Chiwenga Must Resign, Writes Mbira
30 December 2017
Zimbabwe and democracy must be rescued from the barracks
By Farai Mbira| General Chiwenga’s recent dual appointment as Vice President and Defence Minister is worrisome to any free world, let alone abused citizens of Zimbabwe. This is just that and nothing personal. There is growing fear among the people that Munhumutapa building is turning into a military barrack. We are worried. Democracy must be rescued from the barracks at once. We need a clear separation of government and military institutions.
General Chiwenga must understand that while it is his constitutional right to pursue politics, the current situation is so delicate that he must consider implications. We remain concerned that General Chiwenga remains, after the coup, in charge of the military as well as being Vice President. This creates serious threats and risks that cannot be ignored. General Chiwenga is an accomplished freedom fighter and disciplined soldier. His contribution as a liberation hero is well intact but now he must consider national interests above his personal ambitions.
It’s not that he cannot do the job, but that he will do so to promote his political ambitions at the expense of national interest. As we said before, these political positions he is holding are not based on the expressed will of the people but more on his military power. In democracy this should never be accepted; political power must be derived from the expressed will of the governed. Once we turn blind eyes to such we condemn ourselves to a new dictatorship. No matter how good the man is, the risk is too high and remedial costs unaffordable. We gave Mugabe blind loyalty and have already paid more than enough.
In my Christmas message to Zimbabwe and the Mnangagwa administration I pledged support were due and condemnation where necessary. Zimbabweans United for Democracy (ZUNDE) is ready to usher a new dispensation which values political corporation rather than meaningless antagonism. Opposition party does not mean opposing everything and anything done by government but more, offering alternatives and better solutions to national challenges. The government and the opposition must recognise each other and work together to produce the best outcome for the people.
ZUNDE wishes to applaud the police for the pledging to change and the progress so far. The pledge to restrict traffic management to the Traffic Section is welcome. This is commendable as the Chihuri traffic enforcement had been turned into a money collecting agency. The police should be more concerned with safety, law enforcement and crime prevention than protecting Zanu PF and harassing the opposition and road users.
The next challenge to the police is to stand professional and true to the constitution saluting the government of the day. The police should stay out of partisan politics. They should recruit based on merit and stop using Zanu PF offices as recruitment agencies. The police force must reflect the national demography. As opposition parties we must never be caused to fear the police but must always feel safe with them. The police must allow political parties to do their work without undue harassment from the police.
The argument for Operation Restore Legacy was that some criminals had captured the President. Equally concerning and deserving the same reaction is the case of some soldiers having captured the President! The President must be left to the guidance of the constitution to serve every citizen. No one or single section of society must be left to capture the President! Our government must never be taken to the barracks!
The military must understand that they are a creation of politics and that they serve the political leaders of the day. They must understand that we have come a long way spoiled by military abuse. Our political leaders must be chosen by the people and this is where we come in. ZUNDE is against the resort to loopholes and backdoor channels to Office of The President other than those provided by the constitution.
4 Replies to “Chiwenga Must Resign, Writes Mbira”
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Upon researches I can now see where Mnangagwa was wrong
Legal inconvenience
There is a legal problem, however, for the President over the defence ministry because while he is entitled to assign the administration of a ministry to his Vice President, section 215 of the Constitution specifically compels him to “appoint a Minister to be responsible for the Defence Forces”. The problem is that a Vice President cannot, at the same time, be appointed as a Minister as that would violate section 103 which prohibits a Vice President from holding any other public office. This is why in the press statement, the President has not appointed his Vice Presidents as ministers. He has merely assigned them to administer two ministries – defence and war veterans for Vice President Chiwenga and national peace and reconciliation for Vice President Mohadi.
To appreciate the nature problem, it is important to understand that being assigned to administer a Ministry and being appointed a Minister are two different things. This is why the Constitutional Court stated in a previous case when he was still Vice President, that Mnangagwa was not the Minister of Justice but was merely administering the Ministry. The media and members of the public might have referred to him as the Minister of Justice, but legally, he was not.
The problem is evident in relation to the Ministry of Defence. Section 215 of the Constitution is very specific that the President “must appoint” a Minister of Defence. It is not, therefore, enough for President Mnangagwa to assign Vice President Chiwenga the role of administering the Ministry of Defence because that does not constitute an appointment as required under section 215. This means legally, there is currently no Minister of Defence as required under section 215 of the Constitution, which is a constitutional violation. To cure this, the President must appoint a separate Minister of Defence. Since section 225 makes the same requirement in respect of the intelligence services, the same Minister would be responsible for Defence and security. He could, if he so wishes, assign Vice President Chiwenga to supervise and oversee that Ministry. If this is not corrected, civil society, the opposition or individuals can challenge the President and government through the courts in order to correct this legal misstep
Ask Trump if it is wrong to appoint army generals; he has got 3 in his cabinet. Thatbis a small
Cabinet of only 15 compared to hours that has 22 ministers and 2 vice presidents.
I dont support Crocodile but I dont agree to things that do not make sense.
If they dont perform this is where we all come in and remove them from powerr by elections.
I wish we had an effective opposition in parliament. Look what happened in 2013, the oppositioned steered in reforms that ushered in a new constitution and they lost the elections without any record of violence. You and me can say what we are saying but what I object to is the leaders of opposition concentrating on Chiwenga’s role in Government than hitting the government with meaningful things that the public can understand.
The ordinary people take Chiwenga as their hero for removing Mugabe.
People like u are the reason why Zimbabwe is where it is . U continue to support even if it is clear that something is wrong. U and I know why Chiwenga became so popular and powerful. He caused the removal of Mugabe by intervening in party politics yet we also know that it is wrong for the army to be used to solve the problems of a political party. U may continue to oppose those that are opposed to Mnangagwa Chiwenga arrangement but one outcome that u guys will not stop is that this government is going to fail to bring investors into the country. No serious investor can put their money in an environment unless if it is their companies that they have started outside our borders using the money they stole. The other truth that u can’t run away from is that come elections the opposition supporters are gonna b victimized as usual which will b an Own goal on the part of government becoz it will cause Europe to keep sanctions. This is a government that is busy asking for sanctions by their actions while criticizing the opposition for asking for sanctions.
This is from someone who wants to be a president who does not even know that Ministers are not chosen by the public the who world over! Not even a single country in the world has ever had ministers appointed by the public.
Where does it say Chiwenga is a minister of defence? AllVice pressidents are given ministries to supervise not to be ministers!
There is no democracy that stretches that far to dictate to the president whom to appoint.