THE Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information,
Media and Broadcasting Services, Mr George Charamba, yesterday dismissed former
Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo as an attention seeking, bitter and defeated
politician who suffers from power denial psychosis.
Prof Moyo, in an interview with BBC’s Hardtalk yesterday
morning, claimed among other things that the Government led by President
Emmerson Mnangagwa was illegitimate adding that he fled the country during
Operation Restore Legacy because he feared for his life.
The former minister who was expelled from Zanu-PF along
with fellow members of the G40 cabal including former First Lady Mrs Grace
Mugabe, also made sensational claims that President Mnangagwa’s recent visit to
the MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s home was to postpone the elections by
three years.
This was however, dismissed by Mr Charamba and Mr
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Mr Luke Tamborinyoka.
Mr Charamba said the legitimacy of the country’s new
Government derives from the people of Zimbabwe and not Prof Moyo.
“Legitimacy doesn’t derive from a bitter defeated
professor. It derives from the people of Zimbabwe. The position of the people
of Zimbabwe is in respect of the new era, which was created on the back of an
interception of sinister motives of the cabal that was taking advantage of the
former President to launch itself into power, power that they had not
constructed in the first place,” he said in an interview with Capitalk.
“The issue of legitimacy or illegitimacy is not interpreted
by Jonathan Moyo. You saw what happened at Zimbabwe Grounds, you saw what
happened by way of an across the political spectrum support. The action that
had been mounted, mounted to avert a major crisis that was actually a creation
by people like Jonathan Moyo.
Media is giving Jonathan too much attention that he doesn’t
deserve. Twitter will not recover the economy, run the elections or confer
legitimacy in any country. Jonathan Moyo is a bitter defeated politician who
suffers from what the late Dr Edson Zvobgo would have called power denial
psychosis.”
Mr Charamba who doubles as the Presidential spokesperson
said he had worked with Prof Moyo more than anyone can ever claim to read the
former minister’s tricks.
“One thing that I know about him is that he comes from a
school of thought which says the best way of getting accommodated is by making
so much noise so that those that are in offices of responsibility can then try
and buy you in for silence. It’s not going to happen,” said Mr Charamba.
He said the new administration led by President Mnangagwa
has received blessings from international bodies like Sadc, United Nations and
the African Union.
“Much more interestingly, even the Pope sent a message of
congratulations to the new President,” said Mr Charamba.
He dismissed Prof Moyo’s alleged militarisation of the
Government.
“I don’t see military in the Government. I see citizens who
are keen to serve their country. If I were to get an engineer who joins the
military, does that amount to engineering the military? If there’s a journalist
who finds some space within the military, does it amount to turning it into a
journalistic proposition? Military people are still citizens of this country.
“If they have a vision, which takes this country forward,
there’s nothing, either constitutional or by way of morality to stop them from
joining Government. This fascination, therefore, in my view is a misplaced
debate,” said Mr Charamba.
He added that Rtd Air Marshall Perrance Shiri has done a
lot in a short space of time in respect of a very difficult area called land
administration.
“You then realise how important it is for people to look at
a person in terms of their own capacity not in terms of who they were
yesterday.
“General Sibusiso Moyo has also done a lot in a short space
of time to try and win the confidence of the international community in the
direction of re-engaging with the world so as to normalise relations. That’s
what matters,” said Mr Charamba.
Mr Charamba also dismissed Prof Moyo’s talk about
Gukurahundi saying he never raised the issue while still in Government.
“At what point has he realised there is something called
Gukuarahundi? Early post November? He was part of the Government not just once
but twice, not just for one term but for two long terms.
“Interestingly the second term of his second coming was
created as a result of elections held in 2013. What he doesn’t know is that
President Mnangagwa made those elections a success for Zanu-PF, the same person
he’s now attacking. That’s why I’m calling it power denial psychosis,” said Mr
Charamba.
He said he was not aware of any warrant of arrest or death
warrant against Prof Moyo and urged the former minister to come back home and
clear his name in the courts.
“What I know is that he ran away from his family and left
his children in the custody of a 93-year-old former President. Remember I was
part of the negotiating team. No one issued a death warrant against him.
“He gave a death warrant to his own family. Let’s be aware
of a judgment by the Supreme Court of the Zimdef matter. If he has nothing to
fear let him come and clear his name in the court of law, not on BBC. That’s
not the way to go,” said Mr Charamba.
He said Zimbabweans should ignore fictional characters such
as Jonathan Moyo and worry about turning around the economy, improving their
living conditions and the elections that are coming.
Meanwhile, Mr Tamborinyoka dismissed as hogwash Prof Moyo’s
claims that President Mnangagwa’s visit to the MDC-T leader’s house was to
negotiate the delay of elections by three years.
“That is total hogwash. I issued a statement after the
meeting on the matters that had been discussed. Certainly, Jonathan Moyo is not
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson and cannot speak on his behalf worse about a meeting
that he (Prof Moyo) was not part of,” he said.
“I am Tsvangirai’s spokesperson and the communication that
I gave after the meeting contains the actual facts on what happened. There is
no iota of truth in what Prof Moyo is saying.”
MDC-T spokesperson Mr Obert Gutu also described Prof Moyo
as a frustrated man who is losing it.
“The party position is that President Mnangagwa’s visit was
a private one and the matters discussed there were equally private and we do
not know what Jonathan Moyo is talking about. From the party point of view,
Jonathan Moyo is losing it, he is an angry man who is losing it,” said Mr Gutu. Herald
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