Mawere to absolve Mugabe of wrongdoing

Listening to Mutumwa Mawere on South Africa's ANN7 defending his once personal foe President Robert Mugabe left a sour taste in the mouth. This is the same man Mugabe and his cronies stripped of his stake at Shabanie/Mashaba Mines (SMM).

In 2013, the once celebrated businessman struggled to acquire identity documents from the same ruling party that he now viciously defends. He only managed to vote after going to the Constitutional Court. Who cares which party he voted for afterwards, but one thing is certain, the ruling party was not so keen to have his one vote in the ballot box and did everything to deny him the chance.

Now the man tells the world that Mugabe is not a factor in Zimbabwean politics. He even goes on to ask Itai Dzamara's brother if he has been affected in any way by Mugabe. His argument is centred on the premise that since Mugabe is one man, he cannot have an effect on the 14 million citizens of Zimbabwe. In fact, he even suggested that Mugabe was democratically elected and so the opposition parties should wait for another election. The list of the fallacies is endless.

This might come as a surprise to someone who doesn't know Mawere's history as a beneficiary of Zanu-PF's corrupt system since he was broken by the same system. He was never at odds with the ruling party but a vehicle in its dealings. His affiliation to Zanu-PF was a secret until recently. The man has been so energetic he spent two consecutive weeks in defence of the ruling party, speaking on television stations in SA, while belittling the efforts of the opposition towards electoral reforms.

Whilst one cannot judge someone based on their political affiliation alone, Mawere seems to be protecting his interests in Zanu-PF or has been brainwashed by its propaganda.

Either Mawere is insulting the intelligence of those around him or he is simply being arrogant. Nonetheless, his defence of Mugabe has forced me to respond.

For one to claim that a single man cannot cause the suffering of millions of people would be a silver plated  justification to many historical and present figures. Talk of Adolf Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte, Yoweri Museveni, to name just but a few. If Hitler can be absolved from the massacre of  millions of Jews and the general outbreak of World War II, then surely Mugabe can be absolved of the Gukurahundi massacres.

Another argument from Mawere is that Mugabe was democratically elected. To this, he adds that Mugabe can do as he pleases until his term expires. Mugabe cannot be questioned until his mandate expires, even through protests? He can also tilt the system to his favour by manipulating the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and no one should question that since it is within his term.

Let us watch out for opportunists.