Opinion / Columnist
Professor Madhuku, thank you!
27 May 2021 at 05:47hrs | Views
Professor Madhuku,
I have just finished an article that comprehensively commented on a legal position regarding the exhumation of Robert Mugabe. Your legal stance is commendable, the widow Grace has become vulnerable. The death of her husband left her in a precarious position. Again the fact is that our traditions and culture are merciless with women. Who ever thought that the battles between the G-40 and Lacoste could have serious consequences on Grace Mugabe? We saw this coming. It is obvious and foregone conclusion that Mnangagwa was to going to revenge for what Grace did to him the last days of Robert Mugabe's reign.
It is unheard of to exhume and rebury a dead by our traditions: Professor you put it rightly that it does not only defy common sense and logic but outrageous. You said it rightly that if it was the wish of Mugabe to be buried in his Kutama homestead, so how does Chief Zvimba come in, how does President Mnangagwa come in. Are the wishes of the dead not supposed to be respected?
You said it rightly that it is outside the control of the chief to decide family issues. It is just inconceivable for the chief to come up with such weird suggestions: it leaves to speculation that President Mnangagwa is on the path of squaring up those scores of the battles between G-40 and Lacoste. Who gave the traditional court the mandate to question the will Mugabe left? We heard, we read that Mugabe gave strict rules what is supposed to happen when he dies. Mugabe was buried in line with his wishes. As if the insults are not enough, Grace is charged by a kangaroo court a fine of five cows and a goat.
This traditional court ruling is the highest insult a widow can endure. "It clearly appears that the traditional court has gone outside its jurisdiction, the whole point of exhuming a body is not governed by customary law in Zimbabwe," "It is not the customary law that decide to exhume the dead and not even a burial place". It is obvious where those instructions came from: Mnangagwa has a hand in this. This is the time he can revenge on Grace and she is made to feel the pain, humiliation, and shame of reliving a scenario once more where her husband's remains will be exhumed in her presence and that of her children.
Mrs. Mugabe was given time up to the first of July to get Mugabe exhumed and reburied at the Hilltop of Heroes Acre. It cannot get worse than this open insult to a widow. What custom would put a wife or a widow in Grace Mugabe's position, said Madhuku. I agree with him when he says there is no custom that would tolerate the exhumation of the dead it did not matter how prominent the person must have been. The burial remains the decision of the dead and the family and never the chief and never the President. If indeed he is exhumed, it would mean that Chief Zvimba is fronting Mnangagwa in this. He is not his person, and he is applying customary law outside his jurisdiction to determine where Robert Mugabe should be buried; unlawful. If Mnangagwa is a qualified lawyer, he should know this. We all know that Mnangagwa acts extra judiciary in all cases. Malaba's case is a good example.
I agree with Madhuku's statemen and arguments fully on this issue. I am indeed a layman when it comes to legal arguments. However, I wish to argue this issue purely on a gender perspective. All that is happening to Mrs. Mugabe today, we expected it. The turbulent times and the subsequent events prior to the coup in 2017 were indeed moments of madness. The Zanu PF factional fightings presaged many things going to be wrong in future. It was do or die scenarios; life and death; always Grace was in front of all rallies.
The ultimate victim in all that transpired before and after the coup is Grace Mugabe. It is not clear who misled Grace to contest her husband's presidential position. We do not go far to know who deceived her to thinking she could succeed her husband. Little did she realize that she was used and abused, recycled several times in the succession game. Dai ndakaziva haatungamirire vedu wee.
Press fast forward. Grace Mugabe is in an unenviable situation today: she is alone with her children, vulnerable. She lives at the jaws of a crocodile daily; Ngwenya. She does not know which part of herself will be chewed first. The issue with the reburial of her husband is the starting point of revenge, and it will follow her to her death. It will get worse with time. There is no humanity in Mnangagwa to talk about: not even traces.
During those hey days just before the coup, Grace was unloved, had developed enemies in the party and government and even the general populace in the country were fed up with her. We remember how she humiliated Amai Mujuru and was sacked like a criminal out of office. Several rallies we cannot count were done to push Mnangagwa out of office of VP: Ministers and government officials were dressed down.
However, it is not the time now, on a woman's perspective to narrate her misdemeanours amid absolute desperation in her life; but to locate where exactly Mnangagwa's vengeance is leading to. This is just the beginning of what Grace will go through the whole of her life. Mnangagwa is unforgiving.
