Zanu PF internecine strife continues

via Zanu PF internecine strife continues – Nehanda Radio 3 January 2015 by Alex T. Magaisa

There is a story that has been simmering in the State media for the last few days. It is about an alleged fuel scam, whereby fuel was allegedly imported under the guise that it was meant for the Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI), a commercial unit linked to the military.
The allegation is that a company called Glow Petroleum and persons connected to it, benefited enormously (millions of dollars) from the exemption to pay fuel duty on the basis that the fuel was destined for the military establishment, when, in fact, it was meant for the commercial market.

The Herald tells us that “some senior government officials, prominent politicians and businesspeople have been implicated in the scam”. However, the paper has, rather unhelpfully, withheld their identities, although it claims to be in possession of the names.

But just who are these “senior Government officials, prominent politicians and businesspeople” that cannot be named?

If this is true, and they do exist, then surely one could imagine that the government officials would struggle to keep their jobs, if we are to use the reasoning employed to sack former VP Joice Mujuru and other ministers last month.

It was alleged that she had abused her position, which would be the same here if these allegations are correct.

But the intriguing question is who are these people and why can’t they be named? State media is not known for protecting identities of politicians if they are named in corrupt activities, especially if they are opposition politicians. In some cases, stories have been cooked up simply to score cheap points for political purposes.

After all, even in this case, they have had no problem naming one Aaron Chinhara, said to be the director of Glow Petroleum, alleged to be at the centre of the so-called scam.

Surely, Chinhara is not the sole director of Glow Petroleum? Surely, he is not the sole shareholder of this company? This information is publicly available, at the Registrar of Companies’ offices – a pity it’s not online, but a hack with an nose for detail would follow the paper trail.

But here were can narrow down the pool from which potential suspects can be drawn. We can narrow down the pool by a process of elimination.

First, it is highly unlikely that they would be MDC or other opposition politicians because, after naming Chinhara and identifying him as an MDC-T rebel, there would be no reason for not naming MDC politicians. If anything, State media would relish an opportunity to name and shame corrupt MDC politicians.

State media has never protected MDC or other opposition officials and they are not about to start now. The tiniest of evidence would, in fact, be magnified to make a political point. So I think we can eliminate MDC or opposition politicians from the pool of suspects in this case.

Second, it is unlikely, although not altogether impossible, that they would be among the outcasts in the Mujuru faction. Already, former Energy Ministers, Dzikamai Mavhaire and Munacho Mutezo have been named and shamed for alleged acts of corruption, although apart from the sacking, nothing else has happened to them, yet. If they were involved in this major scam, I can’t see why The Herald would protect them.

Also, Mujuru has been named variously in all sorts of alleged acts of corruption, the reason President Mugabe gave for unceremoniously dumping her. We heard that a company linked to her had imported cheap chickens from Brazil under the auspices that they were meant for the military.

On that occiasion, the State media had no problems whatsoever naming and shaming her and there would be no reason why, if she were involved, they would protect her now. If she is involved, again, State media would have jumped at the opportunity to name and shame her again. Could it be Mujuru-aligned officials, politicians and businesspeople? Highly unlikely, although not entirely out of the question.

There is, of course, the residual option that the targets here are remnants of the Mujuru faction, who survived the purge but must still be eliminated from the political scene. The winning faction is probably uncomfortable with some elements who were rescued by President Mugabe or simply slipped under the radar by stealth.

These are people who are suspected to back Mujuru and have retained powerful roles within Zanu PF and in Government but must be removed so that they follow their leader into political Gonakudzingwa, Zimbabwe’s version of a political Siberia.

This leaves a final option: could they be officials, politicians and businesspeople aligned to the Mnangangwa faction, or a sub-set of it? I suspect this is most likely possibility. What we have here might be the beginnings and/or manifestation of an internecine war in the faction that triumphed in one round of the succession battle in December.

Rampant and wildly-fired allegations of corruption felled Mujuru and her group in December. It did not matter whether they were founded on fact or fiction or both – the method worked and soiled her image and reputation in a big way so that by the time Congress was convened, she was already down and out. It has not escaped us that in the beginning she or her associates were not being named.

The naming and shaming only began much later in the battle, when the truth of whom was targeted could no longer be hidden. But the initial allegations were veiled, as are these that we are now reading.

These allegations of corruption – with names being withheld, are not dissimilar and suggest that some very big Zanu PF figures in the Mnangagwa faction or a sub-set of it, are involved and are under attack from another sub-set within.

The withholding of names could be a threat of the damage that could be done by those who have control of the media – because oft-times, the power of a threat is far more potent than the actual execution of the threat itself. It is quite possible that this matter might one day simply vanish off the pages of the media and may never be heard of again, once those using the power have gained what they are after.

After all has been said and done, it is quite apparent that whoever those senior government officials, prominent politicians and businesspeople that The Herald cannot, at present, name, if they do exist at all, must be very powerful indeed and in the “right faction”, for now, because The Herald is not known for pulling punches against politicians and businesspeople who do not share its world-view.

Whatever the case might be, we will be looking forward to further developments in this story (and others connected to it).

Dr Alex Magaisa can be reached on wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk. You can visit his blog on: http://newzimbabweconstitution.wordpress.com/

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