Opposition aghast as Bob’s ministers riot

via Opposition aghast as Bob’s ministers riot – New Zimbabwe 01/10/2015

OPPOSITION parties have savaged President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu PF party for allegedly allowing its factional wars to spill into government corridors as the country burns.

This comes as Indigenisation and War Veterans ministers Patrick Zhuwao and Christopher Mutsvangwa have ganged up against Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa’s “pro-west” solutions to the country’s protracted economic crisis.

Information minister and government spokesperson Christopher Mushohwe could not be reached for comment.

And Zanu PF spokesman Simon Khaya Moyo refused to explain why the treasury chief was under attack from cabinet colleagues.

“I have no information to that. Speak to them because I have not seen any text about it, I have not seen any statement about it; why don’t you speak to them so that they can verify things for you?”

A party insider who asked not to be named however, said the public spats were a consequence of the absence of a firm hand at the top with President Robert Mugabe effectively rendered impotent by advanced age.

Said the official: “Chinamasa is in the same position Biti (Tendai) was under the coalition government. He has to pay the bills and the money is just not there.

“So he (Chinamasa) is being pragmatic. Remember he went to China before Mugabe and, therefore, knows better than most whether or not anything can be expected from there.

“His view, I suspect, is that if the money to fund government and the investment needed to revive the faltering economy can come from western countries he will talk to them and address their concerns.

“He has no time to play factions and that annoys the rival groups whose only business succession and want economic policy handled in ways that enhances their prospects for Mugabe’s job.

“It does not help that Mugabe himself appears not to be interested in ensuring order; either that, or he has lost control and its now dog eat dog.”

Chinamasa has adamantly pinned the nation’s economic recovery prospects on a return to IMF balance of payment support and to Foreign Direct Investment from the West.

And to allay investor fears, Chinamasa has assured them that the country’s tough indigenisation laws will be relaxed to suit their concerns.

For that, he has invited strong rebuke from the newly appointed indigenisation minister who feels any attempt to fiddle with the country controversial empowerment law will render the whole crew jobless.

“We heard some top politicians saying we will re-look at indigenisation. This means they are saying my-self and all of you should go home and sit,” Zhuwao told a group of party youth officers in Mutare Wednesday.

“Those who are talking about foreign direct investment are precisely saying we should go home.”

Similarly, Mutsvangwa has hit out at Chinamasa he says was becoming too cosy with the western controlled institutions he alleges have long pursued an agenda to topple President Mugabe.

“They (IMF) want to remove Mugabe … they want (Morgan) Tsvangirai to be at the helm,” Mutsvangwa said.

But as the drama unfolds in the country’s power corridors, opposition parties have hit out at their main opponent and a “dog’s breakfast” cabinet.

MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu said Zanu PF ministers behaved as if they were from different political parties.

“It is almost unbelievable that these are supposed to be ministers from the same political party who sit in the same cabinet,” Gutu told NewZimbabwe.com Thursday.

“A visitor to Zimbabwe might actually be tempted to believe that these contradictions are actually coming from two different political parties with two diametrically opposed policy templates.”

The MDC-T spokesperson said the evident policy discord being displayed was the continuation of Zanu PF’s succession wars.

“Those deadly factional fights are now spilling into cabinet and causing serious policy discord.

“With this regime in power, Zimbabwe is doomed. There is no hope. They are so divided; they are so clueless it’s a dong’s breakfast.”

PDP’s Jacob Mafume was not too kind with his comments either.

“It shows that the cabinet we have is a motley crew of individuals of varying interests. Our cabinet is a dog’s breakfast,” he said.

“It does not know whether it is going or coming. It is made up of a bunch of old and young people who would not even run a tuck shop to success.”

He added: “The current cabinet as a collective is a threat to national security; it has caused more deaths than a war time country.

“Even in countries where they are having coups and rebels, less people are dying than the people that are being killed by Mugabe’s regime.

“This political cannibalism that is being exhibited by Zanu PF thugs and charlatans is killing the life of Zimbabweans.”

Policy discord, it seems, is now a trait within the current government.

Earlier this year, President Mugabe ranted against a decision to suspend civil servants’ bonuses which had been imposed few days before by Chinamasa.