via Mujuru putschists vindicate expulsion | The Herald April 7, 2015 by Lovemore Mataire and Susan Nyabunze
Actions and pronouncements by members of the putschist cabal linked to expelled former vice president Dr Joice Mujuru vindicate Zanu-PF’s decision to suspend and boot the lot from its ranks, party leaders said yesterday.Legal experts also scoffed at the cabal’s announcement that it was going to launch a party called Zanu-People First, saying no competent court would support the move to piggyback the revolutionary party.
Although Cabal spokesperson Mr Didymus Mutasa last night was quoted saying it was too early to announce the name of the political party, he told the Mujuru mouthpiece, The Daily News, that the cabal would launch a political party called Zanu-People First, as it claimed to be the original Zanu-PF distinct from the post 6th National People’s Congress one.
In a telephone interview with Star FM, Mr Mutasa said the cabal was working with Drs Simba Makoni and Dumiso Dabengwa pursuant to launching the political grouping.
“We want to have a party, but we are still talking about it. As soon as we decide, we will let you know. We are with Mai Mujuru, Rugare Gumbo and all those who were removed from the party. It is many of us from different oppositional parties such as Simba Makoni, Dumiso Dabengwa and a lot of others who were no longer supporting Zanu-PF,” Mr Mutasa said.
Mr Mutasa’s nephew Mr Temba Mliswa told the media last week that the cabal was pursuing an alliance with MDC-T to challenge Zanu-PF in 2018.
Zanu-PF national spokesperson Cde Simon Khaya Moyo said there was only one Zanu-PF and the Mujuru cabal represented an as yet unknown organisation.
“We only know of one Zanu-PF, the one that liberated this country and also governing this country. Those are expelled members and from our standpoint, they represent something that we cannot find appropriate words to describe,” said Cde Khaya Moyo.
Zanu-PF secretary for Science and Technology; who is also Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister; Professor Jonathan Moyo said the cabal circus had come full circle.
“(The) Mujuru-Mutasa-Rugare fiasco has now come full circle for everyone to see. Media revelations by Mutasa and Rugare that all along Joice Mujuru was leading a faction called Zanu People First put paid to any rational questions about why the threesome had to be expelled from Zanu Patriotic Front.
“In fact, many Zimbabweans are openly wondering why Mujuru was not expelled a long time ago following Mutasa’s media revelations that the disgraced former Vice President, now famously known as Dr 10 Percent, was leading a faction called “People First” aimed at toppling President Mugabe to remove Zanu-PF from power outside electoral politics.
“But everyone, including a primary school child, knows that Zanu-PF has never had a high sounding postfix signifying ‘People First’. Never ever! It is therefore utterly preposterous for Mutasa to say that anything called ‘People First’ is the original Zanu-PF. That fatuous claim can only come from somebody who has lost his marbles. If there’s a political faction called Zanu People First led by Joice Mujuru, then it is in the treacherous company of previous similar puppet formations such as Zanu Ndonga or Zanu Mwenje,’’ Prof Moyo said.
He concurred with Cde Khaya Moyo that there was only one Zanu-PF.
“One unassailable legal and political fact is that there is, has been and will always be one indivisible Zanu-PF. Media dreams of a split will come to grief not least because the nefarious pursuits of expelled malcontents in the wilderness cannot be rationally described as a split. Dumiso Dabengwa’s 2008 foray into the political wilderness was not a split in Zanu-PF nor was Simba Makoni’s Mavambo in the same year which ended up as Magumo in 2013.
“It is also notable that the expelled Mujuru-Mutasa-Rugare cabal was widely seen as the money-faction before its long overdue expulsion because money was, as it still is, more important to the threesome than ideology.
“The ‘People First’ slogan that Mutasa has stolen from briefcase NGO and is now using on Mujuru’s behalf is actually a code for ‘Funds First’. The Mujuru-Mutasa-Rugare cabal, which is desperate for funds, believes the MDC propaganda that donors are gullible and will readily pour money into anything that is anti-Zanu-PF, anti-President Mugabe and uses an NGO mantra like ‘People First’ to mean ‘Funds First’.
“And so there you have it. Mujuru and company are so into money that they now think they will take Zimbabweans for a ride to use their expulsion to cash in big time by seeking Funds First under the guise of a supposedly People First NGO strategy targeting regime change donors,” Prof Moyo said.
Legal experts said the cabal’s attempt to pilfer and benefit from Zanu-PF goodwill would not wash as no competent court would back their claim that they are the original Zanu-PF.
Harare lawyer Mr Moses Kamudefwere, said the law would not allow individuals to masquerade as Zanu-PF when the record shows they were expelled from the party.
“I think the law will not allow them to pass themselves off as Zanu-PF and their attempt to benefit from the rich history of the party founded on liberation ideals. Anyone who attempts to use the same insignia as Zanu-PF is passing off as unlawful because they want to benefit from the legacy of the party as constituted by its constitution and organs,” said Mr Kamudefwere.
The cabal’s actions, he said, are mischievous and no court could possibly uphold the abuse of Zanu-PF’s name and symbols to that extent.
Mr Tendai Toto of T. A Toto Legal Practitioners, said Zanu-PF was at liberty to approach the courts to bar the cabal attempt to prejudice Zanu-PF supporters.
“Political parties must be aware that there is need to protect their brand through the Patent and Copyrights Act to ensure that there is no abuse of their names,” said Mr Toto.
Zanu-PF Harare provincial chairman, Cde Godwills Masimirembwa, who is also a lawyer, said the Mujuru cabal must choose a different name as they were no longer members of Zanu-PF.
“It’s totally wrong; it’s a sign of cowardice as they want to benefit from the hugely popular brand of Zanu-PF. They are a bunch of counterfeits,” Cde Masimirembwa said.
Mr Chris Mhike, of Atherstone and Cook, said what would distinguish the authentic Zanu-PF from the pretenders’ Zanu-PF would be the will of the people as reflected through the ballot box since politics is a game of numbers.
Dr Mujuru was expelled from Zanu-PF last week on the back of a litany of allegations among them corruption, abuse of office, creating another centre of power and colluding with foreigners and enemies of the revolutionary party.
She is reported to be the brains behind the Zanu-People First
Suffice to say the cabal spokespersons Messrs Mutasa and Rugare Gumbo always make wild claims that have no historical foundation in pursuit of the Mujuru project.
The most glaring being the claim that they are the original Zanu-PF formed in 1963 when the record will show that Zanu-PF was only formed after the 1987 Unity Accord that brought together Zanu and PF Zapu.
What was formed in 1963 was Zanu as a splinter from Zapu.
Equally preposterous is the cabal’s claim that they are the original Zanu-PF when they are bastardising the suffix PF to ‘People First’ when in Zanu-PF the PF means ‘Patriotic Front’.
Analysts say this bastardisation of the party name to NGO-speak is quite telling and shows the cabal’s departure from the party’s founding principles as exemplified by Didymus Mutasa’s repudiation of the land reform programme and indigenisation and economic empowerment policies in his interview with the Mail and Guardian of South Africa, and in subsequent statements to The Daily News.
The use of the MDC-T mouthpiece, The Daily News, to push the cabal’s agenda – analysts say – is also quite telling as it confirms all the allegations raised against members of the cabal and vindicate Zanu-PF’s decision to expel or suspend them.
COMMENTS