The old adage goes, 'People of double standards never experience
happiness'. That the First Lady of Zimbabwe is surrounded by controversy
informally and formally, is no news to the international scene. Her spirited
desire to present herself as a "unifier" par excellent to the nation
fall short of the trumpets that will be blowing at her as she speaks at party
gatherings. Voltaire once said, "It is forbidden to kill, therefore all
murderers are punished, unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets".
Applicability of this is stuck to Grace Mugabe aka Dr Amai who has but proved
that for the powerful, as her, crimes are those that others commit.
Within Zanu Pf, Grace has
assumed a more powerful role even beyond her position as the Women's League
Chair-lady. As much as debate can rage on her role, it has become increasingly
visible that the party decisions are somehow based on what she comes to say.
That her appointment to the highest decision making organ of the party came at
the heels of the start of factionalism that led to the expulsion of Joyce
Mujuru and allies comes as no doubt. Albeit the appointment, there started a
larger and much longer journey to her political rise, mainly on the hands of
those that wanted her to push their agendas. Quick jump to the rise of the
Lacoste and G40 factions, Grace was not ashamed to show her allegiance to the
Young Turks and was quick to stamp foot whenever any talk of succession came
by. At a point, there she was at a rally saying that even in the wake of
nature, the whole Politburo and cabinet were going to have meeting conducted at
the President's graveside.
Moreover, she ruled out any
chances of the President resigning on health grounds as she affirmed that he
will even rule from the wheelchair. The politics of that and those statements
aside, recently at a Women's League meeting (which had many men from the party
attending as V VIPs) she implored the President to name his successor. Shocking
right!! Yes, she shocked party members and members of the War Veterans who are
largely vouching for the Vice President Emerson Mnangagwa to the highest seat
in the land. Her sentiments however came at a time when Minister of Higher and
Tertiary Education, Prof Jonathan Moyo had rubbished down any plans of appointing
a successor anytime soon as long as the center of power was still alive.
More revelations of the double
standards character of the First Lady were shown at the Youth Interface Rally
in Chinhoyi. That was a point in time when the G40 members felt their safety
was guaranteed and their plans to ascension hidden behind supporting the First
Family was given a boost. Grace Mugabe called and embarrassingly reprimanded
the Presidential Spokesperson and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of
Information, George Charamba. That Charamba is below the Ministers is within
the public domain as much as it is that the Ministers are below the Vice
Presidents. That Grace Mugabe, who claims to be a mother in her reprimanding
and rants, can tell the Permanent Secretary that he should not respond to
Ministers, while not telling the Ministers not to talk ill of the Vice
President is a direct show of whose agenda she is pushing. If Charamba was
wrong in talking and responding to Ministers, in the same vein she should have asked
the Ministers not to talk bad of the Vice President who happens to be above the
Ministers. But being Grace Mugabe, as long as she has spoken then it’s taken
into consideration no matter how trivial and controversial. Having to
single out Charamba amidst the factional battles taking place and loudly saying
“I am speaking as a mother….” was a smack in the face of what motherhood is all
about. What a mother does in the event of a scuffle between her children goes
beyond what she did. Not reprimanding Prof Moyo for undermining the office of
the Vice President as he does willy-nilly on social media and dialogues is a
sign whose battle she is fighting and is using her influence not for unity
purpose but to divide the revolutionary party on factional grounds.
That she spoke of not meting
violence on women while she goes on to grievously injure a South African model
is another case for another day.
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