Opinion / Columnist
General Chiwenga Pronounces a Coup - No to civil war in Zimbabwe!
13 Nov 2017 at 17:39hrs | Views
How clear does it get? That statement in a country with a functional defense mechanism would have gotten the man court marshalled right away. He would not see the dawn of tomorrow or setting of the sun today except he just declared that he is now the man in charge. The man just challenged the President of the republic and we are all laughing about it? The army caused ZANU to continue ruling through supporting its rigging and oppressive system and now he dares open his mouth to talk about chaos and despondency, who is causing despondency and anxiety now if not him?
The Army General in his statement laments the state of affairs in ZANU PF and how it has become a household name. General Chiwenga talks of Constitutionalism in the same document where he talks of usurping authority to fix things. What does the army fix except helping on civilian issues as he said in times of calamities? The army in a Constitutional state does not pronounce or get involved in mismanagement of the country or try to fix political issues. The army works with government of the day and does not talk about choices of the purging of war veterans as a cause for concern to interfere with political and civilian issues.
The arm is meant to defend not instigate violence and social disorder. The army general is clearly out of line. If indeed he is a friend of Mnangagwa and the purging of his friends in ZANU is of concern to him, he can raise that at party level not using the national army. General Chiwenga stands advised, he is a national army General not a ZANU PF General or soldier. It is unheard of that people ululate and worry about minor useless things like pronunciation when a person of the army general is breaking his oath of office. The oath of office is to defend the country not ZANU PF and not War Veterans.
The Army General just fired his warning shot to the whole country that he has taken over the reins and this in the face of what he calls Constitutionalism. The statement is exactly what is equivalent to subverting a 'constitutional' government. People elected Mr Mugabe and he can hire and fire whoever and that has to be dealt with through parliament and the masses not through the army. By the way the General needs to understand that all decisions taken in this world are normally influenced by one or two people or a small group. That does not invalidate the decisions.
The fact that G40 has won or is the influencing factor is not unique in any way. Even if it is the President's wife. That's the nature of politics. We as Zimbabwean citizens have been outwitted by ZANU using state resources to rig and steal elections, but we had to bow down because we understand political processes and know there are political means to resolve such issues and the unacceptable one in this day and age is a military coup. It is not a political process to have the Army General standing against his Commander in Chief, that in army terms Sir is called a mutiny and we cannot allow a mutineer to address us on such bases.
We have a peace-loving population that has endured torture and oppression at the hands of the army that ever intimidates, harasses and kills people for no good reason. We want to appeal to you Sir, Mr General, that, it is of no good consequence to take matters into your own hands because you are unhappy that a decision has not gone your way. The War Veterans and the Army at large belong to Zimbabwe. We honour the War Veterans for the job well done in the Chimurenga/Umvukela struggles and we will always cherish and honour that. On the same note we love the ZNA and all the wings of the defense mechanism of the country and therefore when we sleep we do so soundly knowing that a responsible army is protecting the integrity of our country not threatening to bring chaos into the country.
Mr President may have done what does not please you, it is his job to manage the affairs of the country the best way he can, if you do not like it, you deal with it at the ballot box but not in the uniform of the Zimbabwean Army to pronounce such a statement Sir, it is indeed an insult to the integrity and standing of the people that have lived under oppressive conditions in a bid to respect the Constitution and a government seen to have been formed by people that won an election.
We are indeed afraid of you, we are struck with terror at the sight of our protectors because you have not won our respect and instilled a sense of safety about your presence. We know you control the armory and have many men and women that are trained never to ask questions but to act at your command. Sir, Mr General, political rhetoric is for politicians and not the army. We know you can quash the whole nation as you are capable and because you have such power, but Sir we would like to appeal to your uniform, your rank, it speaks of sobriety, sensibility and responsibility. You have the responsibility to prevent the spilling and shading of innocent blood in our country, and please let it not begin at your behest.
We have many political parties and ordinary Zimbabweans that are better placed to make pronouncements about the political state of affairs and act even but you Sir do not with due respect have the grounds to utter the words you just did. We have a new constitution that we need to try and implement, we have many lawyers watching closely to see how to deal with the affairs, that is what they studied to do Sir and allow them to operate in that space without the fair of the army interfere with civilian affairs. The purging is a ZANU PF culture and Mr Mnangagwa you are fighting for has celebrated many firings and there are many clips on social media just reminding people of what he used to say. We therefore implore you to spare us the victim stance now because before today you have not condemned these acts but today because the side you are on in ZANU has not won, you threaten pandemonium. It is disingenuous Sir.
