Brutal purging of Mujuru is clear Machiavellian politics by Mugabe

The brutal purging of ex-Vice President Joice Mujuru and those perceived to be supporting her is clear Machiavellian politics being played by President Robert Mugabe, his controversial wife Grace and those who think they will succeed the nonagenarian.

Italian philosopher, Niccolo Machiavelli's ideas on how to grab power or maintain it, seem to be inspiring in particular to Grace and those using her to replace the 91-year-old president as they are brutally terrorising Mujuru so that she will not rise again in Zanu-PF.

Two quotes by Machiavelli come to mind and both are from his famous book, the Prince where he advises the ruler on how to maintain power.

In the first quote Machiavelli says: "People should either be caressed or crushed. If you do them minor damage they will get their revenge; but if you cripple them there is nothing they can do. If you need to injure someone, do it in such a way that you do not have to fear their vengeance."

And in the second one he argues: "Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved."

It is clear that Grace, and the ruthless Zanu-PF faction led by Emmerson Mnangagwa believe that Mujuru still remains a threat to their ambitions especially after they treated her like a dog despite being a decorated liberation war hero and a loyal servant of the country for many years.

They are well aware that in Zanu-PF and within the party, Mujuru remains far more popular than Mugabe himself and knowing that with age catching up with the 91-year-old Zimbabwean leader, the Mnangagwa camp cannot face the ex-VP in any election and therefore true to Machiavelli's brutal tactics, they have to completely crush her. The Mnangagwa camp will lose hands down against Mujuru in any internal poll to replace Mugabe and that is why they want to destroy her completely now.

And now they have expelled her from Zanu-PF after she was fired as VP.

In all this, Mugabe, as expected at his age, is being manipulated and made to believe the lies about Mujuru and her perceived allies yet it is the party that is being destroyed by selfish individuals.

But as the wise ones say, lies have short legs. Machiavellian politics are short term and will not last the distance.

Perhaps it is prudent at this juncture to go biblical in our advice to Zanu-PF mafias.

Exodus 22 Verse 22-24 reads: "You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless."

Those who want can take this free advice.