via Grace Mugabe: a threat to democracy – The Zimbabwean by Jera
Remember in primary school when children argued for hours about whose dad was the better driver? The other enduring question was who would win a fight, the headmaster or the class teacher?
President Robert Mugabe has his picture in every public building. He decides who gets to sleep in the final resting place of national heroes at Warren Hills. He appoints judges, army generals and police commissioners. With both eyes shut, he could, if he pleased, point to any day on the calendar and whatever day his arthritic finger lands on would be declared a public holiday. That is the measure of his power. But is Mugabe really in charge?
The queen’s welcome
After the Mugabe family went on holiday to the Far East, Grace did not return with the rest of the First Looters. State media said she remained behind to have a ‘routine check-up.’ Later it was described as surgery for appendicitis. Weeks later, Grace finally returned, looking somewhat frail. These routine check-ups tend to wear you out don’t they?
Upon her arrival, she walked the red carpet, which was lined with fawning army generals, government ministers and members of the not-so-secret service. One would have thought it was the visit of the Queen of Babylon. The conspiracy theorists pointed frenziedly – ‘look, look, look! Grace is boss!’
In fact, it was not just the airport welcome that got people talking, but it was also the shake-up that occurred within the Presidential security team, in the wake of Mugabe’s Great Fall. Those in the know say the First Shopper was livid-livid-livid – what people call ‘eating hot coals’ in Shona – with CIO boss Happyton Bonyongwe. Next, Grace showed up at the Zanu (PF) Politburo meeting – an event which gets far too much attention in my view.
Everybody expected Mugabe to be flanked at the conference table by Emmerson Mnangagwa and the token chap from the former PF Zapu contingent. But Grace took Mphoko’s seat. Again, sceptics pointed like children at a zoo – ‘look, look, look! Grace is boss!’
You’re fired!
Last week, Ignatius Chombo – usually the demolisher of homes – launched a housing project in Kadoma. Housing matters are Chombo’s baby. This was supposed to be Chombo’s moment. But the wailing sirens that woke up the sleepy town of Kadoma suggested the presence of someone much bigger than a mere Chombo.
The VPs Mnangagwa and Mphoko were in attendance. But the noise was not all about them. Also in attendance was Grace, the woman who Oppah Muchinguri so eloquently described as ‘Queen Mother.’ Classy as ever, Grace took the opportunity to scold the wayward Prosecutor General, Johannes Tomana. She called him a paedophile and threatened violence.
“I have heard something – I don’t know if it’s true – that girls can be married at 12 years… you will see the person saying such things, but later to say I was misquoted. Why were you saying such things in the first place? We will hit you with fists. I, Mrs Mugabe, I will kick him.”
Tomana was appointed by Bob and reports to Mnangagwa. Apparently that doesn’t matter to Grace. The First Lady does not have very many fans. Tomana is public enemy number one, after his perverted utterance about ‘12 year old girls have no options in life, then they may as well marry.’ For once Grace was applauded by people other than those her PR team pay to cheer at the stadium. The nation experienced a moment of cognitive dissonance – that conflicting feeling you get when someone disagreeable says something you agree with.
Chombo on bended knee
In Kadoma, the nation also witnessed 63-year-old Ignatius Morgan Chombo kneeling – yes, kneeling – before Grace Mugabe. At first I thought Chombo might have dropped a contact lens but he had his spectacles on. Others thought he had done an Augustine Chihuri and fainted, but that possibility was quickly dismissed because Chombo was not flat on his belly. He was speaking. And on bended knee! But there was no engagement ring in his hand.
Chombo is a very big man. It cannot be easy for him to get up from a kneeling position. But in spite of his bulk, Chombo knelt. Cue Hip Hop Pantsula’s hit song, Bosso Kemang (who’s the boss?)
Grace has the power to fire people like former Zanu (PF) Mash Central Chairman, Ray Kaukonde. After her peripheral son, Russell Goreraza, was assaulted by bouncers at a nightclub owned by Police Assistant Commissioner Erasmus Maradza, he was demoted. Powerful men and women drop everything and rush to the airport, weaving through potholes just to arrive on time for her.
She has powers to commandeer the few remaining state helicopters for her ‘meet the people tours.’ If Grace makes one phone call, ZRP, which normally does not have transport, suddenly finds lorries with which to forcibly evict villagers from her Manzou Farm. And if Grace makes a second phone call, the UZ vice chancellor sprints to her door step, with sweat on his forehead, to deliver a PhD – ‘for you madam, a thesis isn’t necessary!’
Anarchy prevails
I honestly do not care if Grace fires 11 Ray Kaukondes. I have never held up a fist at a rally or danced the kongonya. What happens in Zanu (PF) is not my business. But as a citizen I am troubled by the anarchy prevailing in the country. What is the point of holding elections – at the expense of taxpayers – if Grace, without any position in government, can step in and do as she pleases?
What is the point of having the President appoint officers of the court and swearing them in, if some rank-less woman in ill-gotten Gucci heels can fire them on a whim? In upholding its sanctions, the United States classifies Robert and Grace as ‘a threat to US foreign policy.’ Never mind America, Grace is a threat to the democracy of Zimbabwe. She is no different from a vigilante. Last year it was Kaukonde, now Tomana. Before we know it, we will wake up to a Mugabe dynasty.
But perhaps the reason for Grace’s growing influence is the existence of a power vacuum. Zimbabwe has been without proper leadership in recent years. Mugabe is old and has lost the drive for life, let alone leadership. One only needs to see the hangdog expression he wears when he is not on the podium. He has not even bothered to appoint a Women’s Affairs minister, since last year. Basic physics states that matter does not like a vacuum. Matter will always move in to fill that vacuum. The older and frailer Mugabe becomes, the more powerful Grace grows. He depends on her for care, does he not? It has been said before, the President is being held hostage by Grace.
For most readers, primary school was a long time ago. But let’s all embrace our inner child for a moment and ask that very important question; who is really more powerful, Grace or Bob?
– Till next week, my pen is capped. Jerà Twitter @JeraZW
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