Opinion / Columnist
Just fire them - what is Mugabe waiting for!
12 Sep 2011 at 16:35hrs | Views
Sure, Mugabe cannot say he is not disappointed by the ongoing disclosures of damaging secret meetings held by his presumed lieutenants as reported in those leaked cables on Wikileaks. If so, what is he waiting for? Dithering and inconsistency appear to be Mugabe's major weaknesses.
Considering the fact that Mai Mutinhiri was expelled from the party last week and many people have been in serious trouble with some serving prison sentences just for saying Mugabe is old or something uncomplimentary about him, why should he give us the impression that the embarrassing and too personal disclosures of Cablegate have not hurt him?
As the Head of State, Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, President and First Secretary of Zanu-PF, as well as the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe is very powerful or so we are made to believe.
The Weakleaks disclosures have certainly dented the person and office of the President worse than the Willowgate scandal because the online leakages have spread negative publicity about Mugabe like a wild fire with no effort to douse it!
The longer Mugabe waits to wield his stick, the worse he is going to suffer from lost credibility and respect by the few if any remaining in Zanu-PF, since there is a breakaway party that is yet to be formally announced but is identified in the cables as United People's Movement! And the CIO goes harassing MDC formations only?
If Mugabe further procrastinates, he will be undermining his own authority and people will know that whatever they feared over the years was nothing more than an owl's feathers (taiti zizi rine nyanga)!
We now know why there was looting of farms under the guise of land reform, and of late, so much pressure to seize the few remaining farms, mines and banks. It was of cause looting for the road with impunity while it lasts.
There is the party constitution to guide him on disciplinary action. There is also the country's constitution, which he amended almost 20 times to suit his dictates – which he can fallback on in addition to the Criminal law of Zimbabwe and of course POSA and AIPPA. Mugabe could fire his Zanu-PF cabinet for a start and bring in the much awaited security sector reforms while his ministers are still trembling.
Similarly, Mugabe as the Supreme Leader of Zanu-PF, should surely be able to dismiss all those featuring negatively in the ongoing cablegate. Does he need the politburo's agreement to dissolve the same politburo? Could it be that he will make some veiled threats at the burial of politburo member Kantabhai who has died?
By not punishing his detractors, Mugabe could be acting unfairly to those expecting to be disciplined or face the music now rather than something mysterious in future.
Or, could he be afraid of the internal backlash seeing that it is almost the majority of his right-hand-persons who confided compromising party secrets to his arch enemy the United States of America? Just fire them – what is Mugabe waiting for?
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Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London, zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
Considering the fact that Mai Mutinhiri was expelled from the party last week and many people have been in serious trouble with some serving prison sentences just for saying Mugabe is old or something uncomplimentary about him, why should he give us the impression that the embarrassing and too personal disclosures of Cablegate have not hurt him?
As the Head of State, Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, President and First Secretary of Zanu-PF, as well as the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe is very powerful or so we are made to believe.
The Weakleaks disclosures have certainly dented the person and office of the President worse than the Willowgate scandal because the online leakages have spread negative publicity about Mugabe like a wild fire with no effort to douse it!
The longer Mugabe waits to wield his stick, the worse he is going to suffer from lost credibility and respect by the few if any remaining in Zanu-PF, since there is a breakaway party that is yet to be formally announced but is identified in the cables as United People's Movement! And the CIO goes harassing MDC formations only?
If Mugabe further procrastinates, he will be undermining his own authority and people will know that whatever they feared over the years was nothing more than an owl's feathers (taiti zizi rine nyanga)!
There is the party constitution to guide him on disciplinary action. There is also the country's constitution, which he amended almost 20 times to suit his dictates – which he can fallback on in addition to the Criminal law of Zimbabwe and of course POSA and AIPPA. Mugabe could fire his Zanu-PF cabinet for a start and bring in the much awaited security sector reforms while his ministers are still trembling.
Similarly, Mugabe as the Supreme Leader of Zanu-PF, should surely be able to dismiss all those featuring negatively in the ongoing cablegate. Does he need the politburo's agreement to dissolve the same politburo? Could it be that he will make some veiled threats at the burial of politburo member Kantabhai who has died?
By not punishing his detractors, Mugabe could be acting unfairly to those expecting to be disciplined or face the music now rather than something mysterious in future.
Or, could he be afraid of the internal backlash seeing that it is almost the majority of his right-hand-persons who confided compromising party secrets to his arch enemy the United States of America? Just fire them – what is Mugabe waiting for?
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Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London, zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
Source - Clifford Chitupa Mashiri
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