The Zimbabwe Mail

8th November 2017

On Monday, President Robert Mugabe fired his vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa, sending shock waves through Zimbabwe’s political establishment. “I think that this is one of the most significant political events since independence,” said David Coltart, a prominent opposition leader and former education minister.

Of course, over nearly four decades in power, Mugabe has seen off more than his fair share of potential rivals. But Mnangagwa was supposed to be different. For a start, Mugabe and Mnangagwa shared a long personal history of working together, dating all the way back to 1977, during the liberation struggle, when Mnangagwa was drafted in by Mugabe as his assistant in Mozambique.

But far more significant than that were Mnangagwa’s alleged links to Zimbabwe’s influential security establishment, including the military, the police and the ruling party’s military veterans association. According to conventional wisdom, this made Mnangagwa simply too powerful to be fired.

Once again, however, Mugabe proved himself immune to conventional wisdom.

“Mnangagwa more than anyone else has been Mugabe’s right-hand man. He has been Mugabe’s go-to person on a range of issues, from Gukurahundi to the response to the 2008 election to the organisation of the 2013 election. At the very least, Mugabe has broken with the person who has got all that intelligence about how they have done things. And that situation is compounded by the fact that Mnangagwa clearly has the support of a significant segment of war veterans who have done most of the campaigning for Mugabe in the past… I see this as a desperate move by Mugabe with high potential political cost,” said Coltart.

In the short term, Mnangagwa’s fall looks likely to pave the way for even greater political prominence for the president’s wife, Grace Mugabe, who leads the Generation 40 (G40) faction within the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF). The G40, which includes heavyweights such as Education Minister Jonathan Moyo and State Security Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, has now all but vanquished the rival Lacoste faction headed by Mnangagwa.

This does not mean, however, that the long-running and increasingly bitter race to succeed Mugabe is over. Far from it.

“I think that the Zimbabwean succession race has been unpredictable. It’s easy for us to look with the benefit of hindsight and say it all falls into place, but the reality is when (former vice-president) Joice Mujuru was at the top, we all thought she was destined for the presidency. When Emmerson Mnangagwa took over many of us thought he was the one. Now we have Grace, I don’t think we should fall into the same trap as thinking it is all locked up,” said Alex Magaisa, a political analyst.

“I do think she is in a stronger position than she was before… but there’s no reason to believe that G40 is a homogenous entity. There will be people within G40 who have their own big ambitions and have found Grace useful to this point.” In other words, Grace may not be useful for much longer for any other pretenders to the throne.

Ibbo Mandaza, director of the Harare-based Southern African Political Economy Series Trust think tank, is not even sure that Grace really wants the top job.

“I don’t think it will be Grace. I think the media are misreading. If Grace wanted to be president, she would not have said to Mugabe at the Chinhoyi rally (in late July}, and I quote: ‘Tell us which horse to back’ – ie, choose the successor to be, and we will run with it. She wasn’t saying put me there. She was saying identify a successor and we, including myself as first lady, will back that person to the hilt,” said Mandaza.

Although Mandaza can’t be certain who else among the Zanu-PF leadership may end up succeeding Mugabe, he is clear on one thing: the presidency is likely to remain in the party following the presidential election scheduled for next year.

“I think given what I’ve described (previously) as an obliging and complicit opposition in the form of the (Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai) MDC-T in particular and all the others represented in Parliament, Zanu-PF is hardly threatened. Clearly they appear more prepared for elections than the opposition. Zanu-PF appear to be in control, if not total control, of the electoral process, so much so that for me elections are a mere formality,” he said.

Derek Matyszak, a Zimbabwe expert with the Institute for Security Studies, agrees. “There is a big difference between the preparations by the ruling Zanu-PF party for the polls and those of the myriad opposition parties. While Zanu-PF has already been campaigning – suggesting that it will use its parliamentary majority to call elections early – and distributing patronage to secure votes, the opposition parties, including the MDC-T led by Morgan Tsvangirai, are still fumbling in their attempts to form a united front against Mugabe. They are beset with leadership problems and are totally unprepared.”

As the dust settles following Mnangagwa’s enforced departure, attention turns now to the extraordinary Zanu-PF party conference scheduled for 12-17 December. The appointments made here, including a new vice-president, should provide a clearer picture of Zanu-PF’s internal dynamics – and therefore a window into the future of Zimbabwe as a whole.

