Zimbabwe Now A Military State

A military coup and its bunch of wannabes

December 11; 2017


Daily News senior staff writer Mugove Tafirenyika sits down for an interview with MDC national organising secretary Abednico Bhebhe. Find below excerpts of the interview.

Q: There was talk of an inclusive government prior to the inauguration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa following former president Robert Mugabe's departure. Chris Mutsvangwa, the president's adviser, told the media that Mnangagwa had "engaged" the MDC about joining an "inclusive" team in this way, but Morgan Tsvangirai barred members of the party from joining the team. The MDC disputes this version. What happened?

A: As the organising secretary of the party and as far as the party structures and the party presidency, there was no formal approach from either Zanu-PF as a political party or Mnangagwa as the Zanu-PF aspiring candidate for the 2018 elections.

He went on to become president but we did not see that hand of inviting us. If ever anything had happened, the rightful offices of our political structures was going to inform our machinery so there were never formal talks between the two parties.

The only role we played is probably that they hijacked our programme to impeach Mugabe.

We made four attempts at that with the latest being the James Maridadi motion which they were resisting only to hijack it and present it as a Monica Mutsvangwa motion.

Q: But would you have joined them if they had approached you?

A: One thing that people don't understand is that when Mugabe was ousted, he was running a government and that government is Zanu-PF and pushes its policies.

Now for any MDC member to be in a Zanu-PF government pushing Zanu-PF policies, he had to get proper clearance from the party so that our policies can also be accommodated and once that happens it would have started negotiations. So it was not about joining a Zanu-PF government but about Zimbabwe.

Q: Where was talk of transitional authority coming from?

A: I know because of the euphoria that came with Mugabe's ouster there is this kind of approach to issues that people took to say we are one, talking about a transitional government .

The idea was to sort out the mess as a collective. Arguments were still coming for and against and there is not one group that will say it won that argument.

Some were always skeptical of that arrangement basing on what happened previously when we had the inclusive government.

We went flat out to sort the economic mess while Zanu-PF was busy consolidating power, so that is why it was important for us to talk first to highlight these issues.

Q: But what would have been the basis of a transitional authority and why were you talking about it in the MDC in the first place?

A: It would have made sense if Mugabe had been ousted by the people.

However, the transitional thing was overtaken by events especially when the army took over ZBC, a national broadcaster, which meant that citizens' rights that go with the ZBC being stationed, were taken away.

For an army general to read main news at an awkward hour raised more questions. So the issue of the transition was parked for a moment.

It only came up again when it became clear that Mugabe was going.

However, at the same time the army was in control, Zanu-PF was doing another parallel process.

Zanu-PF structures suddenly had the power to sit and start processes to oust Mugabe but it is important to note that the process was also flawed where certain individuals like Mutsvangwa and others who went on to sit in a central committee to make supposedly binding decisions when it is in the public record that they were fired.

The army process and the Zanu-PF processes were both illegal. Now we have a coalition government of the army and unscrupulous Zanu-PF individuals.

To prove that this whole thing is now a military state, what is the army doing on the roads where an awkward situation has arisen with police officers stopping vehicles and handing over to the army.

The pattern that is emerging is disturbing. What kind of an operation is that? What threat is government facing that warrants the army to go out there and search vehicles?

There has to be a national threat for the army to do that. Now my question to Mnangagwa is, what kind of threat is it that Zimbabweans don't know?

Whatever insecurity there is, it should be known to the people.

Q: Do you think the international community let the people down by allowing such an "awkward" development, to use your phrase?

A: To Sadc, AU and the international community, we want their comment. What do they call what is happening in Zimbabwe.

There is an element of illegality here. I know people will try just like I will do, to run away from the word ‘coup' but what do we call this?

We need a name for such a strange situation that is illegal. Is it an illegal process that produced legal results or an illegal process that produced short-lived results?

I say short-lived because all of sudden people who were euphoric yesterday are now beginning to ask questions.

And they have to be answered by none other than Mnangagwa and his government.
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