via Grace Mugabe populist rants suicidal 12 September 2014
First Lady Grace Mugabe, addressing traditional leaders at her school in Mazowe, promised she would urge government to review and adjust upward the chiefs’ remuneration because, she said, this had not been done for a while and was degrading to their stature.
Without doubt, in the next few days at the most, Local Government, Rural and Urban Development minister Ignatius Chombo will announce new packages for the chiefs.
If he doesn’t, it would amount to sabotage, and, he doesn’t wish to be seen to be standing in the way of Grace’s meteoric rise.
The sycophancy on display in the ruling party is fast reaching a crescendo.
Public buses now have to be emblazoned with Grace’s image. Some ministers have already begun to address her as “The Queen”. Generally, every political player is on a stampede to sing her praises.
Many who have supported Grace’s entry into politics have said they did so because she has her husband President Robert Mugabe’s ready ear. This, they argued, would make their grievances heard and solved quickly.
Obviously Grace is dying to prove this is not mere bluff. Her vow to the chiefs that she would take up the matter of their dignity quickly to the highest office is supposed to be her first show of force.
The chiefs are currently gathered in Gweru for their annual congress. It will be interesting to see how this will go.
But she has set a bad precedent.
The situation is similar to what happened in the run-up to last year’s harmonised elections held on July 31. Minister Chombo threw caution to the wind and urged all local authorities to write off ratepayers’ debts.
Following this example, Vice-President Joice Mujuru ordered power utility Zesa to do the same.
The local authorities and Zesa are still to recover fully from these populist arrangements.
There is a clearly contrived rush by different groups to show their support for the First Lady’s entry into politics. Our greatest fear is that she will want to thank everyone who endorses her by promising all sorts of monetary rewards.
The money will have to be forked out of Treasury and surely Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa should already begin to be having nightmares over this.
Who will be next in line to endorse Grace? The teachers’ union? The nurses’ union? And how will she reward them? She cannot afford to do one thing for one group and a totally different thing for others.
The country’s kitty is virtually empty.
Chinamasa is already struggling to pay civil servants. He is also failing to raise money for different projects the country so desperately needs. The last thing he would wish to have is the adjustment of salaries in all sectors.
When everyone thought efforts by Chinamasa and other members of government to rescue this country from the mess it finds itself in were beginning to bear fruit, in comes another cause of fiscal leakage.
Someone should advise Grace to stem this populism before it sets a dangerous trend.
COMMENTS
“The Queen” god these people are childish , she’s not a queens A#%hole!!!
Plse where are you workers’ unions? Why are you not jumping into the Maguta train while the sun shines? Mavakunonoka, vashandi vanofa nezhara kuti fi-fi makongo nyarara. Mhanyayi kuMazoe kwa Queen Dis-Grace Marufu-Goreraza-Mugabe-Nehanda Nyakasikana’ and pledge your unwavering support for the Queen so that she can take all your grievances to the highest office in the land where they shall be addressed within no time. The Queen is the only way for anything to happen in any one’s favour in Zim these dayz. Look, zvamaChiefs zvakatoita – vomora zvavo rifa nemhuri dzavo chechetere – very soon ma4x4 avo ari kuvuya, I am sure nedzevakadzi vamaChiefs mota dziri muzhira. Mukazvipira nokuzvirereka pamberi paQueen Dis-Grace hamuzofi makaziva futi chinonzi nhamo muZimbabwe.
Ko, imi muri kurashika papi? Mhanyayi, mhanyayi, ….while the sun shines. Mukazotevera much later munowana Queen vatsamwa vatokusvipayi kare – munodya manonoko; kana kutozo zvambaradzwa chaiko naQueen. Imonya ka Queen vedu, lest you forget. If you doubt her fighting abilities ask any journalist, especially foreign ones.
Exactly MB:- Queen of what? She is a typist and a mahure who doesn’t have two brain cells to rub together; hence her populist promises when even a 6yr old child knows that uncle Patrick hasn’t got 10cents spare to buy even banana ne mazai for the chiefs.
But, it is only the small boys who are rushing to praise her, did you hear Augustine, Constantine, Didymus and crew say anything other than polite congratualtions…..those real heavy-duty chefs see her for the fool she is and, just like a mahure, will use her and then discard her. Hopefully soon, before she bankrupts the country even more!
One would think anyone who runs an association called the women’s league would first and foremost take the problems concerning the dignity of the girl child and women in general that were highlighted in recent press reports. What she is doing promising chiefs wage increases. If she was anyone with half a brain she should be courting people in groups like WOZA who have been trying to fight for women’s rights for simple little things like sanitary items. She as a Mother should be first and foremost taking more interest in the plight of street kids who are the order of the day in the cities.She obviously has a Zanu Mentality of greasing the palms of those whom you can use for your quest for power. Zanu is on a serious self destruct. My only fear is the aftermath of that. Yes she is the Queen. The Queen of darkness.
I find myself at a loss of words but equating Grace Mugabe to Nehanda, and I don’t know much about Nehanda but then if we are saying they are on par then I have issues with what I have heard about Nehanda. Imagine you look at Grace and see Nehanda, you hear Grace and you hear Nehanda let me be quite before I loose any respect for Nehanda as I have none for Grace
BOTTOM POWER!
It is possible the Mnangagwa faction wanted to use Grace 1. To divert attention from and 2. To solicit Mugabe’s support for the real chess move 3. Pushing Machinguri up to challenge for a higher post.sweeten
It is possible the Mnangagwa faction wanted to use Grace 1. To mask or divert attention from .. and 2. To solicit Mugabe’s support for… their real intended aim i.e. 3. Pushing Muchinguri up to challenge for a higher post (Organising Sec or National Chair).
If so, they have succeeded in objectives 1 and 2. Grace has proved to be more distracting than anyone could wish for. But that faction may yet find that 1. Mugabe plays along but plays them too and 2. That in Grace they have started a bush fire they will eventually lose control of.
What does it profit a man he gain the whole world yet loses his soul. ZPF can only ‘buy’ people. Where are the true patriotic chief and citizens. Tell ZPF to go and stick their money: including madam dis-grace!
The National kitty may be empty but hers is not!
All this is coming to an end. Mirai muone.
I see a sad and bad time ahead. What we reap how we shall sow.