The move by toppled despot Robert Mugabe to join hands with his former deputy Joice Mujuru to mount a presidential electoral challenge against President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF has stirred strong emotions and widened fissures along regional lines.
Mugabe’s electoral alliance with Mujuru, consummated last Tuesday, is being seen as strong enough to rock the Zanu PF ship, now dominated by security sector interests and the Team Lacoste faction, loyal to the new president.
Zimbabwe’s military ousted Mugabe late last year, nearly four decades after he took power.
This culminated in the elevation of Mnangagwa, once one of Mugabe’s most erstwhile trusted lieutenants, to the helm.
Analysts told the Daily News yesterday that Mugabe could be using primitive tribal politics to play Mujuru against Mnangagwa, saying if proven to be true, this could be retrogressive.
They said the strange bedfellows who fell out in 2014 could be out to use the strength of the Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East and Central provinces – dominated by the Zezurus – to increase their leverage in torpedoing Mnangagwa’s presidential bid.
The ruling party has always been a cauldron of ethnic politics, with Zanu PF deeply divided along clan lines, mainly between Zezuru and the Karanga, the two largest clans of the wider Shona tribal grouping.
The erstwhile Zezuru dominance was a consequence of the 1980 division of Zimbabwe into 10 provinces.
Mashonaland (Zezuru) was cut up into four provinces: West, East, Central and Harare; and Masvingo (Karanga) into only two – Masvingo and Midlands (Mnangagwa’s home province); while Manicaland (Manyika) remained undivided and Matabeleland (Ndebele) into three: North, South and Bulawayo.
Members of the Ndebele – related to South Africa’s Zulus, and Zimbabwe’s second largest tribe after the Shona – are also grumbling over long-standing marginalisation which they assert persists under Mnangagwa.
Ndebeles dominated Zapu, until the party was swallowed up by Zanu PF in 1987, in a deal that followed an army assault on Zapu supporters in western Zimbabwe, costing 20 000 lives.
Analysts said Mugabe could be attempting to re-assert Zezuru dominance by giving the Mujuru camp an edge in the forthcoming elections, a move seen as exacerbating clan tensions that risk erupting into conflict at the national level in the post-Mugabe era.
Pedzisai Ruhanya, a post doctoral research fellow with the University of Johannesburg, told the Daily News there are tribal undercurrents over the Mugabe-Mujuru alliance.
Mujuru, the opposition National People’s Party (NPP) president, has told the media that during their meeting at his ‘‘Blue Roof’’ mansion in the leafy suburb of Borrowdale, Harare, on Tuesday last week – the first since they broke ranks in December 2014 – Mugabe told her “ he is not happy with what happened to him which he said is not constitutional.”
Ruhanya, a media and democracy scholar, said: “Although Mugabe’s meeting with Mujuru and his purported support appears to be largely a poisoned chalice, it should worry Zanu PF and president Mnangagwa because of the ethnic fault-line that the party has been refusing to address for a long time where the Zezuru group thinks they are destined to rule Zimbabwe forever.
“This is a coming together of an ethnic group that knows that Mashonaland provinces are the citadel of Zanu PF social base. They want to use that to torpedo Mnangagwa.
“However, we have to take note of the presence of critical Zanu PF players from Mashonaland provinces who can douse this ethnic conspiracy by Mugabe and such characters like (Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement minister Perrance) Shiri, (Vice President Constantino) Chiwenga will play a significant role.
“The other thing is that if Mugabe and Mujuru are framed as ethnic politicians who want to promote Zezuru hegemony on the State, that could backfire, especially given the control of the propaganda and coercive force that Zanu PF has. Most significantly, the military will be the decisive factor in the fight.”
Ruhanya said Mujuru “should know that Mugabe is now virtually a political cadaver whose physical and mental mortality suggest that he is no longer fit for purpose and whose national sentimental value has been washed away by 37 years of misrule and economic plunder.”
Stephen Chan, a professor of world politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, said there was always going to be a series of complex realignments after the change in presidency.
