Influential former army generals ready to campaign for Makoni

By Tichaona Sibanda
8 February 2008

Retired army generals Solomon Mujuru and Vitalis Zvinavashe are reportedly going to campaign for independent presidential candidate Simba Makoni, in a bid to oust Robert Mugabe from power.

A source close to Zvinavashe, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces’ second commander after Mujuru, told us he was ready to throw his full weight behind Makoni. The retired general has publicly voiced his concern on several occasions about the state of the country’s political and economic situation.

Addressing a meeting in Gutu, Masvingo province in December last year, Zvinavashe openly castigated Mugabe for staying in power too long, suggesting it was time he passed on the baton to someone else.

‘Everyone in Zanu-PF knows Zvinavashe’s position on Mugabe and he’s also on public record for criticising Zanu-PF legislators for not telling people the truth about the critical food shortages in the country,’ added the source.

Makoni’s right hand man at the moment is retired army Major, Kudzai Mbudzi, a close confidante of Zvinavashe. When visiting his home area of Masvingo, Zvinavashe is usually in the company of Mbudzi, a former spokesman for Zanu-PF in the province. He was suspended from the party in October last year for his refusal to organise the ‘million man march’ in Masvingo in support of Mugabe.

Makoni has stepped up the pressure on the 84 year-old ruler by accusing him of intolerance and a ‘deep lack of self-confidence.’

Political analyst Isaac Dziya believes Makoni’s approach to take Mugabe head-on has tacit approval from Mujuru, long touted as the kingmaker in the ruling party. Mujuru belongs to the Mashonaland East province that has open rebelled against Mugabe. It is in this same province that most cabinet ministers, including Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, lost in the primaries to emerging young turks in Zanu PF.

But Dziya warned Zimbabweans not to get carried away with this latest development, saying it had the hallmarks of a Zanu-PF plan to confuse the electorate.

‘He may be genuine but questions will be asked about his meeting with Mugabe two weeks ago and his intention to be registered as a Zanu-PF candidate for Makoni in Manicaland. I guess people will wait to see who he names as his partners in this new project of his,’ Dziya said.

Most of the rebels have been identified as coming from Mashonaland East where all the manoeuvring and planning is believed to be coming from.

This has prompted the party to scrutinise results of primaries there. Didymus Mutasa, the security minister and a top confidante of Mugabe Zanu-PF said the party would in the coming days intensify a campaign to weed out rebels linked to the former finance minister.

‘We have rebels in the party and we will have to look at who is who,’
Mutasa reportedly told ZimOnline.

While Mugabe has yet to comment on the latest development, reports say he is seething with rage at being betrayed by people from his own party and its reported he has promised to crush the rebels.

An analyst opined that the biggest problem with a purge is that the plot to oust him involves people who have strong military backing, people who still command a lot of respect and support among party cadres than him.