As the people of Zimbabwe for the starvation, lack of currency and unemployment many would celebrate the back side of ZANU contrary to what you believe that it is a household name unless if you mean in terms of terrorizing and instilling fear, there indeed it is. Mr General and the whole securocrats of Zimbabwe, the security cluster, whatever best describes you, we appeal to you to defend the integrity of the country and you all respond to your Commander in Chief who is at this stage Mr Robert Gabriel Mugabe, he is not incapacitated hence ZANU PF put him as the 2018 Presidential Candidate. Please we know that insurbodination and disobeying the command of a superior officer is a serious offence in the army, we might not be in the army but we understand the 'shenanigans' to borrow your word. Your Superior Officer is still in charge and anything you do will not get you popularity but you will go down in history with the worst record. This far we have tolerated army abuses and not apportioned blame to you because we believed you were taking instructions from your superior officer and therefore only he could answer for that.
You are by these actions telling us that if Mr Mugabe would be tried for any misdeeds we must therefore consider the army because it acts outside his instructions. You are telling us by that Presser that you go against him and do your own thing. Sir you are plunging our beautiful country into further pandemonium. The reason why many do not join the army is because we know it to be a strict straight-jacketed discipline, we want to enjoy unfettered political and civil rights to say anything as we please, Sir if you desire that, resign and come join us, you cannot have your cake and eat it.
Once again we as the Liberal Democrats say, we watch with great disdain the political happenings in our country, we are not amused at all but we are not shocked by what we have become accustomed to in ZANU PF, these 'purgings'. It is ZANU PF business and as long as those ZANU PF people are not armed or stealing armory from our national army storehouses, let them bash each other and the police will deal with them. The police will arrest them for affray and other related charges even for possession of arms if they ship in arms from outside. If there is civil unrest, they become War Lords, our beloved President will then unleash you on them, first, as an additional hand to support the police but once beyond contro,l as a country at war against terror.
We therefore request with due respect our last line of defense, stay put, far from the national armory for now. We have been so aggrieved for many years but we never fancied a civil war which is what you are brewing for us now. Please we saw enough army effects during the liberation struggle, during Gukurahundi, during the break of the century from 2000 going on and we see countries like Angola, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Euthopia, Sudan, Burma, Syria and many others. War is not good and as Zimbabweans we hate it, so please do not invite it upon us, we have many unemployed youths who see no reason for living but will easily be tempted to take advantage of the situation and we have diamonds which will invite the west and other hawks to sponsor such civil unrest so as to benefit from blood diamonds. Please be wise fellow countrymen and spare us the consequences of such an act.
To all fellow Zimbabweans, let us all condemn in a non-equivocal but strong and a categorically clear language that war is not our portion as Zimbabweans. We are a peace-loving people. NOT IN OUR NAME AND THE NAME OF OUR STARVATION, WE CAN HANDLE THE LACK OF CURRENCY AND HUNGER WITHOUT WAR. If anyone wants to do it, it is clearly for their selfish ends and they must not make it a national issue.
Let's harsh tag the bolded statement Zimbabwe and #NOTOCHIWENGASOLUTION!! #NOTOMUTINY #NOTOCOUP!
From the Liberal Democrats Political Desk
Dr Vusumuzi Sibanda
The Army General in his statement laments the state of affairs in ZANU PF and how it has become a household name. General Chiwenga talks of Constitutionalism in the same document where he talks of usurping authority to fix things. What does the army fix except helping on civilian issues as he said in times of calamities? The army in a Constitutional state does not pronounce or get involved in mismanagement of the country or try to fix political issues. The army works with government of the day and does not talk about choices of the purging of war veterans as a cause for concern to interfere with political and civilian issues.
The arm is meant to defend not instigate violence and social disorder. The army general is clearly out of line. If indeed he is a friend of Mnangagwa and the purging of his friends in ZANU is of concern to him, he can raise that at party level not using the national army. General Chiwenga stands advised, he is a national army General not a ZANU PF General or soldier. It is unheard of that people ululate and worry about minor useless things like pronunciation when a person of the army general is breaking his oath of office. The oath of office is to defend the country not ZANU PF and not War Veterans.
The Army General just fired his warning shot to the whole country that he has taken over the reins and this in the face of what he calls Constitutionalism. The statement is exactly what is equivalent to subverting a 'constitutional' government. People elected Mr Mugabe and he can hire and fire whoever and that has to be dealt with through parliament and the masses not through the army. By the way the General needs to understand that all decisions taken in this world are normally influenced by one or two people or a small group. That does not invalidate the decisions.
The fact that G40 has won or is the influencing factor is not unique in any way. Even if it is the President's wife. That's the nature of politics. We as Zimbabwean citizens have been outwitted by ZANU using state resources to rig and steal elections, but we had to bow down because we understand political processes and know there are political means to resolve such issues and the unacceptable one in this day and age is a military coup. It is not a political process to have the Army General standing against his Commander in Chief, that in army terms Sir is called a mutiny and we cannot allow a mutineer to address us on such bases.
