via Mugabe backs MDC rebels – DailyNews Live by Bridget Mananarive 19 APRIL 2014
Mugabe yesterday took an unusual step of showing support to expelled MDC rebels led by Elton Mangoma on the grounds that they had freedom of speech.
The remarks raised eyebrows, given that Mugabe, in power for over three decades, is 90 but has not yet designated a successor in his own party.
Mugabe spoke in the wake of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)’s move to expel a senior official and his allies who had failed to follow constitutional procedures to have party leader Morgan Tsvangirai quit.
The MDC national council summarily expelled Mangoma, Last Maengahama, Jacob Mafume and Promise Mkwananzi.
Mangoma in February alleged he had been beaten up by Tsvangirai loyalists while emerging from a party meeting. He lodged a police report, alleging Tsvangirai masterminded the beating, an accusation strenuously rejected by the MDC leader. The case is now before the courts.
Mugabe said the MDC should resolve their internal squabbles in peace or split in peace without violence, adding the rebels had a right to raise objections to Tsvangirai’s continued leadership.
“Kana muchisayana, vanobuda vobuda parunyararo kana vachida kuita party yavo, voita parunyararo (If there is a break-up, it must be in peace and if they want to have their own party, so be it, in peace),” Mugabe said, in a speech during celebrations marking 34 years of independence from colonial rule.
“Haungarambidze vane pfungwa dzakati kuti, kuitawo chido chavo kana kutaura honzi wazvitaurirei. Ko freedom yakauya nerusununguko inenge yobva papi? (You cannot ban people from having a different opinion, where is the freedom that came with independence?)”
“Hatidi hun’an’a pakati pedu. Avo vatiri kunzwa vari kuda kurovana pamusana pekuti havachanzwanana, aiwa, tirikuda kuti vagadzirise nyaya dzavo pakunyarara vari mumaoffice. Zvekurovana hatidi (We don’t want quarrels among us. Those fighting because of internal differences, we say no, we want them to resolve their differences in peace.
We don’t want violence),” he said.
“Hatidi violence, takaramba violence kare . Itai nyaya dzenyu parunyararo, gakava rinoitwa asi vanhu vanogarisana pasi. (We say no to violence, we rejected violence long back. Resolve this in peace, there might be differences but they must be civilised)”
Mangoma and his renewal team have challenged their expulsion from the party, saying it is a legal nullity.
In his Independence Day message, Tsvangirai made a thinly-veiled attack on the expelled rebels, comparing Mangoma to Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 original apostles of Jesus Christ infamous for his kiss and betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief Sanhedrin priests in exchange for a payment of 30 silver coins.
“On the day they nailed the Son of Man to the Cross, we learn a great lesson from Jesus’ betrayal by those who walked and lived with him.”
“It remains a great lesson to us as mere mortals, that the betrayal by those close to us should not sway us from our mission. We learn that the 30 pieces of silver in the pockets of those around us should never sway us from the sanctity of our mission because we know that our cause is just.
“We ask our loving God to cast away the spirit of Judas Iscariot, the spirit of betrayal that continues to afflict and roam the earth to this very day. We know our Lord God will expel and exorcise this bad spirit from some among us; the spirit to sell out for the love of a mere 30 pieces of silver. Just as the 30 pieces of silver were not worth Christ’s mission, so too is our cause and struggle too great to warrant a prize,” Tsvangirai said.
On the campaign trail, party organising secretary Nelson Chamisa and key Tsvangirai loyalist has ridiculed Mangoma’s insistence that he will not be forced out of the labour-backed party.
Chamisa said Mangoma was not there when the party was formed in 1999 as he only surfaced at the 2006 congress following the party’s infamous split in 2005.
Internal party documents claim Mangoma was working in cahoots with Zanu PF to unseat Tsvangirai, a charge he has out rightly rejected.
COMMENTS
WHAT A CONTRADICTION! OVER 40 YEARS AS PARTY LEDER!
One way or the other, anyone backed by Mugabe is a dead man.
Really puts the cat amongst the pigeons here as far as Mangoma supporters are concerned, though.
HOW MANY PPLE DIED OF UNEXPLAINED CAR ACCIDENTS? EISH SHORT TERM MEMORY LOSS MA1
Needless to say, this annual drivel and rubbish from Bona Mugabe’s son is meant to cover up a lot of things and to achieve much worse.
