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Dr Mujuru

THE great African story teller Chinua Achebe tells of the story of Okonkwo, a great wrestler who had become champion of nine villages before challenging his chi, equivalent of guardian angel, to a wrestling match.

In Ibo traditional religion, the ‘chi’ is the guardian spirit given to every individual at birth and is responsible for one’s fortunes and/or misfortunes depending on behaviour. In the story of Okonkwo, Achebe highlights the fact that a man or woman should never provoke fate but should know the limits in the pursuit of power.

Well today, the nation woke up to the story of a woman who — like Okonkwo — became big-headed to the extent of believing she could challenge the equivalent of her chi with disastrous consequences.

The result she has made history in being the first vice president of independent Zimbabwe to be fired for incompetence and behaviour inconsistent with such a lofty office.

Yet before tempting fate, Joice Mujuru’s story was an inspiration for every girl child. Here was a woman who defied the odds to join the liberation struggle at 18, before scoring a first by becoming the youngest Cabinet minister at independence at 25, serving Government in various portfolios till the 2004 Congress where she again made history by becoming Zimbabwe’s first female vice president after women approached President Mugabe to lobby for the inclusion of one of their own in the party’s top hierarchy.

President Mugabe concurred and elevated Dr Mujuru even as she played second fiddle to then secretary for administration Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa. President Mugabe’s faith in the young lady was evident when he urged her not to consider the vice presidency her ceiling.

To a simplistic thinker that Joice Mujuru turned out to be, the words were taken literally, as she promptly began scheming against her benefactor culminating in the abortive attempt by Mashonaland East Province to revolt against President Mugabe at the National People’s Conference held at Goromonzi High School in December 2006.

A year later, the Mujuru project mooted a revisionist biography on Cde Edgar Tekere in which they maligned President Mugabe as a prelude to launching the Mavambo project in 2008. Through Mavambo, Dr Mujuru went on to sponsor the self-defeating “Bhora musango” that split the vote for President Mugabe, who ended up nearly losing to MDC-T’s Morgan Tsvangirai but for the constitutional provision requiring a contestant to score 50 percent plus 1 of the votes cast for an outright victory. The dysfunctional inclusive Government then followed with Dr Mujuru getting quite cosy with the MDC-T which she worked with, at times in violation of the Zanu-PF position.

So cosy was Dr Mujuru in the inclusive Government that she abetted the MDC-T bid to block the harmonised elections that were constitutionally due, only becoming unstuck when the Constitutional Court ordered elections by July 31 last year.

President Mugabe, with First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe by his side, then single-handedly addressed highly subscribed rallies countrywide earning himself and the party a victory much bigger than the 1980 landslide.

No sooner was Zanu-PF firmly ensconced in Government than did Dr Mujuru start scheming with an eye on Congress culminating in the manipulation of the election of provincial chairpersons, the Youth League Conference and attempted subversion of the Women’s League Conference that only came unstuck after diligent Women’s League members roped in the First Lady into leadership. To fund the factional campaign, Dr Mujuru worked with several members of her cabal, some of whom began abusing their ministerial portfolios, to fleece parastatals and State enterprises under their watch.

In so doing the ministers seriously undermined Government’s drive to resuscitate the parastatals and state enterprises culminating in their dismissal yesterday.

A clean-up that bodes well for the implementation of Zim-Asset which identifies state enterprises as key enablers of economic revival since it is on the back of their profitability that Government will be able to service the infrastructure deals struck during President Mugabe’s 13th State visit to China last August.

To the President we say, thank you for fumigating the house, may it extend to every nook and cranny.