Opinion / Columnist
Mnangagwa's folly
06 Oct 2014 at 16:55hrs | Views
Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa cannot have his cake and eat it too, regarding the senatorial bid by former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono.
Indeed, he must either shut up on the matter altogether, or openly compete with Zanu-PF party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo in terms of updating the nation on developments on the vexing issue, in which case, if he chooses to do so, he must live with the consequences.
As reported in our lead story today, the Zanu-PF strongman had to make an embarrassing U-turn at the weekend over Gono's senatorial prospects, apparently after a miffed President Robert Mugabe took him to task over the matter.
Interviewed by State media after a heated politburo meeting last week, Mnangagwa said Gono's senate bid was now a "closed chapter" as the party would go by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's conclusion that the ex-RBZ chief could not be appointed senator for Buhera.
But the Justice minister was singing a different tune at the weekend after Mugabe's reported intervention, blaming the media for his embarrassing predicament.
"The problem with our press is that they are very uneducated and were not able to correctly interpret what Justice Makarau said with regards to the issue of Dr Gono.
"Justice Makarau said there was a lacuna, a vacuum that needs to be looked into. She said there is necessity for the vacuum in Dr Gono's bid to be corrected.
"Dr Gono still has very high chances of landing the senate seat, absolutely high chances, but the problem with our media is lack of education," he is quoted by State media as saying.
But blaming the media, even the country's lickspittle bootlicking State media, doesn't wash.
Our considered view is that Mnangagwa, who is usually level-headed around these kinds of matters, probably got carried away by the current excitement around the factional and succession wars wracking Zanu-PF and let his guard down.
In the process, he also let himself down and now finds himself having to make this embarrassing climbdown on the matter, including blaming his woes, erroneously, on lapdog State media.
Our advice to the minister is to take this rather humiliating shellacking on the chin and learn from it, so that he never ever has to do a similar and impossible egg dance.
Indeed, he must either shut up on the matter altogether, or openly compete with Zanu-PF party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo in terms of updating the nation on developments on the vexing issue, in which case, if he chooses to do so, he must live with the consequences.
As reported in our lead story today, the Zanu-PF strongman had to make an embarrassing U-turn at the weekend over Gono's senatorial prospects, apparently after a miffed President Robert Mugabe took him to task over the matter.
Interviewed by State media after a heated politburo meeting last week, Mnangagwa said Gono's senate bid was now a "closed chapter" as the party would go by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's conclusion that the ex-RBZ chief could not be appointed senator for Buhera.
But the Justice minister was singing a different tune at the weekend after Mugabe's reported intervention, blaming the media for his embarrassing predicament.
"The problem with our press is that they are very uneducated and were not able to correctly interpret what Justice Makarau said with regards to the issue of Dr Gono.
"Dr Gono still has very high chances of landing the senate seat, absolutely high chances, but the problem with our media is lack of education," he is quoted by State media as saying.
But blaming the media, even the country's lickspittle bootlicking State media, doesn't wash.
Our considered view is that Mnangagwa, who is usually level-headed around these kinds of matters, probably got carried away by the current excitement around the factional and succession wars wracking Zanu-PF and let his guard down.
In the process, he also let himself down and now finds himself having to make this embarrassing climbdown on the matter, including blaming his woes, erroneously, on lapdog State media.
Our advice to the minister is to take this rather humiliating shellacking on the chin and learn from it, so that he never ever has to do a similar and impossible egg dance.
Source - dailynews
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