“Mugabe and Mujuru worked closely once, and (ailing opposition leader Morgan) Tsvangirai cannot bring himself to work fully with Mujuru. The so-called alliance is not therefore surprising. I do not see it being more than a temporary measure,” Chan said.
“It cannot gain electoral weight in a short time, and the nation does seem to have moved on from Mugabe. Sentimentalists, and those who missed out in the new alignments around Mnangagwa are jostling for platforms on which to stand.”
Political analyst Maxwell Saungweme said the Mugabe-Mujuru alliance discredits Zanu PF’s Team Lacoste faction and questions Mnangagwa’s legitimacy.
“Other Zanu PF members who were just hanging on to Lacoste due to lack of options will find a home and this weakens Lacoste further. This development also makes people start comparing between Mugabe’s police state and Mnangagwa’s military junta. I am sure people can choose what is better but a comparison between a police and military state is revealing,” he said. Saungweme said Mugabe still has some followers.
“This alliance, if anything, is good news to the opposition. Now the opposition has to be organised under one coalition and take a shaken Lacoste military regime head-on,” he said.
Piers Pigou, senior consultant at the International Crisis Group said, unsurprisingly, the reports of this Mugabe-Mujuru meeting have raised more questions than answers.
“Whilst Mugabe may be uncomfortable now he is experiencing being politically out in the cold, it seems highly unlikely that he would risk jeopardizing the handsome golden parachute he has been given by teaming up with Joice Mujuru who remains politically untested,” he said.
Asked if he got a sense that this all tribal and identity politics by Mugabe playing Mujuru against ED, Pigou said: “I think there are serious unresolved issues relating to ED consolidation in many parts of the country. Ethnic, tribal issues may well be in play.”
Australia-based Zanu PF propagandist and controversial correspondent with the State-run Herald Reason Wafawarova, who fiercely backs Mnangagwa, rejected suggestions that the ruling party was running scared of the Mugabe-Mujuru alliance.
“If there is any panic, the panic is over the possibility of tribal sentiment and rhetoric as a way of trying to mobilise a regionalistic vote for both the NPP and NPF,” Wafawarova said, referring a new party called New Patriotic Front (NPF) believed to be led by former Zanu PF members who were expelled when the military intervened leading to Mugabe’s ouster.
The NPF, linked to the Generation 40 faction, has petitioned the African Union (AU) and Sadc protesting the manner the veteran leader was toppled, and seeking to de-legitimise Mnangagwa’s government and asking the key African blocs to cancel all diplomatic ties with Zimbabwe.
“I do not think this will get any more traction than Zim People First did before it broke into even more irrelevant two tiny little parties,” Wafawarova said, adding: “I do not think those in Zanu PF leadership think Mujuru can bring any form of rejuvenation to G40, let alone to Robert Mugabe. The general perception is that Mugabe is now endorsed as part of our history, domestically and internationally.” Daily News
Exactly!
You haven’t answered my question above. Yes or no?
Could Rhodesia or Zim in 1980, with a ceremonial President Banana go to war on the orders of Prime Minister Mugabe only, without the President’s approval?
Here the difference is the same. If you can answer this question, you have answered yourself regarding the Queen of England. These are mere formalities.
It seems your argument revolves around one thing – being a Head of State and Commander in Chief.
My man, even Banana was a Head of State and Commander in Chief, but he was just Ceremonial. His role was mainly to carry out Public duties of opening Parliament; swearing into office the Prime Minister and officiating at State ceremonies generally; not run a government.
That is exactly what the Queen of England does, and that includes the King of Lesotho too. They are not Heads of Government where the executive powers lie!
Having studied political science doesn’t make your argument a substantial one. I understood what you said about the UK, however l cannot validate that as valid evidence. Can UK go to war without the Queen’s consent or approval? Please answer this question yes or no.
Citizens in Zim do not have any problems with each other. Problems arise only where some people allow Politics and Politicians to lead them and influence their relationship with other communities. Before Robert Mugabe, during Chibwechidza’s (Joshua Nkomo) time in the 1950s, Shonas and Ndebele people never had a problem with each other, even if there were prejudices here and there – which is normal all over the world. Shonas supported Nkomo and never saw him in Ndebele terms. It was only after Mugabe came onto the Political scene in the 1970s with his brand of tribal Politics when tribalism became an issue. Zim’s problem has always been the absence of a nation building leadership, as happened with Nelson Mandelela and South Africa.