Mugabe was never a champion of non-violence because he is the one who invented and perfected violence. All this rubbish he spouted on his own independence day is meant to camouflage his actions because he is the master when it comes to violence, repression of individual rights, refusal to accept dissent in his own party and his rejection of talking about succession.
The old man is mad and he is lucky that he has the illegal power to abuse public funds to ferry stooges to listen to his meaningless and satanic monologues.
How many people has Mugabe killed for challenging him?
How many has Mugabe expelled from the party for criticizing him?
It was interesting to hear this old bag talk about the nailing of “the Son of Man” to the Cross. What a hypocrite!
Was it not this same old pile of dirt who accepted stupid utterances from one bootlicker who called him ‘son of man’?
Did this old fool not reward that man with a cabinet post?
We do not forget; but only God forgives.
Mugabe is now paying tribute to the Son of Man because he knows that he is on his way to what he thinks is a meeting with Him. Sorry, there is no fat chance in hell of that happening, Bob.
You are going burn and you are going to burn really good.
I am no admirer of Tsvangirai’s leadership style, neither am I of Mugabe’s, but for Mugabe to criticise Tsvangirai for the ills and political chicanery that Tsvangirai learned from Mugabe since Mugabe’s usurping party leadership is pure idiocy.
And Tsvangirai better read history in reverse because if he does not, he is not going any place.
No road was ever made, created or came into being through the exclusive use of one person.
Mugabe’s utterances do not surprise me and Tsvangirai’s followers must know better. We all might try to clutch at straws when in danger of sinking but Mugabe is marooned in a sea of no return, both politically and in life.
Tsvangirai must revive his fortunes by “lowering” himself to the people’s level, if that is possiblwe for him after sucking all that honey.
I hope that is possible. It sounds alien but he better do it because Zimbabweans have always been made to feel less important than so-called leaders.
Tsvangirai must not try to make himself a macho man, of which he is not.
Come down to the people’s level, Mr Tsvangirai. That is your only hope.
The second point that this old goat Mugabe is trying to achieve is that, after hearing about how “the grassroots” have allegedly stood by Tsvangirai vis-à-vis the so-called rebels, Mugabe’s utterances are meant to weaken both.
I hope Tsvangirai is not stupid enough to pick on this and start saying to his group of supporters that the MDC’s so-called rebels are being supported by ZANU-PF.
Go ahead; do it and relegate yourself into a fool’s world.
While at that, Tsvangirai must also take note of Nelson Chamisa’s stupid utterances on behalf of a party leader who should be striving to unite the party.
In this regard, Mugabe will not succeed, nor will Tsvangirai. Such stupid antics directed at the nation will only succeed among those poisoned enough by the emptiness of both leaders.
Tsvangirai better talk to those who are unhappy with him and show a difference between him and Mugabe because, for example, Mugabe has no such accommodation.
Unlike Mugabe, Tsvangirai must give an open platform, even behind closed doors, to those who have grievances without that stupid punishing set up borrowed from ZANU-PF when party leaders are attacked at party headquarters in the presence of the party president.
They all must hold honest and frank talks.
Tsvangirai is no Jesus and never will be. Mugabe is worse.
Unless these people, who are drunk with power, realize that, they might as well continue to clutch at straws.
Tsvangirai must accept his shortcomings and seek to combine whatever he has to offer with the political and professional acumen of those who do not mind him staying in leadership as long as he walks the party line.
So, MDC people, beware, the old Cockerel is trying to mate with that Big Fish and I honestly don’t want to see the product!
Whande you are as misguided as Mugabe himself. Where is Tsvangirai coming in this article? Your dislike of him makes your argument irrelevant and naive for instead of addressing issues raised by the dictator, you find it wise to involve Tsvangirai. You got it wrong on the renewal issue just like Vince Musewe and you find it hard to swallow your pride and acknowledge this blunder. The more you go on and on waffling , the more irrelevant you become in the Zimbabwe discourse. Mark my words before you mess up big times
We have always known quite a number of key MDC people are ZANU plants.
Who claims to have a degree in violence. Who calls for a military crackdown on peaceful demonstrations. Who jails women who march with flowers. Free Speech???