Grace is a victim and not a villain. This is how women are treated by men in our societies. The men use the vulnerability in us to push their agenda. Grace was young, beautiful, when she went to her boss Mugabe, she confided with him about her first failing marriage. Grace saw a father in President Mugabe; she thought was to console her about her pain. Instead, Mugabe saw in her a golden opportunity to make Grace a stand-by wife while Sally was terminally ill.
Grace was to get those children Mugabe's mother wanted from him before she died. She got her daughter Bona while Sally lived. After the death of Sally, Grace must have thought; this is a golden opportunity to get the President of Zimbabwe as husband; to live happy ever after.
Grace never, on her own, could have dreamt of becoming the Zimbabwean president to take over from Bob. G-40 pushed her: she fronted them so that she can get the much-desired throne for them, a throne seemingly a challenge to get. This is how we women are abused by men and we are left in the mud and mire if things did not work out. She was not careful to realize that she was a temporal useful object in the scheme of things.
Grace is alone, most of the G-40 members are in exile. She could not escape leaving a husband who was suffering from a humiliation defeat. Mugabe was ailing then, profoundly weak because of age, and had the last act to make to give up power he enjoyed for 37 years. The end was bitter; we never dreamt even in our maddest senses that a coup can take place in Zimbabwe. It is in our history books that on the 14th of November there was a coup de tat in Zimbabwe.
The President Mnangagwa is on the path to sweet revenge. We do not know the length and breath of the relationship between Mugabe and Mnangagwa. How did Mugabe use him to remain in power? Nobody can answer that much. Their relationship was wholly symbiotic, clandestine, and shrouded in secrecy. There were dealings and counter dealings they did together we shall never know, but only speculate.
Zimbabwe is a land of contradictions. Much as we would like to call ourselves to have the highest literacy rates in Africa, the death rituals and several other beliefs that suggest that a dead person has supernatural powers still linger in us today. Hence, the relatives of Mugabe suspect that there is something Mnangagwa wants to extract from Mugabe's dead body. His insistence on exhuming and reburying him is to get THAT he did not get the day Mugabe was buried the first time.
On a woman's perspective, my heart goes to Mrs. Grace Mugabe. Yes, she made many errors in her life. I pray the universe will give her strength to cope with the unimaginable, to endure the second burial of her husband. Mnangagwa knows the pain that will be inflicted on Grace on the day of exhumation: it is the reason why it must be done to suffer humiliation and pain as he can imagine on her. Evil still has the upper hand; goodness and kindness are subordinate to evil: the reality we live in.
I have just finished an article that comprehensively commented on a legal position regarding the exhumation of Robert Mugabe. Your legal stance is commendable, the widow Grace has become vulnerable. The death of her husband left her in a precarious position. Again the fact is that our traditions and culture are merciless with women. Who ever thought that the battles between the G-40 and Lacoste could have serious consequences on Grace Mugabe? We saw this coming. It is obvious and foregone conclusion that Mnangagwa was to going to revenge for what Grace did to him the last days of Robert Mugabe's reign.
It is unheard of to exhume and rebury a dead by our traditions: Professor you put it rightly that it does not only defy common sense and logic but outrageous. You said it rightly that if it was the wish of Mugabe to be buried in his Kutama homestead, so how does Chief Zvimba come in, how does President Mnangagwa come in. Are the wishes of the dead not supposed to be respected?
You said it rightly that it is outside the control of the chief to decide family issues. It is just inconceivable for the chief to come up with such weird suggestions: it leaves to speculation that President Mnangagwa is on the path of squaring up those scores of the battles between G-40 and Lacoste. Who gave the traditional court the mandate to question the will Mugabe left? We heard, we read that Mugabe gave strict rules what is supposed to happen when he dies. Mugabe was buried in line with his wishes. As if the insults are not enough, Grace is charged by a kangaroo court a fine of five cows and a goat.
This traditional court ruling is the highest insult a widow can endure. "It clearly appears that the traditional court has gone outside its jurisdiction, the whole point of exhuming a body is not governed by customary law in Zimbabwe," "It is not the customary law that decide to exhume the dead and not even a burial place". It is obvious where those instructions came from: Mnangagwa has a hand in this. This is the time he can revenge on Grace and she is made to feel the pain, humiliation, and shame of reliving a scenario once more where her husband's remains will be exhumed in her presence and that of her children.
Mrs. Mugabe was given time up to the first of July to get Mugabe exhumed and reburied at the Hilltop of Heroes Acre. It cannot get worse than this open insult to a widow. What custom would put a wife or a widow in Grace Mugabe's position, said Madhuku. I agree with him when he says there is no custom that would tolerate the exhumation of the dead it did not matter how prominent the person must have been. The burial remains the decision of the dead and the family and never the chief and never the President. If indeed he is exhumed, it would mean that Chief Zvimba is fronting Mnangagwa in this. He is not his person, and he is applying customary law outside his jurisdiction to determine where Robert Mugabe should be buried; unlawful. If Mnangagwa is a qualified lawyer, he should know this. We all know that Mnangagwa acts extra judiciary in all cases. Malaba's case is a good example.
