Opinion / Columnist
Emperor with no robes
05 Oct 2020 at 03:18hrs | Views
The proverbial Emperor with no robes aptly describes the government of Zimbabwe and particularly President Mnangagwa following the August 29 2020 court interdict against unlawful reburials of Gukurahundi victims by Mnangagwa and his government.
Caught out naked and exposed, the emperor sought to cover up his shame using the most unorthodox means, that are both shameful and abusive of state institutions such as the judiciary.
On the other hand, the case exposes a paid piper who continues to play his monotone music even when the naked emperor is too drunk to dance. The high court's Justice Makonese misdirected himself in many ways in his bid to protect the state and Mnangagwa from the shaming exposė.
In a desperate attempt at covering up for the state and Mnangagwa, the court insists on need to exhaust what it termed domestic remedies, refering to the NPRC, which, ironically was listed as respondents in the same matter.
How the court expects both impartiality on the part of the NPRC and public trust on the part of the ordinary citizens is a mystery eapecially considering the NPRC is an extension of Mnangagwa and the government while the two are the number one and two culprits in the commission of the Gukurahundi genocidal crime respectively.
The court, in another desperate attempt to cover up for Mnangagwa asserts that the applicants acted and made light allegations against him since the illegal exhumations had not happened yet. The judge deliberately misdirects himself from the very essence of this interdict apication-that the illegal exhumations do not happen at all. That was the reason for the urgent application.
The naked emperor is further exposed by the paid piper when the court application is "dismissed with costs." This is meant to make any chances of this judgement appeal difficult and in a way is meant to intimidate would be challenges to the desperate attempts to temper with, through unlawful and illegal reburials, and destroy evidence of the genocide crime by the Zimbabwean government where Mnangagwa was a main actor.
That the applicants acted prematurely on presumption that Mnangagwa, with the help of his own creation of so called Matebelelabd Collective of CSOs, a one woman entity, further shows desperation on the part of state and the court. It is no secret that the reburials were discussed and formally announced following Mnangagwa's state house tea party with Jenni Williams in Bulawayo. It also was no secret that Mnangagwa was scheduled to visit Bhalagwe concentration and butcher camp in the company of Jenni Wliams to kickstart the reburials.
That the actual reburials had not commenced is not the matter that was before the court, but that those reburials as announced were not supppsed to take place as the process is both illegal, unlawful and criminal. The sensitivity around this emotive matter is.what drove the three applicants to rush to the courts and it is what should be directing the learned judge, together with justice fairness, not presure and fear of the rogue government whose main characters are suspects in a crime against humanity post independence of the country. The applicants were and remain within their legal rights by making the urgent application for interdict and the courts should deliver justice in fairness to all without fear or favour.
Iphithule Maphosa
Zimbabwe African People's Union Spokesperson
zapuinformation@gmail.com
www.zapu.org
Caught out naked and exposed, the emperor sought to cover up his shame using the most unorthodox means, that are both shameful and abusive of state institutions such as the judiciary.
On the other hand, the case exposes a paid piper who continues to play his monotone music even when the naked emperor is too drunk to dance. The high court's Justice Makonese misdirected himself in many ways in his bid to protect the state and Mnangagwa from the shaming exposė.
In a desperate attempt at covering up for the state and Mnangagwa, the court insists on need to exhaust what it termed domestic remedies, refering to the NPRC, which, ironically was listed as respondents in the same matter.
How the court expects both impartiality on the part of the NPRC and public trust on the part of the ordinary citizens is a mystery eapecially considering the NPRC is an extension of Mnangagwa and the government while the two are the number one and two culprits in the commission of the Gukurahundi genocidal crime respectively.
The court, in another desperate attempt to cover up for Mnangagwa asserts that the applicants acted and made light allegations against him since the illegal exhumations had not happened yet. The judge deliberately misdirects himself from the very essence of this interdict apication-that the illegal exhumations do not happen at all. That was the reason for the urgent application.
The naked emperor is further exposed by the paid piper when the court application is "dismissed with costs." This is meant to make any chances of this judgement appeal difficult and in a way is meant to intimidate would be challenges to the desperate attempts to temper with, through unlawful and illegal reburials, and destroy evidence of the genocide crime by the Zimbabwean government where Mnangagwa was a main actor.
That the applicants acted prematurely on presumption that Mnangagwa, with the help of his own creation of so called Matebelelabd Collective of CSOs, a one woman entity, further shows desperation on the part of state and the court. It is no secret that the reburials were discussed and formally announced following Mnangagwa's state house tea party with Jenni Williams in Bulawayo. It also was no secret that Mnangagwa was scheduled to visit Bhalagwe concentration and butcher camp in the company of Jenni Wliams to kickstart the reburials.
That the actual reburials had not commenced is not the matter that was before the court, but that those reburials as announced were not supppsed to take place as the process is both illegal, unlawful and criminal. The sensitivity around this emotive matter is.what drove the three applicants to rush to the courts and it is what should be directing the learned judge, together with justice fairness, not presure and fear of the rogue government whose main characters are suspects in a crime against humanity post independence of the country. The applicants were and remain within their legal rights by making the urgent application for interdict and the courts should deliver justice in fairness to all without fear or favour.
Iphithule Maphosa
Zimbabwe African People's Union Spokesperson
zapuinformation@gmail.com
www.zapu.org
Source - Iphithule Maphosa
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