By putting iterests of the country first. We already live together. Like I said in Northen Matebeleland (Gokwe Chireya) Karangas live very well together with Korekore and Ndebeles with no friction at all.
I think you must go read Political Science 101. I studied Political Science myself, I dont understand what you are arguing about.
It doesnt seem you understood what I said about the UK, Lesotho and Swaziland. Re-read what I wrote and dont rush in to reply before understanding what I am saying.
I am saying Swaziland is an absolute Monarch – that is why the King has executive powers at the same his position is hereditary – not an elected one.
In both the UK and Lesotho, the Queen and the King in both cases respectively are only Ceremonial owing to their positions being hereditary. They dont have executive powers. These are exercised by the Prime Minister in both cases. The Executive is the Cabinet and the Prime Minister heads the Cabinet that he himself chooses and from where his Executive powers are derived per the Constitution.
The Queen does not head the Executive/Cabinet and does not form a govt – she asks the Prime Minister who got elected to form a govt – simply asking the PM to form a govt is purely ceremonial. She also opens Parliament, again a purely ceremonial function; so how can she be said to have executive powers? Which Executive are you talking about? Maybe you dont understand what Executive means? Even as Commander in Chief, I dont think she can decide on a war single handedly.
In most democracies as in South Africa, the President is the Commander in Chief, but still he has to inform Parliament before deploying the army anywhere. Dont get confused with the Zim situation where Mugabe could just do as he pleases and send the army to the DRC without Parliamentary approval – Zim has always been an abnormal nation!
You cannot compare Uk & Swaziland. In Swaziland there is no democracy, that is what we call dictatorship. Can you say being a commander in chief of the Defences Forces is ceremonial? This is what l said above that she has still some executive powers on certain things, however for the sake of democracy she has given some ministerial duties to the UK government. Can Britain go to war without the Queen’s consent? I think it happened once if not mistaken when Margret Thatcher ordered the Uk Defence Forces to go to war against Argentina( Falkan war).
Even Cannan Banana was the Head of State in early 1980s. Prior to that it was President Gumede, with Muzorewa as Prime Minister; and prior to that it was Clifford Du Pont among others, with Ian Douglas Smith as Prime Minister. The bottom line is that the one who calls the shots is the Prime Minister – it him who forms the government and it is him who has executive powers. That is why Joshua Nkomo turned down the President position offered to him in 1980 because it was purely ceremonial then, under a Westminister governance system, before the Constitution was amended to allow for a Presidential system of governance, which took effect in 1980 and did away with the position of Prime Minister!
There is what is called an absolute Monarch as you have in Swaziland and what is called a Ceremonial Monarch as you have in Lesotho and the UK. An absolute Monrach exercises executive powers.
Being subjects of the Monarch is just a cultural thing – it doesnt mean the King or Queen exercises any executive power over their subjects.
In Rhodesia and early Zim, the executive power was the Prime Minister and the President was ceremonial – equivalent to the Queen in England. Ask me I come from a Royal background in Mthwakazi/Matebeleland!
The Queen has just become political neutral for the sake of democracy. Nowadays her “royal prerogative” are exercised by the UK government on behalf of her. In essence, the Queen is still the ruler of GB. Do you know all citizens of UK, almost everything are subjects to the royal family? If Britain demolish the royal mornach there are rumours that it will go broke.
She does not exercise executive powers. Chimbi guy is correct!
The English Queen does not exercise executive powers – these powers are exercised by the Prime Minister, who is far younger. Elizabeth is just a Ceremonial head. So her being 90 makes no difference!
At whites least developed the country. Black people just want to occupy everything and ruin everything for everyone including those they are marginalising!
write proper English!
Only the Truth shall set you free. We are tired of pretenders like you!
It promotes the truth – not pretence. The truth shall free you and progressive nations all over were built on the basis of the TRUTH!