The Daily Maverick

7th November 2017

Zimbabweans and the region are holding their breath to see if Emmerson Mnangagwa’s powerful supporters in the military will accept what is widely regarded as Robert Mugabe’s rash decision to fire his erstwhile trusted henchman.

Shades of Salome. On Monday President Robert Mugabe indulged his wayward wife Grace by presenting her with vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s head on a platter.

Now Zimbabweans and the region are holding their breath to see if Mnangagwa’s powerful supporters in the military will accept what is widely regarded as Mugabe’s rash decision to fire his erstwhile trusted henchman.

Rumours are swirling in the country and on social media that the military chiefs are planning a coup and that Mnangagwa has fled the country, fearing arrest.

Opposition senator David Coltart said he was worried Mugabe’s axing of his deputy might be the first gusts of the “perfect storm” he has been forecasting for his country for some time.

The South African government said on Tuesday it was not expecting a coup but it was nevertheless watching its troubled northern neighbour closely for any signs of instability. Official sources in Pretoria said they thought it more likely that Mnangagwa would leave the ruling ZanuPF to form a new political party, rather than taking the military route.

Coltart said it was clear that Mugabe, 93, had fired Mnangagwa at the behest of Grace after the vice-president’s supporters booed her loudly at a Zanu PF youth wing rally in Bulawayo. She openly blamed Mnangagwa for the humiliation and demanded he be fired. Two days later her husband obliged. Grace Mugabe and Mnangagwa head opposing factions within the ruling ZanuPF party that have been becoming increasingly embroiled in a bitter fight to succeed Mugabe.

Coltart said from Bulawayo on Tuesday he had been unable to confirm the rumours that Mnangagwa had caught a private aircraft out of Buffalo Range Airfield at Chiredzi in south-eastern Zimbabwe. And clearly much of the reporting on social media about the generals refusing to accept the decision, are speculation or deliberate fake news and disinformation.

But Coltart did not completely rule out the possibility of a big section of the military top brass refusing to accept Mnangagwa’s firing – though he thought it unlikely. He said the head of the Zimbabwe Defence Force General Constantine Chiwenga had clearly revealed his support for Mnangagwa in the past and that most of the rest of the military top brass also supported him. The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association was also clearly behind Mnangagwa, he said. Both these powerful factions would have been “appalled” at the axing of the vice president.

Coltart said Mugabe’s move against Mnangagwa had been building up for some time as the rivalry between him and the First Lady grew more bitter. The spark had been the booing of Grace Mugabe the Bulawayo rally.

He said he had been warning for some time against a “perfect storm” brewing in Zimbabwe because of an unprecedented convergence of several factors, including the ailing Mugabe’s inability to hold together the fragmenting ZanuPF, the economic collapse of the country and the fact that the region was distracted by its own internal issues. The ANC, in particular, was entirely preoccupied with its vital party leadership conference in December. Western governments were also distracted by internal issues.

Coltart said he was sure the politically astute Mugabe would not have axed Mnangagwe without his wife’s insistence. The move had demonstrated her power over him.

It was an unwise move politically, not only because of the strong support Mnangagwa had in the military but also his political support in ZanuPF and his ability and readiness to do Mugabe’s political dirty work. “He was Mugabe’s point man in Gukurahundi,” he said, referring to the slaughter of thousands of residents of the province of Matabeleland in the early 1980s which destroyed Zanu’s rival party, Zapu, largely representing the second tribe, the Ndebele.

Coltart said Mnangagwa had also saved Mugabe in the 2008 elections when Mugabe lost the first round of the presidential poll against Morgan Tsvangirai, whose Movement for Democratic Change also beat ZanuPF in the parliamentary election.

Mnangagwa then mobilised the ZanuPF thugs who battered Tsvangirai’s supporters into submission in the second round and forced him to withdraw from the race.

Coltart said that although he could not rule out the military intervening on behalf of Mnangagwa now, he thought it unlikely they would, as that would turn the region against them.

“And certainly we need the military to stay in their barracks. A coup would be disastrous for the country.”

The South African government believes that Grace Mugabe’s strategy is to replace Mnangagwa as first vice-president to serve defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi who is being groomed to succeed Mugabe as president.

South African officials were struck by the amount of praise which Mugabe heaped on Sekeramayi when the two governments met for the Bi-National Commission between them in Pretoria last month.