We have a peace-loving population that has endured torture and oppression at the hands of the army that ever intimidates, harasses and kills people for no good reason. We want to appeal to you Sir, Mr General, that, it is of no good consequence to take matters into your own hands because you are unhappy that a decision has not gone your way. The War Veterans and the Army at large belong to Zimbabwe. We honour the War Veterans for the job well done in the Chimurenga/Umvukela struggles and we will always cherish and honour that. On the same note we love the ZNA and all the wings of the defense mechanism of the country and therefore when we sleep we do so soundly knowing that a responsible army is protecting the integrity of our country not threatening to bring chaos into the country.
Mr President may have done what does not please you, it is his job to manage the affairs of the country the best way he can, if you do not like it, you deal with it at the ballot box but not in the uniform of the Zimbabwean Army to pronounce such a statement Sir, it is indeed an insult to the integrity and standing of the people that have lived under oppressive conditions in a bid to respect the Constitution and a government seen to have been formed by people that won an election.
We have many political parties and ordinary Zimbabweans that are better placed to make pronouncements about the political state of affairs and act even but you Sir do not with due respect have the grounds to utter the words you just did. We have a new constitution that we need to try and implement, we have many lawyers watching closely to see how to deal with the affairs, that is what they studied to do Sir and allow them to operate in that space without the fair of the army interfere with civilian affairs. The purging is a ZANU PF culture and Mr Mnangagwa you are fighting for has celebrated many firings and there are many clips on social media just reminding people of what he used to say. We therefore implore you to spare us the victim stance now because before today you have not condemned these acts but today because the side you are on in ZANU has not won, you threaten pandemonium. It is disingenuous Sir.
As the people of Zimbabwe for the starvation, lack of currency and unemployment many would celebrate the back side of ZANU contrary to what you believe that it is a household name unless if you mean in terms of terrorizing and instilling fear, there indeed it is. Mr General and the whole securocrats of Zimbabwe, the security cluster, whatever best describes you, we appeal to you to defend the integrity of the country and you all respond to your Commander in Chief who is at this stage Mr Robert Gabriel Mugabe, he is not incapacitated hence ZANU PF put him as the 2018 Presidential Candidate. Please we know that insurbodination and disobeying the command of a superior officer is a serious offence in the army, we might not be in the army but we understand the 'shenanigans' to borrow your word. Your Superior Officer is still in charge and anything you do will not get you popularity but you will go down in history with the worst record. This far we have tolerated army abuses and not apportioned blame to you because we believed you were taking instructions from your superior officer and therefore only he could answer for that.
You are by these actions telling us that if Mr Mugabe would be tried for any misdeeds we must therefore consider the army because it acts outside his instructions. You are telling us by that Presser that you go against him and do your own thing. Sir you are plunging our beautiful country into further pandemonium. The reason why many do not join the army is because we know it to be a strict straight-jacketed discipline, we want to enjoy unfettered political and civil rights to say anything as we please, Sir if you desire that, resign and come join us, you cannot have your cake and eat it.
Once again we as the Liberal Democrats say, we watch with great disdain the political happenings in our country, we are not amused at all but we are not shocked by what we have become accustomed to in ZANU PF, these 'purgings'. It is ZANU PF business and as long as those ZANU PF people are not armed or stealing armory from our national army storehouses, let them bash each other and the police will deal with them. The police will arrest them for affray and other related charges even for possession of arms if they ship in arms from outside. If there is civil unrest, they become War Lords, our beloved President will then unleash you on them, first, as an additional hand to support the police but once beyond contro,l as a country at war against terror.
We therefore request with due respect our last line of defense, stay put, far from the national armory for now. We have been so aggrieved for many years but we never fancied a civil war which is what you are brewing for us now. Please we saw enough army effects during the liberation struggle, during Gukurahundi, during the break of the century from 2000 going on and we see countries like Angola, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Euthopia, Sudan, Burma, Syria and many others. War is not good and as Zimbabweans we hate it, so please do not invite it upon us, we have many unemployed youths who see no reason for living but will easily be tempted to take advantage of the situation and we have diamonds which will invite the west and other hawks to sponsor such civil unrest so as to benefit from blood diamonds. Please be wise fellow countrymen and spare us the consequences of such an act.
To all fellow Zimbabweans, let us all condemn in a non-equivocal but strong and a categorically clear language that war is not our portion as Zimbabweans. We are a peace-loving people. NOT IN OUR NAME AND THE NAME OF OUR STARVATION, WE CAN HANDLE THE LACK OF CURRENCY AND HUNGER WITHOUT WAR. If anyone wants to do it, it is clearly for their selfish ends and they must not make it a national issue.
Let's harsh tag the bolded statement Zimbabwe and #NOTOCHIWENGASOLUTION!! #NOTOMUTINY #NOTOCOUP!
From the Liberal Democrats Political Desk
Dr Vusumuzi Sibanda
Source - Dr Vusumuzi Sibanda
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