Work together how?
One thing I have always hated about Zimbabwe politics is PRETENCE over tribal issues. Many Shonas are always open about the Ndebele Shona tribal divide, but will kill you should you mention the Karanga Zezuru tribal divide; yet the latter is the most dangerous and a major threat to Zim’s political and social stability, given the numbers involved.
Politicians just pretend there are no problems and continue to call for unity, yet they are responsible for the tribal divisions. None are prepared to talk about the causes and address them.
It is my fervent hope that the NPRC will finally present the right platform for people to talk about these issues and get them resolved!
Zezurus are not at all one of the biggest “Shona” groupings. Infact there are in reallity more Korekores than Zezurus. Mashonaland West, especially is a mixture of Korekores and Karangas who migrated into the area.
The whole Bindura Mt. Darwin area is Korekore. The Korekores occupy an area which Stretches all the way to Chireya in Northen Matebeleland. Infact Mujuru is not Zezuru, but Korekore. From MBindura northwards, there are no Zezurus at all!.The Karanga cover Masvingo, southern Manicaland (up to Buhera) Midlands and soth eastern Matebeleland. More Karangas were forced by the White settlers to migrate to Mashonaland West and Northen Matebeleland (Sanyati, Gokwe, Nembudziya, Chireya, Gumunyu). So talking of Zezurus a being a majority is absurd. It is only the Location of Salisbury which made the Zezurus noticeable. Zezuru Areas are Zvimba, Seke, Chiweshe (Gormonzi). Finish!
That having been said, we should all work together to build our one Nation.
Iwe Chimbwido – you are very ignorant – please shut the fucken mouth if u dont know. Kuna Queen E ndiko kuneyese….
Does this article promote anything except hate
You are very ignorant of current affairs. The Queen is the constitutional monarch of United Kingdom. She is the head of State. The monarchy is the commander of chief of the British Armed forces. Research!
The queen is just a ceremonial head of state and government. The levers of political power are in the hands of the prime minister, Teresa May and not the queen as you imply. You should get your facts, Sir
I agree with you, when whites ruled Rhodesia, they had the army, the bullet and they oppressed blacks using these instruments of power. The whites occupied all senior positions everywhere, in parliament, in the job market and blacks did subordinate jobs. So the ZANU PF government stepped into Smith’s shoes and they will not lose power easily.The military Junta is in charge of the ZANU PF government. They will rig elections come what may and they will play dirty to win the elections to stay in power. They do not want to lose their ill-gotten wealth.
I thought Midlands is both Ndebele and Shona, which the majority tribe has been trying to wrestle away from Mthwakazi. .
Too Tribal an article.
Don’t judge people by appearance. Queen Elizabeth is over 90 years of age but she is successful leading one of the prosperous nation in the world. Why not Gushaz? Tinotenda Gushungo makaita basa chose!
Good analysis. It is impossible for ED to win a free and fair election. ED is the most unpopular presidential candidate ever represented ZPF.
Sir ED will win, you are forgetting that he has the army, the bullet, whether you want or not he is going to rueple you all mashona and ndebeles.
The reality is when it comes to politics of tribalism in Zimbabwe many of us are to blame, Mugabe, ED, Mujuru, Tsvangirai, Chiwenga, ZANU PF, MDCs etc included. It is not health for the developmental of the country. Recent events have seen ED appointing is own and safe guiding is own from going to jail. Having said that, it is not a hidden secret that Mashonaland Central, West and East will merciless vote against Mnangagwa as well as most of the Matebeland regions. I see Tsvangirai winning the elections, Mujuru second and ED or Dabengwa coming a distant third. Good luck.
This country provides that in our constitution. Freedom of association. Hongu the former President might say I was misled by so and so. Ko that venom that was gushing out from his wife? Zvirikwaari Joyce wacho but anoronga chii nesvikiro, someone in his 94yrs. Zviri very normal muchivanhu chedu kukumbura ruregerero ukaona kutadza kwako asi zve party umm Joyce usaitwa ladder rekukwira manera a Grace