But Coltart said after seeing just how much power Grace Mugabe has over her husband, he was now wondering if her next move would be to persuade him to put her in the top job directly.

Coltart added he was sure that Western powers would be disappointed at the axing of Mnangagwa. Britain and other countries were widely believed to have been backing him as the best ZanuPF leader to succeed Mugabe, as he was considered the most business friendly.

His ally Patrick Chinamasa had been trying hard, as finance minister, to normalise Zimbabwe’s shattered economy and to negotiate the resumption of badly-needed credit from international financial institutions like the IMF, before Mugabe shunted him out of the key portfolio last month.

Sunday News

29th October 2017

FORMER Minister of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture, David Coltart has praised the Tavengwa Mukuhlani led Zimbabwe Cricket board for doing a superb job of turning around the fortunes of the sport in the country.

Coltart, a personal friend of former ZC chairman, Wilson Manase said he was sceptical of Mukuhlani when the Bulawayo-based pharmacist was elected in August 2015 but he has been proven wrong so far. Coltart was speaking during a dinner organised for the national cricket team at the Old Mutual Heath Streak Academy last Thursday.

“We need to pay tribute this evening to the new chairman of the board of Zimbabwe Cricket, who has done a magnificent job which I have to confess when he first took over I was sceptical of him and I am pleased, I am delighted to have been proved wrong. He has made, with his colleagues on the board, the right decisions and we are now seeing the fruit of that before our very own eyes,’’ Coltart said.

One of the things Coltart feels the ZC did right was to appoint former national team captain, Tatenda Taibu as the convener of the selection panel.

During his last few days in office as minister, Coltart fought hard without success to ensure that the national selection panel was led by someone with Test cricket experience. Coltart said he has belief in Taibu, that he will be fair and he has the ability to identify talented players.

“I argued that we needed someone with international cricket experience as convener of selectors, the one thing I knew is that it took an understanding of Test cricket to identify people who didn’t just have the technical ability but the mental strength and you needed someone who had been there before so I am delighted that the chairman and the board appointed Tatenda and I think he has done a magnificent job in selecting based on merit, we are seeing it on the field,’’ Coltart said.

Turning to the players, Coltart said he has always had belief in their talent and all they needed was an administrative structure and a sense of permanence, sense of order and that of fairness to achieve their full potential.

“We are so delighted as a nation to see the improvements just in the last few months, my heart was swelling with pride when I saw you guys in Sri Lanka, it’s just fantastic,’’ Coltart said.

He went on to give his thoughts on how the coach Heath Streak and his players should approach the second Test against West Indies which gets underway at Queens Sports Club this morning.

“From my very inexperienced perspective, can I just give a few tips to the coach and the players for the game that’s coming up. When there are any opposition players anywhere certainly before you get to 50, please I don’t want to see any air between the ball and ground after its left the bat for quite a considerably period,’’ he said.

Former captain, Brendan Taylor was run out for 73 in the second innings of the first Test and Coltart said while the cricketer might have his first name beginning with the same letter as that of the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, he was not the quickest when it comes to running in between the wickets.

“Please just be a bit conservative with those reverse sweeps as well, we delight in them when they come off but when they don’t come off. To BT in particular, your first name shares the same letter as the fastest man on the planet, Usain Bolt but unfortunately this despite your incredible talent you are not as fast as him wicket to wicket,’’ he said, amid laughter from the crowd.

Old Mutual Heath Streak Academy chief executive officer and executive director, Joseph Rego said the event was meant to celebrate the recent spate of victories as well as good performances of the Zimbabwe national cricket team and to wish them well in the forthcoming International Cricket Council World Cup Qualifier to be held in the country in March next year.

“Congratulations Tavengwa Mukuhlani, chairman and Faisal Hasnain, managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket for sparing no efforts in obtaining the rights from ICC to host such a prestigious event in Zimbabwe,’’ Rego said.

Streak, his players, ZC board member Vumindaba Moyo as well as staff attended the ceremony.

Meanwhile, Mukuhlani yesterday briefed the ZC board on the ICC meetings outcomes which had some positives conclusions for Zimbabwe. The ZC board meeting took place at Queens Sports Club. The ICC board gatherings, held in New Zealand saw Zimbabwe being awarded the rights to host next year’s World Cup Qualifier. On top of that, the country will also host an ICC board meeting to be staged in Victoria Falls in April next year.

