The shameless arrogance, hypocrisy and indifference of President Mnangagwa and the Zanu PF ruling elite is breath taking.
“President Emmerson Mnangagwa will honour his promise and transfer the ownership of the Blue Roof Mansion to the Mugabe family, the Ministry of information has said in a statement,” reported Bulawayo 24.
“This is despite earlier statements by Zanu-PF secretary for administration Obert Mpofu that the Blue Roof Mansion will be turned into a museum.”
"Both Zanu-PF and Government are led by one Principal, President Emmerson Mnangagwa. His position regarding properties which are due to be transferred to the family of the late Cde RG Mugabe is that he will honour the commitments he made. Those properties will be transferred as planned," said the Ministry.
Did President Mnangagwa not promise “zero tolerance on corruption” when he took over from Robert Mugabe following the November 2017 military coup? The picture of the grandeur and opulence Blue Roof juxtaposed with the grass thatched mud hovel where millions of Zimbabwe live in this day and age speaks volumes of the insatiable greed of the Zanu PF ruling elite.
There is no other rational explanation of the source of the funds to build the Blue Roof other than corruption, especial when the mansion was built and paid for at the time when the Zimbabwe economy in a nose-dive decline due to gross mismanagement and rampant corruption. Zero tolerance to corruption, in my books means not only stopping the corruption but recovering the looted wealth and giving it back to its the rightful owners - the mud hut dwelling povo.
In 2016 Mugabe admitted the nation was being “swindled out of US$15 billion in diamond revenue”. He never arrested one swindler and never recovered one dollar’s worth of the loot.
We know hive of diamond mining activity in Marange and Chiadzwa has continued 24/7 to this day and so too has the looting. In 2017 the then Minister of Finance, Patrick Chinamasa, told parliament government was still receiving 1/6 of the expected revenue from diamond mining.
It is nearly two years since the November 2017 coup and President Mnangagwa too has yet to arrest one diamond swindler and/or recover one dollar’s worth of the looted diamonds.
We are told Mnangagwa promised to hand over the title deeds of the Blue Roof mansion to the late dictator’s family and he is going to do so as a matter of “honour”! He also promised to the impoverished masses now living is abject poverty to alleviate their suffering by end this scourge of corruption and has no shame in letting the and the nation down.
Indeed, Mnangagwa also promised the people of Zimbabwe free, fair and credible elections after 38 years of rigged elections. He want on to blatantly rig the elections, the regime failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll. And; to rub hot chilli in the eyes of the short-changed Zimbabweans; he insists to this day that the elections were free, fair and credible.
Honour! There is no honour in Zanu PF ruling elite riding roughshod over povo, denying them their freedoms and rights including the right to a free vote and even the right to life. Zanu PF ruling elite rob the masses blind to build their palatial Blue Roof mansions and pay for the extravagant lifestyle.
If there is justice in this world, then the corrupt, vote rigging and murderous thugs must be held to account for their heinous crimes against the people and the looted wealth recovered and returned to the nation. The Blue Roof mansion belongs to the nation, not to Zanu PF or the Mugabe family, and the people will decide what to do with it.
The Blue Roof was built with the money looted from the people of Zimbabwe. Whilst the Zanu PF and MDC leaders have bought palatial mansions and lived in unparalleled luxury from looted wealth, the masses have lived in mud hut hovels in heart-breaking abject poverty. Mnangagwa considers it a matter of “honour” to keep his promise to give Grace Mugabe the Blue Roof mansion. He promised povo to end corruption and end their suffering and clearly not considered it honourable for him to keep his promise too.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Mnangagwa has not even bothered to honour povo’s right to life!
If there is justice in this world then those responsible for the corruption, vote rigging and murderous oppression must account for their heinous crimes and the looted wealth must be recovered and given back to povo!
Nelson Chamisa hailed the MDC as "the bravest, strongest and most consistent" party as the opposition movement marked its 20-year anniversary at Rufaro Stadium on Saturday.
ReplyDeleteChamisa said the MDC bore scars from its opposition to Zanu-PF over the years, with dozens of activists dead in calculated murders whose perpetrators have not been held to account.
"They can kill our supporters and our leadership, but they can never kill an idea whose time has come," Chamisa said as he promised supporters that "change is coming, change is around the corner.”
