inquiry about the impartiality of ZACC as it is not a court itself. ZACC must freely make its accusations against anyone and it is the right of the accused persons to defend themselves in court and not in newspapers."

"We know it that some of them are bribing these poor journalists and asking them to fight their wars. If anyone has facts to defend themselves let them do it before a judge or magistrate who has the knowledge and experience to determine criminal cases and make a fair ruling."


He said that is the only way people  can successfully fight corruption if ministers know that they can steal but at the end of the day they must stand in court to account.

"If they steal and know for certain that nothing will happen to them then we are not serious and that's unacceptable. In that case the whole leadership must step down," he said.