The Zimbabwean

10th October 2017

The People’s Democratic Party led by former finance minister Tendai Biti has dismissed President Robert Mugabe’s cabinet reshuffle, saying the nonagenarian seems to be “running around a roundabout that will take him to nowhere.”

Mugabe on Monday announced a sudden reshuffle where he dropped three ministers and re-assigned 10 others as he clipped under-fire Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s wings. The portfolio previously occupied by the embattled VP, accused by Mugabe’s wife of being impatient to take over power from her husband, was given to Central Intelligence Organisation director-general Happyton Bonyongwe.

In an interview with The Zimbabwean, PDP’s spokesperson, Jacob Mafume, said the cabinet reshuffle would not take Zimbabwe anywhere. “The cabinet reshuffle shows that Mugabe is running around a roundabout to nowhere,” he said.

Mafume, a practising lawyer, added that Mugabe placed priority on loyalty to himself by the ministers rather than the need to turnaround the country’s economic fortunes and deliver Zimbabweans out of poverty. “He has destroyed the country. All he worries about is loyalty to himself and nothing for the country,” said Mafume.

Writting on his twitter-handle, Zimbabwean lawyer, Christian leader and politician, David Coltart, also lambasted Mugabe’s cabinet reshuffle: “The old man appears to have totally lost the plot – as bad as Finance Minister Chinamasa was, to replace him with Chombo is sheer lunacy.”

Mugabe is due to contest next year’s election, with his main challenger being veteran opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The soon-to-be- 94 leader has been in power since independence in 1980.

News 24

25th September 2017

Harare – Zimbabwe’s home affairs minister on Sunday threatened “renegades and malcontents” who he accused of spreading alarm and despondency by claiming there are shortages.

In a chilling threat, Ignatius Chombo said that the government was monitoring the press and social media “to deal a telling blow to the perpetrators of the crime.”

‘Of grave concern’

Chombo said claims that Zimbabwe has now “slipped back to the hyperinflationary days of 2008” were propaganda – and that criminal charges could be brought against those who make them.

“Of grave concern to the ministry is that these reports have all the trappings of a politically co-ordinated criminal agenda by some well-known renegades and malcontents who now seek to disturb the peace in the country to cause alarm and despondency in pursuit of an illegal political game,” he said in a statement issued on Sunday evening.
‘Subverting the government’

Chombo’s warning came after the arrest of protest pastor Evan Mawarire on Sunday morning. The ThisFlag leader hosted a live chat forum on Facebook on Saturday during which he criticised the government’s handling of the economy. He was charged with subverting the government for making the broadcast, ThisFlag said.

President Robert Mugabe’s government denies there is a problem. Central bank chief John Mangudya issued statements at the weekend assuring Zimbabweans that enough foreign currency is being allocated for the import of basic and essential goods, including fuel and power.

At the weekend, fuel queues emerged at service stations and there were reports of shoppers buying up stocks of basic commodities in anticipation of shortages last seen in the 2007-2008 crisis.

‘Chaos all around’

Some Zimbabweans were quick to dismiss Chombo’s words.
Writing on Twitter, former education minister David Coltart said: “This statement reveals just how delusional the ruining party has become – they don’t appear to notice the economic chaos all around them.”
Said Zimbabwean @MsFazy: “With all due disrespect he (Chombo) can jump off a cliff.”

Newsday

By NQOBANI NDLOVU

TECHNICAL hitches continued to dog the voter registration exercise in some parts of the Matabeleland region yesterday, with some potential voters claiming it took them longer than necessary to have their fingerprints registered in the biometric voter registration (BVR) scanners acquired by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec).

The most affected were Bulawayo central and Umguza in Matabeleland North province.

In some instances, the machines reportedly failed to indicate some polling centre names, forcing Zec staffers to manually write the polling centre names on registration slips, further delaying the process.

In Bulawayo, former Education minister David Coltart said he had to endure a two-hour delay as the BVR scanner initially failed to recognise his fingerprints to enable him to register as a potential voter in next year’s general elections.

Coltart was among several MDC Alliance leaders who visited the Zec’s voter registration centre in Famona, Bulawayo.

The MDC Alliance team comprised MDC leader, Welshman Ncube, MDC-T’s Bulawayo South legislator, Thabitha Khumalo and Coltart, among others.

