HARARE – Below is a version of the famous poem attributed to pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the cowardice of German intellectuals following the Nazis’ rise to power and the subsequent purging of all their chosen target groups. “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out — Because I was not…
HARARE – Zanu PF members sympathetic to Vice President Mujuru are losing patronage benefits of office, status, power, wealth and impunity as factionalism takes its toll. In the past week, Rugare Gumbo, Jabulani Sibanda and several of the party’s provincial chairpersons have had some of these benefits withdrawn. The ultimate target is, of course, Mujuru….
HARARE – While many Zimbabweans have lately, and rightly so, felt that the country’s body politic has reached the pits of irrationality, thuggery and indecency — what with Zanu PF’s ugly factional and succession wars crystallising into damaging allegations of a bedroom coup at the top echelons of the party — they clearly underestimated the…
HARARE – Animal Farm, a famous satirical novel set on a typical English farm, contains many important lessons for Zimbabwe. Penned by renowned author George Orwell and published at the end of World War II, the fable is a cautionary tale of the dangers of misplacedsa nationalism, the deifying of so-called liberators and all those…
HARARE – Although it is said a week is a long time in politics, and there are still a full two weeks to go to Zanu PF’s much-anticipated elective congress slated for early December, the signs are not good for embattled Vice President Joice Mujuru and her supporters. In fact, Solomon Mujuru’s 59-year-old widow and…
HARARE – If the level of aggression and the blatant disregard of procedures is a taste of the kind of leadership Zimbabweans will be subjected to should First Lady Grace Mugabe and Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa’s supporters win unfettered power at the Zanu PF congress next month, then the country is in deep trouble. From…
HARARE – It does not matter which way one looks, the signs of Zanu PF-orchestrated anarchy are everywhere in our seemingly cursed country. There is a deluge of poorly-choreographed votes-of-no-confidence demonstrations against senior party officials that include the country’s embattled Vice President Joice Mujuru and provincial chairpersons. Stunningly, even our nonagenarian leader, President Robert Mugabe,…
HARARE – There must be people today who miss the “old Zanu PF”, a party whose principles were well-defined. People like Edgar Tekere and Margaret Dongo were the true loyalists, who quit once they perceived a misstep which spelt a change in dogma. There are party members today who are not surprised at the current…
HARARE – It took a prescient and forthright politician in the make of the late Eddison Zvobgo to foresee a tempestuous Zanu PF in the making if President Robert Mugabe consistently relied on pitting potential successors against each other in the manner he has often done for decades. Exasperated by accusations of harbouring presidential ambitions…
HARARE – Our worst fears have finally been confirmed! Robert Mugabe wants to remain in office forever. It has now been confirmed that the man wants to leave State House and head straight for the Heroes’ Acre, dashing national expectation that at 90, the nonagenarian could be considering retiring. George Charamba, Mugabe’s top aide and…
