Mutasa, gang pose threat to national security

If there is one thing that should not be taken lightly, it is the recent actions and utterances by the deposed former Minister in the Presidency who is also the former Zanu-PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa.

In his recent utterances he goes all systems out in attempts to delegitimise the recently held Zanu-PF congress as well as the reconfigurations of the government of Zimbabwe. The threats contained in a very long statement, signed by him but obviously authored somewhere and funded by those interested in destabilisation of the party of government Zanu-PF as a precursor to state destabilisation is not just a cheap shot by a bitter man but a serious statement of intent by a group that will not stop at anything to achieve their destabilisation agenda.

The reckless yet well calculated statements which come just two weeks before the installation of President Mugabe as the chairperson of the African Union seem to be taken from an old MDC-T script of always causing some noise and mayhem just before a major interstate organisational meeting in order to force Zimbabwe to be in the agenda of the regional bodies.

The curious similarity of the actions by Mutasa and the MDC-T are all but a confirmation of the behind the scene handling and manoeuvring of the forces of darkness who have always attempted illegal regime change in Zimbabwe. The reckless but measured manoeuvres which do not only speak of the so called illegitimacy of the congress but also make inferences of President Mugabe as inclined to be in breach of the national constitution are all but treasonous.

The long and short of it is that Mutasa and his cabal working with well known international forces of destabilisation and seeking legitimisation of the actions by regional organisations like Sadc and AU are in defiance against the constitutionally elected President of The Republic of Zimbabwe and therefore by their actions working on nothing but destabilisation of the country. By extension this makes their actions not just political manoeuvres but serious matters capable of national destabilisation and should thus be handled with red flag by the security organs of the state.

Their actions smell of deposing a legitimately and constitutional elected president of the republic and one will not be mistaken to think that their actions are a fulfilment of their agenda of assassination attempts that were preempted before the congress. Consistent with their elimination strategy, their current approach smells of nothing short of a coup plot! Mutasa and his cabal should not be taken lightly because they are not just any other ordinary men and women. They are seasoned politicians with serious knowledge of statecraft including the security issues. Equally, the group that he is working with is not just ordinary disgruntled politicians. It is a group that has occupied top position in government including in the security and know very well what button to cause chaos and pandemonium that can quickly invite the blood thirst warmongers who have always wanted to get into the country.

While it was difficult to achieve their means despite maximum support to MDC-T over the years, they have shifted position and now focusing on the use of internal destabilisation measures to achieve their ends. The initial plan which was to dribble past President Mugabe at the congress and thus usurp party reins and government with help of the forces of destabilisation was thwarted at advanced stages but they are not about to give up. They are probably in a position to know that they are likely to get more support from the forces of destabilisation given their previous strategic positioning. The fact that they have occupied important positions of government and controlled state institutions and well being versed in the organisational construction of Zanu-PF makes them a serious case for taking very seriously. Also the very fact that they are in the know of the invisible and delicate architectural construction of state institutions makes their threats a cause for concern.

There is adequate display that they are a front for some who are hiding behind and waiting to pounce. And in preparation for their onslaught and fully aware of the important roles played by regional economic blocs like Sadc in the event of national conflicts, now the art in the madness of their strategy of approaching Sadc and AU first is coming out.

It is a well known fact that in the event of destabilisation of any country, the regional bloc is the one that is usually tasked with dealing with conflict and becomes the referral point for other international institutions. By going there and seeking legitimisation of his actions in the Sadc, Mutasa knows very well that if their plan of destabilisation which will be executed with the ever ready enemies of Zimbabwe succeeds it is the Sadc that becomes the first referral point. Having written to Sadc and having mobilised his foreign partners and well convinced that they are well positioned and secure to do a hoodoo.

Mutasa has then gone for the kill and made very clear his intentions which are not far from a declaration of war on President Mugabe and by extension an attempt at staging a coup against a legitimately and constitutionally elected president. In that regards and consistent with the legal and security measures available in the country there is need to deal with this as a matter of national security. The safeguarding of peace and stability of this country is paramount and it must be done so against all forces regardless of their contribution to the independence and post independent Zimbabwe.

Somewhere on the way revolutionaries get carried away and they lose direction and it is important to scan the tray and see which ones are bad apples and work out on neutralising them before they spoil others. It is the responsibility of all peace loving Zimbabweans regardless of party affiliation to demand action by government against the pending insurgency in the party of government because of the known effects of what it will do to the state. Mutasa obviously has freedom of choice on who to associate with, he also has freedom to form his party. But he cannot be allowed to use that freedom to forge party letter heads to achieve personal ends. What it is moving to now is that if it is unchecked as soon as possible we might see him beginning to bark instructions as minister in the presidency and this will spell doom, chaos and pandemonium. In his desperation and demand for return to the status of July 2014 what can stop him from declaring Mujuru the legitimate Vice President and thus create two centres of administration consistent with their destabilisation agenda.

The facts of the matter are that Mutasa actually lost in the central committee elections and therefore was ineligible for appointment into the politburo. Actually on the day of the elections he contested in the preliminary rounds and won but there was a challenge to the process and the election was run for the second time and he won again and thus got into the final to which he lost. Actually it is a well known fact and documented that on November 24, 2014 central committee elections, Mutasa received the lowest votes in Makoni District, landing 85 against 165 for Joseph Made. Little known Majachani garnered 84 votes more than those of Mutasa. Patrick Chinamasa received 177 votes for a seat in the central committee while Mandy Chimene received 149 and with that got herself a ticket into the party organ.

Mujuru was actually rejected by people in her district and Mutasa actually wrote the notices calling for congress and other related matters. Mutasa is now turning against the process because he is a willing tool for use by owners of capital who have tried through Tsvangirai but failed dismally to usurp power from President Mugabe.