Coltart had to endure a nightmare following the technical glitch that resulted in the Zec officers travelling to the city centre to enlist the help of technicians.

“Firstly, it took one hour 45 minutes to get registered, so if you do the mathematics, it will get the vast amount of time to get people registered.

“Of course, I am urban-based, it’s easy for me to come here. Imagine someone in the rural areas,” he said.

“The main challenge was the scanner failing to record my fingerprints. After hours of trying, they brought technicians and they were only able to record five of my 10 fingerprints. Eventually they compromised and recorded those five and said they could not record the others. They said it’s not a problem because when you vote, you use the thumbs and fortunately, it did record the thumbs.

“But this exposed the technical defects of the system. What about a rural person, who doesn’t have a profile like mine, will they be treated with so much courtesy?

“I have to say the staff here was excellent. They did everything to assist me, but in a rush process, are they going to be giving people the same amount of time as they did to me?”

Khumalo expressed concern at the BVR technical glitches, particularly the failure of the scanners to recognise fingerprints.
“There is a huge challenge in terms of fingerprints, where you are being advised that if your fingerprints are not oily, they cannot be read by the scanner.

“What we don’t understand is that if there is need for oil, why then is that oil not supplied?

“Because you are then asked to rub your nose, your hair or wherever there is oil and I think they have to relook at the scanners,” she said.

Ncube weighed in saying: “It took about 10 minutes to get done. It appears they are following the proper procedures, which are set out in the statutory instrument.

“We hope that this will continue, but the principal problem will continue to be registration of young people, who have no independent proof of residence for themselves and often who have to be assisted by parents.

“Our hope is that everyone will be able to be patient to go through the process.”

Zapu deputy spokesperson Iphithule Maphosa said the glitches experienced at Zec registration centres were a clear indication that the election agency was not prepared for elections, which are due next year.

“I think political parties have been vindicated in our calls to Zec not to rush the voter registration process without adequate preparations,” he said.

“Some of the information is now manually captured and yet this is supposed to be a computerised process.
“Considering the history of our previous electoral processes, which are riddled with allegations of vote rigging, this is likely to raise a lot of eyebrows.”

Zec chairperson Rita Makarau could not be reached for comment.

The exercise was rolled out on Monday at 63 selected centres throughout the country and is expected to end in mid-January 2018.

Newsday

13th September 2017

MDC-T deputy spokesperson and Bulawayo East legislator Thabitha Khumalo has resolved to step down and not contest in the 2018 general elections after she ceded her parliamentary seat to MDC’s David Coltart as part of the opposition parties’ coalition deal.

“Coltart is most likely to be the MDC Alliance candidate in Bulawayo East after Khumalo offered to stand down for him in furtherance of the alliance. She will be deployed by the party to run our election information blitz ahead of the polls,” the source said.

Contacted for comment yesterday, Khumalo initially said she was not aware of the deal.

“You heard it from who? I was not aware that the allocation of seats had been agreed,” she said before saying she was committed to see the alliance work and would sacrifice for the greater good of the country.

“Interesting, if the time comes I will take the necessary action for Zimbabweans and will do whatever it takes to ensure that we win and dislodge Zanu PF from power. They have destroyed this country and surely I cannot allow more than 13 million people to suffer so that I hold on to a parliamentary seat,” she said.

Her comments come at a time MDC-T vice-president Thokozani Khupe has clashed with party leader Morgan Tsvangirai over their party’s involvement in the coalition pact and criteria used to share parliamentary seats among the seven opposition parties who make up the MDC Alliance.

Khupe, party chairperson Lovemore Moyo and suspended organising secretary Abednico Bhebhe have publicly stated that they do not subscribe to the idea of ceding the MDC-T’s Matabeleland seats to other opposition parties, claiming the party should coalesce in other regions where it was less popular.

The trio recently boycotted the launch of the alliance in Harare and Bulawayo, accusing Tsvangirai of rushing to seal the deal before reaching consensus with other top party leaders.

The boycott has created a rift raising fears that the MDC-T could split ahead of the crucial 2018 elections.

A meeting between Tsvangirai and his deputy, which had been pencilled for Monday, failed to happen after the parties failed to settle for a venue.

Sources said talks were ongoing to bring Khupe, Moyo and Tsvangirai to the negotiating table.