Very accurate and factual description of the despot TJ Whande.
So these rebels r favourates of the other party. We have seen violence in it’s highest during gukurahundi’s moment of madness. Let rebels come clear where they stand. Suspicion suspicion.
Old bobbitt is the most divisive man ever. He will back anything that causes destruction, pain and suffering to Zimbabwe. He thinks he is safe???? Hehehehe!!!!! What we sow we reap!
Whande we have no time for rebels,this is a Struggle we are moving foward,We can accomodate those who have learned from the 2005 Split not these new boys they must learn a lesson.whande you are on the ebel side all along why didnt you advise them to follow proper procedure .you can rant and rant the guys are nw History,YOU ARE ALL MESSENGERS OF THE DEVIL DISGUISED AS GOD’S MESSENGER,HYPOCRITE.
Mr/Cde/President/Commander in Chief of Armed Forces/Chairman of UZ Mugabe…whatever his title, should leave MDC T the party he ‘defeated’ alone and concentrate on Air Zimbabwe, PSMAS, ZIFA, Chigwizi,Councils, Zimbabwe roads, Health, Water and Electricity supplies and corruption amongst a multitude of other things.Zanu Pf has chosen to abandon the nation and concentrate on MDCT since 30.09.99
What an opposite!!Mugabe preaching peace,freedom and democracy whilst his on part is well-known of sending voices of dissent to the lands of after life.Sell-outs or not,this split of the MDC-T is playing dangerously in the hands of the beleaguered Zanu pf.
Because Mugabe has sided with renewal, it does not make the renewal group bad. He did it deliberately to discredit the renewal team. Mugabe is happy with Tsvangirai in opposition because anytime he can handle him.He knows that if he seemingly sides with the renewal team, his play pal Tsvangirai will survive.Don’t be fooled.The renewal team is a threat to Mugabe, Tdvangirai is not.
Anything to divert attention from his own short comings. I truly now despise this old man.I am usually quite forgiving and indulgent of old people .I am a true beliver in respecting elders but this man (whose name I will not sully my lips with)is a lost cause and I have no respect at all.
He has managed to undo all the good he ever did for my country single handed.
I wonder if during the war we gave him more credit than he deserved. Did he just steal the glory from the other freedom fighters because he had the loudest voice?
Is there truth in the romours we have heard that he killed off all potential threats in his Party one by one to emerge as the sole leader?(Tongogara,etc)
Was he ever a good man to start with or this is the true ruthless man he has always been?
I am disgusted.
Confused and caged Zimbabweans, here we are independent from British rule but suffering through our own creation.The ruling party and our president surely failing to steer the boat in the right direction while opposition is struggling to produce politically mature leaders. We suffer from from half baked solutions, probably with civilization these politicians will work up and recognize that they are both lacking something, therefore need to work as one team to achieve better results for the Zimbabwean populace.
1. Where in the modern world will some one go to work at 90 years???, Will that company not be arrested for abusing the elderly people. These are regarded as senior citizens world over and accorded special treatment where ever they go. Our president who is a war hero, a hero of Independent Zimbabwe fall in this group with all the war veterans. Thank you for the struggle you fought in the bushes, trenches, mountains etc. You are every black Zimbabwean’s hero and even other people of color who did not subscribe to colonial rule. How ever please be where you are supposed to be, that is resting, telling stories about how you fought the enemy. Go rest after all this country owes you a lot and will surely take care of you special people.
2. Your being around takes away the importance of the role you played. We all know that when one grows old his capacity of thinking goes down to low levels. Please young blood with new brains take over. You surely had enough time to teach the young generation what to do. After all the young generation will not fight the bush wars but the wars is now on the economic front.
3. Lets move away from this mentality of treating opposing as an enemy. Opposition is only an alternative leadership. If the incumbent fails then people may simple pick opposition. Democracy is molded in such a way that some after an election, all the represented parties form government and move forward as one country.