Mutasa in the long winding signed statement but written somewhere else makes the following that cannot be said to be true for all who followed or participated in the Zanu-PF congress.

He also participated in the various build up politburo meetings which among other things endorsed the disciplinary processes on some provincial chairpersons who had votes of no confidence passed on them even participated in the politburo meeting of November 13, 2014, which expelled Jabulani Sibanda and suspended Rugare Gumbo. However, the tide began to change as the same politburo also reviewed some of its decision towards the congress with the revelations of plots to assassinate the President and the Mujuru camp could not fight back, for instance Mujuru and Nicholas Goche absented themselves from the politburo meeting of November 26, 2014, to which they could have put their case and defence if the allegations levelled against them had no substance.

And for the man to suddenly make a U-turn and pretend he was never part of the processes speaks a lot about what he has been promised if he leads the rebellion in association with dark international forces of destabilisation.

In the previous year the same politburo had endorsed the disputed elections. Available documentation indicate that there were celebrations by the Mujuru camp on November 24, 2013 with some sympathetic newspapers running headlines that Mujuru shines in politburo. This was after the politburo had endorsed the results for the provincial chairpersons in Manicaland, Midlands and Mashonaland Central despite a groundswell of discontent that the polls had been marred by irregularities.

In Manicaland, John Mvundura had beaten Monica Mutsvangwa to land the post while incumbent Jason Machaya had been retained in the Midlands after shrugging off a challenge from Larry Mavima. In Mashonaland Central, Luke Mushore had prevailed over Dickson Mafios. Post the youth and women conferences a politburo meeting of September 10, 2014, had sat and brought more joy to the Mujuru camp as the politburo endorsed the elections. One sympathetic paper ran a screaming headline that — Vice President Joice Mujuru scored another major victory for the party presidency. One of the papers wrote that "a 10-hour Zanu-PF Politburo meeting on Wednesday endorsed the outcomes of the Youth and Women's League conferences held last month in which Mujuru's allies romped to victory." This was despite glaring concerns that the youth national conference of August 10, 2014, was characterised by massive vote-buying.

The newspapers further alleged that in all key battles contested within Zanu-PF so far, the Mujuru faction has managed to rack up big wins for party presidency. This came head over heels of the indications allegations that in provincial elections held in December 2013 Mujuru effectively bagged the support of nine out of 10 provinces. This was despite complaints and allegations of vote rigging and cadres had hoped the politburo to be sensitive to the flagrant and outright violation of the party rules and regulations.

However, owing to their "majority" in the politburo the Mujuru/Mutasa team always had it their way using unorthodox means but having their desires carry the light of day. Mutasa is angry today that their plan was thwarted because while they pretended their contest was against Mnangagwa, they had fraudulently amassed nine out of 10 provinces for use against Mugabe. Mnangagwa was not holding any position, Mugabe was, so if they had nine provinces to themselves it meant President Mugabe had been left with one and they had waylaid an ambush for him at congress despite pretending to be working with him.

What Mutasa and his gang cannot turn out and do today is to be selective in accepting the decisions of the politburo. The same politburo that they used to endorse the disputed elections is the same politburo that later endorsed the decisions of votes of no confidences of some provincial chairperson at the instigation of the provincial structures.

He and his gang cannot want to accept decisions when they favour them and turn around when the same process gives different results. In simple English they say you cannot have your own cake and eat it too. Equally you cannot participate in a process like he did in the central committee and accept results only when they favour you and then later turn around to pretend you are a supper democrat when your track record of destruction is well documented hence the wild celebrations that characterised the Makoni area on hearing of news of his defeat.

On allegations of Amendment to the Zanu-PF constitution Mutasa can be forgiven because he may not know that while he had absconded congress on December 5, 2014, the 6th Zanu-PF National People's Congress ratified amendments to the ruling party's constitution, with new provisions stipulating that an official on whom a vote of no confidence is passed faces a five-year suspension or expulsion. Mutasa knows very clearly that the congress is the highest decision making body of the party and therefore the amendment it made together with the new leadership are legitimate. The thinking that because he was not there nothing could move just shows how self-centred and egoistic he is.

The build up to the destabilisation of Zanu-PF was clearly on the wall. The first part was to pretend there are MPs who belong to Mujuru and they were to pass a vote of no confidence on Mugabe. The other one was to run a media frenzy about the so called new division in Zanu-PF against Vice President Mnangagwa by the so called the group of four. Also in the mix of destabilisation measures was the vilification of Vice President Mphoko so that he becomes unacceptable first in Matabeleland as a way of ensuring he is not acceptable nationally. And finally the strategy is to create a parallel administration in Zanu-PF and have Mutasa making bold claims that he is the legitimate secretary for administration. Ultimately destabilise government operations and not give them time to concentrate on policy implementation and economic recovery.

Zanu-PF has obviously survived many rebellions before and will obviously overcome this one. But it is the nature of swiftness and decisiveness that it will employ in dealing with this one which will show that it still has teeth. In dealing with the new rebellion which is also a threat to national security, the party must understand that it is not just dealing with bitter political losers but with poodles of international agents of destabilisation who want to use them to achieve the means of instability which they have tried and failed over years. In dealing with Mutasa and his gang, it should be known that it is not just dealing with ordinary politicians but very seasoned people who know the secret operations of government and now prepared to sell them for a soul. There must be urgent, immediate and decisive action against Mutasa and his gang for fermenting national insecurity by destabilising the party of government.

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Dr Qhubani Moyo is a policy and political analyst from Bulawayo East Constituency. He is contactable on qmoyo2000@yahoo.co.uk