Opinion / Columnist
Mujuru using the dead for political relevance
25 Feb 2016 at 04:38hrs | Views
The claim by the leader of the newly formed Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) party, Dr Joyce Mujuru, the former Vice President of Zimbabwe that her husband, General Solomon Mujuru was shot before being burnt is just a political smokescreen meant to make her get sympathy from the electorate.
It is surprising that the learned Mujuru wants the public to sympathise with her through malicious and unsubstantiated claims when she failed to act and reveal the said truth when she was in government and power to do so. Her claim that General Mujuru was killed by some "people in power" is so strange now as she failed to name them when the inquest on the death of General Mujuru was being carried out. Dr Mujuru's claim that her husband was killed before he was burnt by the fire shows that she is desperate for support, hence trying to seek support using unsupported allegations.
Dr Mujuru should be aware that no aorta of false claim would bring her support from the electorate as people are aware that Mujuru's actions are devoid of anything genuine claims. Mujuru was in government for more than three decades and she knows quite well the operations of all government departments. She is quite aware of how grievance and procedure actions are carried out in all government departments.
If Mujuru is close to reality on what she is claiming today, she could have consulted with the relevant government departments in trying to unearth the reality surrounding the death of her former husband General Solomon Mujuru. For Mujuru to come out now claiming that the General was shot dead before he was burnt by the fire shows how desperate she is in trying to use the dead to get sympathy from the living.
Actually Dr Mujuru has realised that using the dead to hunt for supporters is a good way as the people tend to have soft spot with such moves. Recently she addressed some ZPF Matabeleland leadership in Harare in which she told them that the issue of Gukurahundi cannot be closed if the reality concerning that unfortunate era is not opened. Dr Mujuru knows quite well that she has no clear policies that could be of help to the electorate unless the issue of those who dead controversially is revisited.
Addressing some alleged PF leadership from Matabeleland North in Harare recently, the PF party leader Joyce Mujuru told them that the Gukurahundi victims should be compensated and those who lost their parents should be assisted to get the identification documents. Mujuru sought again to put herself in a good standing to the Matabeleland regions by going against President Mugabe's assertion in 1999 that the Gukurahundi era was "a moment of madness", saying that it was wrong to refer that period as such. Mujuru wanted to appear good to her Matabeleland North audience by disowning what she also supported during her time in government that the time of Gukurahundi was "a moment of madness" as espoused by President Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
That act of disowning what she used to believe in and acted upon has become Dr Mujuru's trump card of seeking political friends through such shenanigans. Mujuru knows quite well what took place during the Gukurahundi era and with her position in government she could have done something to show that she had heart on what was taking place. He silence over the whole issue shows that she was in support of everything that was taking place,
In fact Mujuru needs to realise that the issue of Gukurahundi is something which cannot bring her votes as she failed to denounce that when she was still in government. It is an open secret that Mujuru has no people at heart because she failed to act with sympathy to those who were in need of help when that was necessary for her to assist.
Actually those who suffered a lot during that time with a lot of people losing their lives know quite well that everything happened under Joyce Mujuru's watchful eye as her fallen husband General Solomon Mujuru was the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. If Mujuru is genuine with what she wants people to believe today that she has heart and feeling sorry for what happened during that time, she could have told her then influential husband General Mujuru to stop that brutality against the innocent individuals. Instead she saw nothing wrong about that because she enjoyed that era as if she was watching a horrific movie on her flat TV screen.
Dr Mujuru's silence over what happened during the Gukurahundi era is now synonymous with her silence over revealing those whom she now claims that they were behind the unfortunate death of her former husband General Mujuru. Why did she kept quiet for a long time only to say it now just because she was dismissed from both government and ZANU PF? Does she mean that her comfort zone in government was better than her instinct in revealing the truth about the death of her former husband? This shows how unorganised the ZPF leader is all about. He failure to reveal the truth when it was necessary on to say it later shows that even if she is elected to be the Zimbabwean leader she would cover a lot of important things as long they keep her enjoying her comfortable zone.