I agree with Madhuku's statemen and arguments fully on this issue. I am indeed a layman when it comes to legal arguments. However, I wish to argue this issue purely on a gender perspective. All that is happening to Mrs. Mugabe today, we expected it. The turbulent times and the subsequent events prior to the coup in 2017 were indeed moments of madness. The Zanu PF factional fightings presaged many things going to be wrong in future. It was do or die scenarios; life and death; always Grace was in front of all rallies.
The ultimate victim in all that transpired before and after the coup is Grace Mugabe. It is not clear who misled Grace to contest her husband's presidential position. We do not go far to know who deceived her to thinking she could succeed her husband. Little did she realize that she was used and abused, recycled several times in the succession game. Dai ndakaziva haatungamirire vedu wee.
Press fast forward. Grace Mugabe is in an unenviable situation today: she is alone with her children, vulnerable. She lives at the jaws of a crocodile daily; Ngwenya. She does not know which part of herself will be chewed first. The issue with the reburial of her husband is the starting point of revenge, and it will follow her to her death. It will get worse with time. There is no humanity in Mnangagwa to talk about: not even traces.
During those hey days just before the coup, Grace was unloved, had developed enemies in the party and government and even the general populace in the country were fed up with her. We remember how she humiliated Amai Mujuru and was sacked like a criminal out of office. Several rallies we cannot count were done to push Mnangagwa out of office of VP: Ministers and government officials were dressed down.
However, it is not the time now, on a woman's perspective to narrate her misdemeanours amid absolute desperation in her life; but to locate where exactly Mnangagwa's vengeance is leading to. This is just the beginning of what Grace will go through the whole of her life. Mnangagwa is unforgiving.
Grace is a victim and not a villain. This is how women are treated by men in our societies. The men use the vulnerability in us to push their agenda. Grace was young, beautiful, when she went to her boss Mugabe, she confided with him about her first failing marriage. Grace saw a father in President Mugabe; she thought was to console her about her pain. Instead, Mugabe saw in her a golden opportunity to make Grace a stand-by wife while Sally was terminally ill.
Grace was to get those children Mugabe's mother wanted from him before she died. She got her daughter Bona while Sally lived. After the death of Sally, Grace must have thought; this is a golden opportunity to get the President of Zimbabwe as husband; to live happy ever after.
Grace never, on her own, could have dreamt of becoming the Zimbabwean president to take over from Bob. G-40 pushed her: she fronted them so that she can get the much-desired throne for them, a throne seemingly a challenge to get. This is how we women are abused by men and we are left in the mud and mire if things did not work out. She was not careful to realize that she was a temporal useful object in the scheme of things.
Grace is alone, most of the G-40 members are in exile. She could not escape leaving a husband who was suffering from a humiliation defeat. Mugabe was ailing then, profoundly weak because of age, and had the last act to make to give up power he enjoyed for 37 years. The end was bitter; we never dreamt even in our maddest senses that a coup can take place in Zimbabwe. It is in our history books that on the 14th of November there was a coup de tat in Zimbabwe.
The President Mnangagwa is on the path to sweet revenge. We do not know the length and breath of the relationship between Mugabe and Mnangagwa. How did Mugabe use him to remain in power? Nobody can answer that much. Their relationship was wholly symbiotic, clandestine, and shrouded in secrecy. There were dealings and counter dealings they did together we shall never know, but only speculate.
Zimbabwe is a land of contradictions. Much as we would like to call ourselves to have the highest literacy rates in Africa, the death rituals and several other beliefs that suggest that a dead person has supernatural powers still linger in us today. Hence, the relatives of Mugabe suspect that there is something Mnangagwa wants to extract from Mugabe's dead body. His insistence on exhuming and reburying him is to get THAT he did not get the day Mugabe was buried the first time.
On a woman's perspective, my heart goes to Mrs. Grace Mugabe. Yes, she made many errors in her life. I pray the universe will give her strength to cope with the unimaginable, to endure the second burial of her husband. Mnangagwa knows the pain that will be inflicted on Grace on the day of exhumation: it is the reason why it must be done to suffer humiliation and pain as he can imagine on her. Evil still has the upper hand; goodness and kindness are subordinate to evil: the reality we live in.
Source - Nomazulu Thata
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