By Langton Ncube| The MDC-T party says Zimbabwe is now a military state and challenged the new President Emmerson Mnangagwa to stop militarizing the nation.
Mnangagwa who was assisted by the military to take over power from his long time mentor Robert Mugabe last month, has appointed a number of Army Generals to key government positions.
Some of the Army Generals Mnangagwa has put in his cabinet include Air Marshal Perence Shiri and Sibusiso Moyo who he made Agriculture and Foreign Affairs ministers respectively.
This week Mnangagwa retired the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Constantino Chiwenga amid reports that he wants to make him one of his deputies.
Gutu told NewsDay that Mnangagwa was a soldier in civilian clothing.
“The State apparatuses are becoming increasingly militarised as we see more and more members of the armed forces being appointed to influential positions in government,” said Gutu.
“The MDC would like the President to address what measures his government is taking to stop the creation of a de facto military junta running the affairs of government,” he said.
23 Replies to “Mnangagwa Militarizing The State-MDC-T”
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What about Giles Mutsekwa and Roy Bennet who were serving in the Rhodesian Army?
The Army guys are only from Zanu Pf? Someone is thinking through the buttocks!
Wary of democracy, you mean?
your cry is because ED is playing a different ball game from Mugabe. Haamakike. The opposition lost. Go back to the drawing board and start afresh perhaps come 2025 you may stand a chance. you have lost 2018 free and fair or not
Perhaps your party should attract some retired soldiers. The problem is the opposition is the party of sanctions. Soldiers do not associate with that. Whose fault is that?
Zimbabwean people should be wary of tyranny of the majority !
Such myopia to dream of a military junta in this day and age…shame
Obvious ED will not go anywhere with the army surrounding him like that ! Wanting Mugabe to go was a means to an end ! It was the beginning of a process, so cheap rhetoric only would come from short sighted citizens
….and we also know the influence of the military in the political landscape of this country! Pretending not to know is doesn’t change the truth ,it will remain nomatter how much people pretend not knowing it
Don’t try n pretend u don’t know how ED got power,without the tankers in the streets he had been cowardly n in time jumped boarders n now u tell us ED blah blah ,remove the army n the gun and c the real position of ED.
To bad ,ur overzealous support for the ruining party knows know boundary, have u ever seen MDC programs on ztv or zbc ?wake up and open ur eyes,and it also doesn’t matter when mtsvangwa tells the whole nation that they are going to campaign with the help of the army?u also didn’t see or hear that?the fact that they are exclusively left out of mainstream media does not mean they are not campaigning,, u r saying so because u always see ur generals now cabinet ministers and are on TV day in day out!!!
The problem is that short sighted MDC leaders unwittingly rushed to mobilize people to march for Mugabe’s ouster thus taking part in an unconstitutional process in which nothing had been promised in return for their participation.Now that Zanu Pf is claiming all the loot and are fortifying and entrenching themselves in power even more than Robert,the opposition are starting to see that they were sold a dummy again as has become traditional.I dont know whether the MDC has real political analysts or just pretenders masquerading as Tsvangirai’s advisers.Seriously the part needs someone like the “nutty Professor” in charge of their political intelligence department in order to prevent being perennially humiliated and outwitted by Zanu Pf. Zanu Pf is now falsely claiming that they we sorely responsible for all that crowd which pushed Mugabe into resignation and they are rewarding themselves and themselves alone for that heroic did.This ED will be even more difficult to push out than old Bob especially with all these army guys whose loyalty he is purchasing using government posts.A scary thought indeed!
Ndochokwadi chaicho
A few years ago, the media were awash with news that retired military generals, colonels, brigadiers and some lesser ranked soldiers had joined the ranks of the MDC T party as members. Assuming that MDC T romps to victory in 2018, what will MRT do with those high ranking retired military officers who will have taken a very strong position and fervently campaigned for the MDC T before winning? Will MDC T ignore its retired military members in a new government? The USA, Germany, UK, and France, from which a number of opposition parties here derive inspiration, are choking with retired military personnel in high governmental positions as secretaries (ministers), senators etc. Some candidates are rejected because they “have no record of serving in the military”. Obama’s entire run was characterized by that criticism. He did not serve in the military. Bush did, so did his son after him, so did Reagan, and Nixon, and Jimmy Carter; the list is endless. General Colin Powell is the US Ambassador to the UN. Former military civilians are not active soldiers. Where really is the confusion?
A political party that rises to power on the back of a military war for freedom can never consolidate its position by doing what a civilian opponent demands. Never ever. You cannot persuade your enemy to climb down from an advantageous vantage point. Politics is not for ninnies. Militarize your own parties and fight back democratically. That’s the way to go. Not moaning and mourning every time. You do not get into the boxing ring and then rush to the referee to complain that the other person is punching you ! That is what boxing is about. Punching. So counter punch. Start winning. Stop whining. .
MDC is becoming boring. They have run out of ideas to run their own party…all they do these days is to comment on what ED is doing. Wake up and campaign for your own party and leave ED alone, at least he is trying his level best. We wanted change…..we have it….VIVA ED VIVA…..Military are also Zimbabweans, if they are the right people to take us forward why not.
MDC has lost the trajectory. If the readers comments on this story is anything to go by, there is no way they will win a very free and fair election in 2018.
Chotova Ganyamatope munun’una wangu, please concentrate on winning the electorate. You might be able to build your own cabinet next year, consisting of only lawyers and a chronically ill tea-boy at the helm.
Thee opposition must come up with real not imagined wrongs from Ngwena. This retired soldier thing is nonsense. We all know retired soldiers becomes civilians after service to the country.being politicians is part of civilian life
MDC is boring and becoming a pain now, they are complaining about everything, instead of them preparing for the next election, they keep on checking what is ED doing, ED is preparing for the next coming elections, whilst they are sleeping and complaining.
He has only picked 2 soldiers into cabinet. Is that militarising the state? Even if Chiwenga becomes VP, thats 3 out of 24????
The MDC must device ways to woo the populace…zvekuti militarising bla bla hazvishande izvo….either millitary or what we all Zimbabweans. what we need is a competent opposition with ideas….ED said the voice of ppl is the voice of God, he meant it. so juss be pragmatic and practical than being cry babies
Better a Junta leadership than a bunch of parasites masquarading as DEMOCRATS.You are about as democratic as the American global terrorist government of Donald Trump and his predesessors
When these pricks were in the Unity government with ZANU PF they didnt object to retired generals in parastatals and everywhere else now theyall ofa sudden see danger in the military because they have been locked out of the gravy train,You hijacked a labour movement now tell me how many true workers are in the MDC hierachy….I dont see why those bloody idiots are still supporting the MDC….Its brimfull of lawyers and other parasites
MDC cannot see beyond Tsvangirai. Vakatopererwa kare. He talks of militarizing the nation, zvatanga nhasi here. All warvets are soilders, it used to be 100% cabinet of warvets, why MDC isina kutaura. Vacho vasina kurwaHondo pavakapihwa mukana, vakakonzeresa.
Hoo nhayi Kufunga kwe MDC . Makuda Mugabe Nhasi. All along mayiti Mugabe must go. Manje ED Munangagwa haasi kuenda zvekumhanya. Maoroorwa ka