via Mujuru strategist survives purge – NewsDay Zimbabwe July 4, 2015 by Duca Minimo
The much talked about purge in the ruling Zanu PF party is really quite interesting. To date over 141 former Vice-President Joice Mujuru-aligned members have been suspended and/or dismissed throughout the country.
But how come the biggest member in that cabal, neigh their most potent strategist has survived and to date still occupies his post as a trusted President Robert Mugabe’s aide? A year before the July 31, 2013 elections in which the opposition MDC-T was vanquished our man, known for his wife bashing skills, was sure their camp would prevail. He was heard boasting when asked to comment about the apparent return of key elements behind the infamous “Tsholotsho Declaration”.
“The best way to deal with Tsholotsho is to cut its head . . . and soon, my friend, we will cut the head and Tsholotsho will die just like in 2005,’’ he boasted. And true to form, a few months later key players in Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s camp were referred to as “weevils that needed Gamatox’’. And a war of words erupted between Gamatox and anti-Gamatox players as the Zanu PF December congress drew closer. As good strategist, our man just caused the fall out, but managed to remain behind the scenes.
Instead of laying into Mujuru as he did ex-Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa and former spokesperson Rugare Gumbo, he was defending and praising her for being “cautious’’ and at one time mourned her boycott of the December congress, which he only called “a big mistake’’ that “shows she has allowed herself to be misled’’. By who? Him? Perhaps. It is a known fact the top Zanu PF member instructed poor State journalists to make sure they gave good coverage to Mujuru. And as loyal poodles they obliged but when things turned sour, the man sacrificed some of them. So people should not ask why some tainted journalists have bounced back at the State broadcaster despite that the KPMG audit report linked them to multi-million dollar scandals at the ZBC. The Duca was told that former Information minister Webster Shamu also benefited with an all terrain vehicle while the senior official was given a “loan’’.
Talking about poodles this politician loves to surround himself with yes man– at ZBC, Zimpapers, at his workplace and now even in Parliament — in the name of “protecting the President’’ but his real objective is tinged by his overriding ambition.
Who is Baba Jukwa? Well that question has been asked by many people except the Duca. Today, the Duca will just give one clue, Baba Jukwa is the one who hacked into the Chronicle Online Edition when the now dismissed Stephen Ndlovu was still the Editor of the newspaper. Remember that year 12 years ago when we all woke up to a screaming headline Mugabe Under Fire in the Bulawayo daily? Well the Duca understands that the hacker then was Baba Jukwa, but surprise, surprise, he has been taken onboard by Zanu PF. How was that possible when there are all those so-called background checks by the security agents? This goes to show how gullible Zimbabweans are, hey. But then Baba Jukwa is not the only one who has escaped the net, is he?
Now look, suspended Zanu PF Harare youth leader Godwin Gomwe is now an unhappy guest of the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services after he reportedly exhorted thousands of dollars from gullible individuals in the name of Frist Lady Grace Mugabe. But then if one looks deeper he’s not the only one who has done that.
On June 10 of the 16 by-elections Hurungwe West was mouth-watering. It provided good copy, hey, what with all the drama and side shows. To the Duca it was THE by-election. One Duca confidante wondered why the opposition candidates did not “do it the Temba Mliswa way’’ by defying their party and standing as independent candidates. Even those aspiring to be “president’’ like lawyer Tendai Biti failed to present their nomination papers either on MDC Renewal ticket or as independents. Of course MDC-T chickened out even after precipitating the by-election by dismissing those 14 parliamentarians.
Can a smart researcher tell the Duca how many times the former Zanu PF Mashonaland West provincial chairman turned opponent in the by-election has been arrested? Countless times? Win or lose Mliswa surely gave Zanu PF a good run for their money. Give it to him Mliswa has greater potential than Biti and Samuel Sipepa Nkomo all rolled into one. I mean you have a whole village named after you in Tsholotsho, but cannot be confident of winning in that village, and you expect to win the whole nation, give us a break. Again hats off to Mliswa for reminding us what a fight is all about.
Allow me to turn to the talk of the country, the emotive issue of, Cuthbert Dube’s propensity to cling to power, neigh, and his walking stick at Zifa. Cashbet, as some people would want to call him is also by the way clinging to his position as boss at the Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS). The financial crisis and inherent problems at Zifa, ZBC and PSMAS is common knowledge. How Cashbet has run those three once respectable institutions to ground is not news. The question is who employed him and subsequently watched over him while he run down at least two of those three bodies? It’s none other than our erstwhile senior civil servant, who the Duca knows has four or five portfolios in the Public Service Commission including “permanent’’ secretary. Using what he calls “my latent powers’’ drawn from “my secret, but powerful position’’ as “PPS’’ he is responsible for putting Cashbet at PSMAS telling those who should have known better that “he is the best administrator ever’’.
A few years later PSMAS has collapsed now it cannot pay its major partners —doctors and members — while Cashbet and his “senior’’ executives that included former Women’s Football boss Mavis Gumbo were walking away with thousands of dollars.
Coincidentally 10 years ago and despite massive evidence that PSMAS was teetering, the senior civil servant roped in Cashbet at ZBC as chairman. We all know how despite their praise singing of the ruling party, staff went for years without being paid.
Look at the similarities here — PSMAS was in crisis and doctors/members were not being paid while ZBC was also in crisis as workers were not being paid while top staff were paying themselves.
Before I go I just want to reminisce together with NewsDay readers. I recall soon after the formation of the Inclusive Government opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai once raised the issue of some officers holding “too many positions at the same time” in government. “Our priority is to end that’’, Tsvangirai said. Can one journalist ask our former Prime Minister at one of his regular Press conferences what happened to that bravado and all those promises?
lducaminimo@gmail.com.
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