MDC had the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms and end the Zanu PF dictatorship during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. The party failed to implement even one democratic reform in five years. Not even one reform!
The party has since given up on implementing the reforms to ensure there are free, fair and credible elections. The party has been participated in elections since the 2013 elections even when it was clear Zanu PF would rig the elections.
Zanu PF “can never kill an idea whose time has come”! Zanu PF did not kill the idea of free, fair and credible elections, MDC’s corrupt and incompetent leaders killed it!
If Zimbabweans are ever going to get the reforms implemented and hold free, fair and credible elections, then the nation must look to some other people to do it, the MDC sell-outs will never do it.
“Zimbabwe is what it is because of a political subculture, centred on the ruling party, that has hegemony and subjugation as its highest ideals. Violence, disdain, paranoia and plunder are among its natural progeny. It is fundamentally antithetical to genuine political competition, dissent and notions of stewardship,” wrote Stuart Doran in The Strategist.
ReplyDelete“The attitudes and instincts that together comprise the culture are audible at every turn, if we are tuned to the right frequency. Asked during a trip to Ethiopia about the numerous allegations of rape during the recent crackdown, Mnangagwa retorted: ‘It’s all stage-managed. We are challenging anybody, anybody, local or foreign, to produce the women, so that the world can see them, and say this is what happened.’
“Regarding the killings: ‘We’d want to see evidence. We see all this in social media. But we’d want to see evidence where the 17 people were killed. Where were they buried?’ And then the sterile references to external manipulation; the protests were part of ‘a regime change agenda which is not new’.
“Back at home, speaking at a rural rally, he went on: ‘Those who we fought during the liberation struggle, the whites, are still fighting so they can claim power again … Our enemies are not resting.’ But, away from the international glare, he was unable to restrain the urge to brag. ‘We don’t want violence, so I said soldiers go and silence these people, they were silenced.’ Protestors were of ‘Legion’—a multitude of demons—and the government would ‘sort them out … We will crush our enemies, and they are being crushed.’”
Of course, Doran is 100% right.
Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because for the last 39 years we, Zimbabweans, have chosen to let Zanu PF blatantly rig the elections, pretended not to notice, and rewarded the party with absolute power. We have paid dearly for our folly as the economic meltdown and the brutal oppression and deaths testify.
The only rational way to stop the Zanu PF madness is putting our foot down, put an end to the appeasement and demand that the party steps down. To do anything else is insane!
How honourable of Mnangagwa, he will keep his promise to let Grace Mugabe keep the Blue Roof and all the other looted wealth the late dictator amassed at the expense of the millions now living in abject poverty.
ReplyDeleteDoes Mnangagwa remember promising the people of Zimbabwe "zero tolerance on corruptions"? He must have forgotten because he has done very little to end this national scourge that has all but destroyed Zimbabwe’s once robust and prosperous economy.
Zero tolerance on corruption, in my books includes recovering looted wealth as Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has done.
Indeed, Mnangagwa has never honoured povo’s right to life much less his promise to end corruption, hold free elections, etc.!
How honourable of Mnangagwa, he will keep his promise to let Grace Mugabe keep the Blue Roof and all the other looted wealth the late dictator amassed at the expense of the millions now living in abject poverty.
ReplyDeleteDoes Mnangagwa remember promising the people of Zimbabwe "zero tolerance on corruptions"? He must have forgotten because he has done very little to end this national scourge that has all but destroyed Zimbabwe’s once robust and prosperous economy.
Zero tolerance on corruption, in my books includes recovering looted wealth as Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has done.
Indeed, Mnangagwa has never honoured povo’s right to life much less his promise to end corruption, hold free elections, etc.!
Grace Mugabe should take this down: Blue Roof was built with wealth looted from the impoverished masses of Zimbabwe and it and all the other looted wealth will be taken away from her and given back to the masses!
An auction house in Switzerland is set to sell a collection of luxury cars seized by authorities from the son of Equatorial Guinea's president in a money-laundering investigation.
ReplyDeleteThe 25 cars include Ferraris and Lamborghinis and are expected to bring in 18.5 million Swiss francs ($18.7m) on Sunday, according to the auctioneer, Bonhams.
This is music to my ears! Africa’s filthy rich few must sit up and pay attention.
