Opinion / Columnist
Grotesque birthday feast
26 Feb 2017 at 18:52hrs | Views
The Mugabe family and their cronies feasted on a 93 kg cake at a requisitioned school in Matobo where local people live in desperate poverty, their children starving, increasingly cut off from the outside world by decaying infrastructure.
A whatsapp message from a pastors' forum in Bulawayo said they were appalled at the money being spent on Mugabe's birthday party and listed some of the pressing needs in the area that could benefit from this money. They quoted Proverbs: 29 v 2: 'When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked rule, the people mourn.'
The grotesque party for Mugabe's 93rd birthday was particularly insulting to the local people because the venue is so close to the graves of victims of Mugabe's Gukurahundi genocide of the 1980s, orchestrated by Vice President Mnangagwa.
With us at the Vigil was Enniah Dube, Vice President of Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe, who grew up in the area. She said: 'the idea to hold a party for Mugabe there is highly insensitive and an insult to the people of Matabeleland. It's like telling people to stop mourning their deceased and dine with the murderer. Those of us who witnessed the Gukurahundi era will never have closure until Mugabe and his cronies answer for their crimes.'
Mugabe at 93 is fast failing. But he is the only thing Zanu PF can rally around. When Grace said he could stand for re-election next year even if he is dead, people laughed. Then it dawned on everyone that the Mugabes were deadly serious. After all, whole cemeteries of skeletons over 100 years old were on the voters' roll for the 2013 elections. They all voted for Mugabe then and will no doubt be even keener now that he himself is approaching 100.
It wouldn't be surprising if he was already gearing them up to go canvassing for him in the dead of night. No use locking your doors, they will simply walk through them. It is well know that Mugabe is keen on the occult. He said it was because Mai Mujuru was trying to put spells on him that he had to get rid of her.
For her part, Grace Mugabe, as befits someone with a doctorate, takes a more scientific view. She wisely warns girls that they are more likely to get pregnant than boys and cites her evidence: 'If you look at the statistics, girls have nearly 100% chance of getting pregnant, while boys have nearly zero chances of falling pregnant. This means girls have to be extra vigilant.'
Source - zimvigil
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