February 26 - March 4, 2015

Grace under fire

Independent media

Zimbabwe Independent, February 27, 2015

“Zanu PF ‘bedroom coup’ takes hold” by Faith Zaba

• Recent events have demonstrated that Grace Mugabe is making major (arbitrary) decisions rendering her husband, Robert Mugabe, in power de jure, but not de facto.
  
• Three Zanu PF officials have lost their positions in the government since Grace’s return from a two-month vacation. A purge against Mujuru allies is being “spearheaded” by Grace Mugabe.
  
• Didymus Mutasa, MP Temba Milswa and Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Kudakwashe Bhasikiti have all been fired.
  
• Grace also appears to be behind the appointment of Shuvai Mahofa to a ministerial position. Mahofa was a staunch supporter of Grace during her Meet the People tour. She has however been a constant loser in elections and seems relatively unpopular with the electorate. The appointment appears to be one of political patronage.

Nehanda Radio, February 27, 2015

“Mugabe under pressure from military over Grace” by Brown Moyo

• Military sources say the Joint Operations Command (JOC) has seen turbulence because of the Zanu PF factionalism which has seen 17 prominent members of the government fall.
  
• JOC is comprised of army, police and intelligence chiefs. In the past, the JOC has operated to secure regime continuity in Zimbabwe. The JOC has assisted in preventing democratic transition according to Nehanda Radio.
  
• Some members of the JOC have allegedly expressed concern over Grace Mugabe’s involvement in the government. Some of this concern was voiced prior to the December congress held by the Zanu PF.
  
• NewsDay has alleged that Grace has been trying to obtain a more “glamorous” role than her current position of Secretary of Women’s Affairs. She has ostensibly been discussing a Minister of Defence position with Robert Mugabe.
• Mugabe publicly denied that Grace wields very much power, although Nehanda Radio maintains that it is still widely believed that Grace makes decisions for Robert.
  
• Mugabe’s statement appears to show that he has bowed to pressure “from certain quarters of the military to explain his wife, Grace Mugabe’s role in the day to day running of the country . . .”

State-owned media

The Herald, February 27, 2015

“I’m still in charge, says President” by Farirai Machivenyika

• Robert Mugabe has dismissed media reports that Grace Mugabe is now holds de facto power in Zimbabwe. Mugabe said that his wife simply came to power in her own right.
  
• Mugabe also said that Grace was unable to attend a full Politburo meeting because she is “not yet strong.” The first lady of Zimbabwe ascended to the post of Secretary of Women’s Affairs in a country-wide tour. While on tour in late 2014, she “exposed” a plot to overthrow Robert Mugabe by then Vice President Joice Mujuru.
  
• Mujuru and 16 other ministers have lost their seats in Parliament because of Grace’s efforts to expose mass treason.
• Mugabe also admitted that the Zanu PF flaunted a rule whereby a woman must be vice president. There are currently two male vice presidents.

Zanu PF factionalism

Independent Media

Zimbabwe Independent, February 27, 2015

“Let’s resist Mugabe Dynasty: Gumbo” by Faith Zaba

• The “original and real Zanu PF” comprised of recently expelled members of Zimbabwe’s ruling political party says it will not form an alternative Zanu PF in electoral politics, but will instead fight for democracy and constitutionalism.
  
• Former Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo has said that lawyers are compiling a case to challenge the legality of the Zanu PF’s December congress which saw Emmerson Mnangagwa and Grace Mugabe’s faction displace former Vice President Joice Mujuru’s faction.
  
• According to Gumbo, Didymus Mutasa will soon file papers with the courts to discredit the validity of the December congress and the resolutions which emerged from it.
  
• Gumbo also articulated that Mugabe speaks positively of democracy, but in practice, it seems to be reviled. Gumbo had expressed doubts about Mugabe as early as 1980, where he suggested that Mugabe was manipulative and has a tendency to use people.
  
• Gumbo concluded his public announcement by saying that the leaders of the Zanu PF have lost their way. Gumbo said that he and his group did not want a Mugabe dynasty; such a dynasty would defy the democratic principles of the liberation movement.

State-controlled Media

The Herald, February 27, 2015

“Zanu-PF won’t be blackmailed”

• National political commissioner Saviour Kasukuwere has said that the Zanu PF will not hesitate to fire “errant members of Parliament because the party is on solid ground to win any by-election.”
  
• MP for Hurungwe West, Temba Milswa, was fired last week. The claims that his district fully supported him are “misguided and unsubstantiated” according to Kasukuwere.
• Milswa was fired for charges ranging from insubordination to denigrating party leadership. Milswa was fired in the same instance as Didymus Mutasa, former minister of presidential affairs.

Politically motivated evictions of white farmers continue

Independent Media

The Zimbabwean, March 1, 2015

“Mugabe threatens to kick out 163+ white farmers out of Zim” by Edgar Gweshe

• A campaign to flush out remaining white farmers may see over 163 farmers removed from Mashonaland East. Robert Mugabe made the remarks as he celebrated his 91st birthday.
  
• Mugabe accused former Mashonaland East Chairperson Raymond Kaukonde of protecting white farmers in the province. His protection appears to have been in contravention to a Zanu PF order.
  
• Mugabe threatened to seize other white-owned land in Zimbabwe in protest to US sanctions on Zimbabwe.

State-controlled Media

The Herald, March 3, 2015

“Ex-minister’s ally evicted” by Takunda Maodza

• Didymus Mutasa is accused of having protected white farmers during his tenure as Minister of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement. Jasc Bakker is allegedly one of those protected by Mutasa and he has now been evicted from his farm.
  
• The farm in question is to be allocated to Secretary for Mines and Mining Development, Francis Gudyanga.
  
• Mutasa and Bakker ostensibly had a business relationship including asset transactions and livestock trade. Mr. Bakker, however, denied that he was protected by Mutasa.
  
• It appears that several other farms in the Manicaland region have been reduced in size recently.