In Zimbabwe, the country’s President Mnangagwa is reportedly “honouring” his promise to give the country’s late dictator’s family the palatial Blue Roof mansion valued at US$ 7 million to US$ 2 billion plus all the other mansions and assets in the country and outside.
The ruling elite have looted the wealth from the masses who live in mud grass thatched hovels in heartbreaking abject poverty. It is right and proper that the looted wealth must be recovered and given back to the rightful owners - the impoverished masses. Switzerland is setting a good example!
Mnangagwa has hard tried to portray himself and his post-November 2017 coup regime as a “new dispensation”, a “Second Republic” one that is “open for business” as contrast to the Mugabe regime which was corrupt, oppressive and made it impossible to do business. The truth is he recognised what was wrong with the Mugabe rule, of which he was a key player. However he is smart enough to also know that all those things were the essential components, as essential as water and air to human life, that kept Zanu PF in power.
ReplyDeleteMnangagwa and his coup cronies were not going to risk losing political power by honouring the promise to hold free, fair and credible elections, for example. They had risked their looted wealth, life and limb to boot out Mugabe in the coup to secure power; they were not going to lose it 8 eights later in a democratic elections.
Mnangagwa’s new dispensation was all about smoke and mirrors and this has come through again and again. He promised to end corruption and yet has not only done nothing to stop the wholesale looting but has gone out of his way to ring-fence the humongous fortunes of the ruling elite.
The true value of the Blue Roof is best appreciated when it is contrasted with the mud hut hovel where millions of Zimbabweans live. Whereas the mud hut dwellers have to make do with an all but collapsed health care service, no running water, etc. the Blue Roof dwellers went five-star hospitals and worn designer shoes, socks, everything.
In allowing Grace Mugabe to have the Blue Roof mansion Mnangagwa was sending a clear statement the corruption of the Mugabe days are here to stay, the filthy rich are protected and the filthy poor will stay where they are!
He said Zanu-PF has been winning council and Parliamentary by-elections which shows that people have confidence in President Mnangagwa's leadership.
ReplyDeleteHe said there are individuals who want to be bigger than the party. "Councillors, how did you get more votes than the MPs? MPs give us your strategy, how did you become more popular than the party and the President.
"There should be consistency. There should be unity of purpose. We must all pull in the same direction as we go towards 2023," Matemadanda said.
These are the rumbling of an idiot.
The is serious economic decline for the last 39 years and today stand at the very edge of the precipice with unemployment a nauseating 90%, even large a large city like Harare has no chemicals to treat drinking water, the economy is in total meltdown, etc. The country desperate needs a change of direction and the village idiot is cheering and applauding that we continue over the edge!
Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections, the party does not have the mandate to govern and would have never assumed power was it not for the corrupt and incompetent opposition sell-outs who participated in the flawed and illegal elections for the sake of the few gravy train seats Zanu PF gave away as bait. By participating the opposition gave some modicum of credibility to an otherwise illegal process.
Zanu PF must and will be forced to step down to allow the country to step back from the brink. Zanu PF must not be allowed to stay in office till 2023, the party will rig those elections just as it has rigged elections in the past. We must end this madness now!
Exiled former cabinet Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo says the late President Robert Mugabe was an African voice who spoke on behalf of Africa.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking to BBC from his base in Nairobi Kenya Moyo said Mugabe was a pan African who did not only speak about Pan Africanism but practised it.
The sum total of Mugabe’s Pan Africanism was a creating a corrupt, vote rigging and murderous dictatorship that destroyed Zimbabwe’s once robot and promising economy and murdered over 30 000 innocent civilians in 37 years. Corruption allowed the few ruling elite to become filthy rich at the expense of millions now living in heart breaking abject poverty.
Mugabe’s US$ 7 million - 2 billion Blue Roof palatial mansion contrasted with the mud hut hovel where millions live say all that needs be said between what he stood for in the eyes of the ordinary Zimbabwean!
Professor Moyo was haunted out of Zimbabwe like a rat. It is a pity that he has not made good use of the two years in hiding to reflect on his own role in creating and retaining the Zanu PF dictatorship that has brought so much suffering, death and destruction to Zimbabwe.
One only hopes there will be regime change in Zimbabwe soon and treasonous thugs like Professor Moyo can finally face justice. The congenial confines of Chikurumbi Prison would be a more fitting place for Professor Moyo to spend his final days this side of the grave!