Former Cabinet minister Christopher Mutsvangwa has
dismissed charges by President Robert Mugabe that he is being sent by
securocrats to campaign for his ouster as cracks between the ageing ruler and
his once trusted generals continues to widen.
Mugabe last Thursday told a Zanu PF women’s league rally
that some military commanders were now in a hurry to see him exit State House,
in what was seen as a direct attack on Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander
Constantino Chiwenga.
Chiwenga has of late been entangling himself in Zanu PF
succession wars, fighting in the corner of a faction linked to Vice-President
Emmerson Mnangagwa against another one known as G40.
Mugabe complained that the meddling by the military could
be tantamount to a coup. He singled out Mutsvangwa, who is also the Zimbabwe
National War Veterans Association chairman, as a proxy for those trying to push
him out of power.
Last year war veterans fell out with Mugabe spectacularly
after the former fighters told the 93-year-old ruler that it was time he handed
over the baton to Mnangagwa.
Mutsvangwa was fired from his Cabinet post and was
suspended from Zanu PF.
His group of former fighters continues to take pot shots at
Mugabe, but the former war veterans minister insisted in an interview that he
was his own man.
“That accusation [that he is being sent by Mnangagwa
backers] has no basis in neither fiction nor fact,” he said.
“If I could be my own man just after second year at the
University of Rhodesia’s law faculty lecture room in 1975 to go and join
Chimurenga, I can still be my own man today.
“If I could withstand battlefield combat against Rhodesia’s
standard army and all other hardships, it means I have my own resolve of mind
and body.
“That accusation from a revered revolutionary icon should
instead be directed at [Higher Education minister] Jonathan Moyo, a wartime
deserter turned traitor, turned spy and lately thief of Zimbabwe Manpower
Development Fund [Zimdef] funds.
“In 1994 President Mugabe fired me as ZBC chief executive
officer.
“In 2007 I flatly declined his ambassador post to Germany
and in 2015 I asked him for the privilege to fire me as minister, all to show
that I am my own man”.
Chiwenga recently launched a scathing attack on Moyo,
saying the minister had become a security threat for criticising the command
agriculture programme that is being spearheaded by Mnangagwa.
At a rally in Masvingo, Mugabe expressed surprise at the
army commander’s remarks but the Thursday salvo at the generals was more direct
and analysts said it showed the president’s frustration over the securocrats’
deep involvement in Zanu PF infighting.
Besides Moyo, other government ministers have also been
publicly expressing fears of an army takeover.
Harare Metropolitan province minister Mirriam Chikukwa told
Zanu PF supporters that Mugabe “was installed by God and nobody can remove him.
Not even a gun.”
Zanu women’s league secretary for external affairs, Tabitha
Kanengoni-Malinga chanted “down with the spirit of a coup” during the Thursday
meeting addressed by Mugabe.
University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer Eldred
Masunungure said Mugabe’s utterances showed that he feared he was losing
control of his own succession, with securocrats now openly on Mnangagwa’s side.
“He is concerned that the faction he prefers, in this case
the G40 group, is losing out because of lack of support from the military,” he
said.
“Over the years Mugabe has allowed the securocrats to make
pronouncements that were patently partisan as long as they supported his
position.
“He has always been selfish and now realises that the army
is supporting a rival faction and for selfish vested interests wants them off
the succession debate.”
Masunungure said Mugabe’s charge that “the gun must not
lead politics” was insincere since he has relied on the military to hang on to
power.
“In Zanu PF, the gun and politics have always been equal
partners and depending on the configuration of the time, one props up the
other,” he said.
“It is a different ball-game now and Mugabe is being
opportunistic as always.
“The military is no longer doing his bidding and Mugabe is
crying foul.”
Maxwell Saungweme, a political analyst, concurred, saying
Mugabe should admit that he has been beaten at his own game.
“He is just making noise. He is no longer in charge but the
military is in control,” he said.
“He forgets that in 2008 he lost to [MDC-T leader Morgan]
Tsvangirai and the military did what they did to keep him in power.
“His rantings are driven by people such as his wife [Grace]
who are taking advantage of his advanced age for their political gains. Those
rantings are a clear outcome of him being arm-twisted by his wife.
“Given the embeddedness of the military in our politics,
his rantings can trigger adverse action against the country’s peace and
stability and drive us close to a civil war as Zanu PF rips itself apart.”
Respected academic Ibbo Mandaza said Chiwenga must be
worried about Mugabe’s outburst, which could mean his days in the army were
numbered.
“He has had enough of the military and Chiwenga in
particular should be scared,” he said. “He has been making a lot of political
pronouncements; if I were him, I would watch it and take Mugabe’s rantings
seriously.
“It cannot be business as usual. Mugabe is making his
position clear.”
Meanwhile, former Finance minister Tendai Biti said the
statements were an indication that Mugabe had decided on his preferred
successor and now wanted to clear the path for a smooth transfer of power.
“He is trying to provoke a certain section of the security
services that supports him,” the opposition People’s Democratic Party leader
said.
“Mugabe and his wife have chosen a successor in the
confines of their bedroom but now the military is opposing it.
“They are aware that the military has been kow-towing with
Mnangagwa.”
Biti said Mugabe has created a monster by rejecting calls
by the opposition to introduce security sector reforms that could have forced
soldiers to confine themselves to the barracks.
“This is a militarised state and Mugabe is just the
civilian lipstick of a securocratic regime,” he added.
“Mugabe has resisted calls for reform but we will continue
(with the calls). The Constitution says the army should be apolitical and
remain in the barracks only to work for the security of all citizens and
defence of the country.
“This military, however, is captured, it is politicised and
Mugabe must learn to live with his creature.”
MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu said Mugabe’s fears of a coup
were real because the military had become embedded in Zanu PF politics.
“Mugabe is damn worried about the prospect of a military
coup against his regime,” he said.
“He realises that the military is now deeply involved in
the Zanu PF factional fights and he appreciates that this could be a recipe for
a deadly civil war.
“But then, it is Mugabe himself who is responsible for
politicising the military. “The chickens are coming home to roost. It’s his skunk. He
must skin it.”
Political analyst Shakesphere Humauswa said there was
nothing new about what the generals were doing as everything in Zimbabwe had
become militarised.
Ahead of the controversial 2008 presidential election
run-off election, generals declared that they would not salute Tsvangirai if he
beat Mugabe in the polls.
Securocrats have made a number of political pronouncements
since then and the president has never, until now, censured them. standard
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