4. Tragic or clueless MPs, surely you make a grade seven a law maker , to make laws which controls Lawyers, doctors, professors etc. This boggles my mind and never wish to a politician. No wonder when ever some one became and aspiring , councilor or MP, you see them moving around with all known thugs around. An acceptable level of qualification must be a must, after ll we are 34 years into education for all, so why take those whose could not even follow the basic way of modern life seriously to be our leaders. I wonder why the government waste fuel taking this useless and clue less people all the way to Harare to go and sleep, yarn and make noise in parliament. I am not surprised by the high number of funny cases committed by these so called MPs. Unfortunately some big guru’s issues are constantly kept under the carpet.
5. When are we going to have a political party which does not despise another party but focus on its own strengths? As Zimbabweans we also know colonialism was never good to any one of us, we know that we needed our land, we know that we need economic freedom, we know that we need jobs because not every one can be an entrepreneur, we need food, above all we need the right to express our views and also be able to accept divergent views.
6. For me by failing to create a self flushing system the current government have failed ever one especially our senior citizens.
Disagreements in MDC-T are a domestic affair which must be restricted to the four walls of MDC-T. Tsvangirai must, in the name of democracy, accept criticism from his own party members. Mangoma has a message for Tsvangirai that he and others are not ÿesmen. But if Mangoma is not happy with Tsvangirai’s leadership, he is free to form his own party and prove to the people of Zimbabwe that he is a better leader than Tsvangirai. Fighting Tsvangirai for his party is senseless and a sign of lack of leadership qualities. Mugabe as part of the democratic society is also free to support whatever party he feels needs his support. We want to know why Mangoma thinks he is better than Tsvangirai. He (Mangoma must sell himself to the people of Zimbabwe and not waste time on being a cat among the pigeons. Foma yako party Mangoma. We know you are an auxiliary of ZANU PF with ZANU PF ideology.
Gushungo siyayi basa taneta nemi – freedom of speech
My country is full of confused people with many useless ideas which lead to more sufferings.Do you have to form a new party every time there are some misunderstandings on the party policies? NO because this would be a clear policy of childish mentality which promotes personalizing national issues. It is wrong to think of any democratic party as belonging to a particular individual,once you implant that type of thinking you should accept that the party has lost its democratic policies.
You call for a meeting or people’s congress to discuss the misunderstandings and rectify what is wrong to allow for democracy to develop not to hinder it stupidly.This is why we do not see maturity in these parties and they naturally die in due course.MDC-T can grow strong if they remove the letter T and allow democracy to grow within it,instead of personalizing it.Use disagreements within it as a source of building blocks for its strength by taking into account divergent opinions
Based on the violent struggle leading to our independence and unwarranted violence that followed thereafter it would be folly for the MDC to engage Mangoma in anyway. In a struggle you don’t keep enemies within the camp with the hope that they would reform lest the enemy digs you to the core therefore weakening the struggle.
Mangoma is gone, at least he can form a coalition with Mugabe, the veteran leader sounded like saluting Mangoma’s political stance. Both Mangoma and Biti were trusted MDC chief negotiators, we cannot be blamed for thinking that they did it in bad faith seeing their latest behaviour.
Ours is a struggle, some will fall by the wayside, some will die but victory shall come.
Yes there are a lot of plants in the MDC John Thomas but I don’t think Mangoma is one of them. On the contrary look at Chimisa’s actions during their primary elections and who is supporting the councilors who crossed the floor to support zanu…
This is the typical Shona gukurahundi Zimbabwe Republic – the president started it all in 1980.
He speaks in Shona and expects every Zimbabwean to understand – for him to hell with the constitutional rights of other ethnic groups. He is President only to his Shona tribesmen.
The whole Shona tribe took a cue from this, their beloved tribalist thug. You have seen it for yourselves, they just go around behaving as if each and every Zimbabwean is Shona.
Even in foreign countries; once they know you are from Zim, they switch to Shona. Pieces of shiiit, if you ask me!!
Mugabe has nothing to tell the Zimbabwe people. Seriously on independence day when people expected the President to tell us which direction the country is going, what he is doing with the scourge of corruption, what he is doing about the impeding chaos which will occur with his departure soon but he chooses to talk about Elton Mangoma, who has been thrown into the bin at Harvest House. He has become irrelevant to MDC even if Tsvangirayi goes Mangoma is history.
Mmmmmm it becomes weird when a stranger mourns more than the bereaved, sabhuku handiende should dwell more on factions angling to succeed him than this tomfoolery