While it is wrong for this writer to dwell more on hearsay, but Dr Mujuru's silence over the death of her husband in which today she is alleging that top government people could be behind the General's death cements the rumour that she was behind her husband's death. Some school of thought are alleging that Dr Mujuru was no longer comfortable to be associated with being called the General's wife since they were divorced hence the move sought to eliminate him so that she was to move freely with no strings attached to her
The fact that now she is alleging that those in power know everything about the death of the most decorated General in the country point to the fact that she was also part to that exercise since she was also part and parcel of those who were also in power. So she must not hide behind the finger and want to confuse the nation over that unfortunate death of the General but she should tell the nation the whole thing and be strong enough to confess the reality. Cheap politicking has no room in this modern day Zimbabwe.
It is surprising that the learned Mujuru wants the public to sympathise with her through malicious and unsubstantiated claims when she failed to act and reveal the said truth when she was in government and power to do so. Her claim that General Mujuru was killed by some "people in power" is so strange now as she failed to name them when the inquest on the death of General Mujuru was being carried out. Dr Mujuru's claim that her husband was killed before he was burnt by the fire shows that she is desperate for support, hence trying to seek support using unsupported allegations.
Dr Mujuru should be aware that no aorta of false claim would bring her support from the electorate as people are aware that Mujuru's actions are devoid of anything genuine claims. Mujuru was in government for more than three decades and she knows quite well the operations of all government departments. She is quite aware of how grievance and procedure actions are carried out in all government departments.
If Mujuru is close to reality on what she is claiming today, she could have consulted with the relevant government departments in trying to unearth the reality surrounding the death of her former husband General Solomon Mujuru. For Mujuru to come out now claiming that the General was shot dead before he was burnt by the fire shows how desperate she is in trying to use the dead to get sympathy from the living.
Actually Dr Mujuru has realised that using the dead to hunt for supporters is a good way as the people tend to have soft spot with such moves. Recently she addressed some ZPF Matabeleland leadership in Harare in which she told them that the issue of Gukurahundi cannot be closed if the reality concerning that unfortunate era is not opened. Dr Mujuru knows quite well that she has no clear policies that could be of help to the electorate unless the issue of those who dead controversially is revisited.
That act of disowning what she used to believe in and acted upon has become Dr Mujuru's trump card of seeking political friends through such shenanigans. Mujuru knows quite well what took place during the Gukurahundi era and with her position in government she could have done something to show that she had heart on what was taking place. He silence over the whole issue shows that she was in support of everything that was taking place,
In fact Mujuru needs to realise that the issue of Gukurahundi is something which cannot bring her votes as she failed to denounce that when she was still in government. It is an open secret that Mujuru has no people at heart because she failed to act with sympathy to those who were in need of help when that was necessary for her to assist.
Actually those who suffered a lot during that time with a lot of people losing their lives know quite well that everything happened under Joyce Mujuru's watchful eye as her fallen husband General Solomon Mujuru was the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. If Mujuru is genuine with what she wants people to believe today that she has heart and feeling sorry for what happened during that time, she could have told her then influential husband General Mujuru to stop that brutality against the innocent individuals. Instead she saw nothing wrong about that because she enjoyed that era as if she was watching a horrific movie on her flat TV screen.
Dr Mujuru's silence over what happened during the Gukurahundi era is now synonymous with her silence over revealing those whom she now claims that they were behind the unfortunate death of her former husband General Mujuru. Why did she kept quiet for a long time only to say it now just because she was dismissed from both government and ZANU PF? Does she mean that her comfort zone in government was better than her instinct in revealing the truth about the death of her former husband? This shows how unorganised the ZPF leader is all about. He failure to reveal the truth when it was necessary on to say it later shows that even if she is elected to be the Zimbabwean leader she would cover a lot of important things as long they keep her enjoying her comfortable zone.
While it is wrong for this writer to dwell more on hearsay, but Dr Mujuru's silence over the death of her husband in which today she is alleging that top government people could be behind the General's death cements the rumour that she was behind her husband's death. Some school of thought are alleging that Dr Mujuru was no longer comfortable to be associated with being called the General's wife since they were divorced hence the move sought to eliminate him so that she was to move freely with no strings attached to her
The fact that now she is alleging that those in power know everything about the death of the most decorated General in the country point to the fact that she was also part to that exercise since she was also part and parcel of those who were also in power. So she must not hide behind the finger and want to confuse the nation over that unfortunate death of the General but she should tell the nation the whole thing and be strong enough to confess the reality. Cheap politicking has no room in this modern day Zimbabwe.
Source - John Mukumbo
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.