Mnangagwa's Commission of Inquiry a 'toothless bulldog'

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday appointed a seven-member panel to probe the fatal shootings which occurred in Harare on August 1 after soldiers opened fire on suspected MDC Alliance activists, killing seven people, injuring over a dozen others. The team, which will be led by former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, has been mandated to investigate the cause of the protests, identify the instigators, police conduct and establish how the military ended up shooting indiscriminately in the city centre during announcement of last month's presidential election results. Other members of the commission of inquiry include lawyer and National Constitutional Assembly losing presidential candidate Lovemore Madhuku, Zanu PF loyalist and academic Charity Manyeruke, Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ)'s ex-president Vimbai Nyemba, Rodney Dixon of the United Kingdom, former Tanzanian chief of defence forces General Davis Mwamunyange and former Commonwealth secretary-general Chief Emeka Anyaoku of Nigeria.

The Commission especially considering that no information has been disclosed to the public about its criteria it used to nominate the renowned candidates in their different qualifications more so its mandate being already stipulated by ED himself, while the public has only been given a glare to watch without any tangible contribution especially considering the way the Commission was chosen plus its main agenda being dictated by Mnangagwa lives a lot to desire and totally exposes the Commission to be a toothless bulldog crafted on the agenda of nailing the opposition than the real perpetrators.

Its composition is clearly unbalanced and biased. Charity Manyeruke is a well know ZANU PF cheerleader. The evidence is all over the public domain. Lovemore Madhuku is an interested party as he was a presidential candidate and has already made comments detrimental to the MDC Alliance. He is not a neutral by-stander. Vimbai Nyemba is a Mnangagwa favourite. She has already been appointed as Chairperson of the Procurement Regulatory Authority and is also a member of another Commission of Enquiry into the sale of State land. There is no shortage of suitable persons that one person has to hog multiple positions. These three will ensure that the enquiry produces a predetermined script to smoke our targeted individuals is beyond doubt.

Also the value of such an enquiry is doubtful given that we have had commission findings going back to the first years of independence that have never seen the light of day for 38yrs. This is just a publicity stance and public relations gimmick to bolster ED's image, they know who ordered the army but choose a long-winded route to dupe the world. To add on to that Charity Manyeruke have been all along campaigning for the former President Mugabe regime both at UZ and state media and without doubt she might be part of the dreaded intelligence organisation, while Lovemore Madhuku needs no introduction he is just a money monger and an opportunist who jumps to anyone who will make him a mercenary Commenting on the foreign trio included in the Commission, it is without doubt that they will rubber stamp the views of the three local stooges, the outsiders are more or less spectators who in this whole inquiry. And the outcome of the Commission will most likely protect Chiwenga and cabal at the expense of innocent citizens. Justice delayed is justice denied, ED is trying to talk the walk not walking the talk.

Knowledge Hakata is a cutting edge political analyst based in Canada. He can be contacted on knowledgehakata@yahoo.com/waterlessprings@gmail.com