Mujuru in dour Chatham debut Joice Mujuru
Dr Mujuru

Dr Mujuru

Tichaona Zindoga Political Editor
Opposition Zimbabwe People First leader Dr Joice Mujuru gave a “dour performance” at the Royal Institute of Foreign Affairs, also known as Chatham House in Britain, on Thursday and failed to convincingly answer questions regarding her party’s policies. Dr Mujuru was invited by the influential think tank to discuss the theme, “Zimbabwe changing opposition”.

The People First leader read a prepared speech, which was largely a rehashing of her party’s Blueprint to Unlock Investment and Leverage for Development (BUILD) manifesto and fielded questions from the floor.

The event, which was streamed live was chaired by former British Defence and Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, but the audience comprised mostly Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora.

Sources who attended the event said there was “no one of note at all” from the British Government. In her address, Dr Mujuru claimed she had been hounded out of Zanu-PF because she was a pro-West “moderate”. Dr Mujuru revealed that she and others had wanted to change the revolutionary party “from within”.

“Some believe that because we were once part of Zanu-PF, therefore we are an extension of the party. It is common knowledge that some of us were considered to be moderates pursuing pro-West policies against party position, which belonged to an individual.

“In Zimbabwean politics, calling someone an agent of the West is a way of hiding from fundamental differences of opinion,” she said. “Initially, we thought we make changes from within, when some of our actions were for the people, but our colleagues were not willing, hence their dislike of us,” she said .

She said she would repeal the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act and revise land reform to make it “fair” and avail land to “all persons who call Zimbabwe home”. On foreign policy, she said Zimbabwe would rejoin the Commonwealth and seek rapprochement with Western countries.

Sources who attended the seminar and spoke to The Herald were not impressed. “Dr Mujuru came and recited her policy which they call BUILD,” said a diasporan who asked not to be named.

“After that she embarked on a long monologue of revisionism and moral somersaults on everything she ever stood for. If we were to judge her as a potential future president for the country on this performance, then one would say she would be a dour and uninspirational leader. There was nothing memorable and nothing that stands out except if one would think of it as watching paint dry,” said the source.

He said Dr Mujuru lacked clarity and was equivocating on issues.

“For example, she said she supported the principle of indigenisation, but then said that the Act should be repealed. She seemed to suggest that she hated the word ‘indigenous’, but embraced the principle of Zimbabweans benefiting from their God-given resources with the foreign investors coming in with their technology and capital,” said the source.

Zanu-PF UK chairman Nick Mangwana who was invited by Chatham House in his official capacity and attended the meeting said Dr Mujuru “struggled to read her own presentation”.

“The silence in the room was telling. Not once did she get an applause from the audience except the polite 10 seconds at the end, which the chairman asked for,” he said. He explained: “Look, this lady is a reluctant leader. This has not changed. She actually did say that she was asked reluctantly to come and lead this project.

“Maybe this is the reason she failed to connect with the audience at all. I don’t think she understands the young people she tried to pander to, by attacking leadership of other parties for not being young.

“The mainly young audience she was addressing did not come looking for a ‘victim’, but were looking for an inspirational visionary. She disappointed in that regard.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Dr Mujuru met with former white owners of her family’s Ruzambo/Alamein Farm and purportedly pledged to compensate them for the developments on the farm.

But Cde Mangwana called it “grandstanding”. He explained that Dr Mujuru had been challenged by a journalist about her family’s acquisition of the farm and dispossession of the property. Dr Mujuru claimed that she had been looking for Guy Watson Smith, which led the journalist to phone the former commercial farmer and arrange a meeting.

“Two things happened here. She wanted to grandstand to the journalist who called her bluff and she ended up with a costly political compromise,” he said.

“The question is, if she is going to ‘personally’ compensate Guy Watson Smith why doesn’t she do it now? Why does she have to wait until she is in power to do it?” political analyst Jupiter Punungwe asked. “There are two possible answers. Either she is lying or she wants to wait until she can steal state money and call it hers,” he concluded.

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