Treason arrest for post on Facebook
Wolf Warrior 2, HARARE: Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-pf party was saved from political defeat by the army after it lost elections in 2008, says a Harare businessman who was arrested on Thursday and may be charged with treason for his entry on his Facebook page last week about the country’s succession politics.
Political turmoil among President Robert Mugabe’s allies over who will succeed him is deepening with the arrest of Energy Mutodi, a supporter of vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Ironically, in his Facebook piece, he links his hero Mnangagwa to the violence which left hundreds of opposition supporters dead.
Mugabe, who will be 94 when he fights his last election next year, has always said it was up to the ruling Zanu-pf to choose his successor, but in the past few weeks, his wife Grace, asked her husband to name the person he would like to rule.
On August 6, Mutodi posted a report on his Facebook page headlined, “Why choosing a successor is a difficult job”.
He wrote: “As President Robert Mugabe begins to look for a possible successor from among his subordinates, Zimbabweans are anxious to know who will eventually be picked… Decision making in succession issues has always been a problem among Africans; resulting in civil wars, repetitive coups and economic turmoil… it is important for Mugabe to be careful in naming his successor. Any suspicion of unfairness or discrimination on account of tribalism or factionalism may backfire.”
Mutodi notes there are “key stakeholders” who needed consultation about the succession issue, including those in the security sector, particularly the army, and he noted that the unofficial Joint Operations Command, a committee of mostly military leaders, was vital for Mugabe’s continued stay in power.
“It can only be naive for anyone to believe that the President has been in power for 37 years without the army giving him crucial support.”
In a key paragraph about violence post the opposition Movement for Democratic Change victory, Mutodi wrote: “… the 2008 electoral defeat of the party for the first time in its history and the subsequent violent run-off clearly demonstrated how the army is key in determining who leads the country. It is empty talk that the gun does not lead the pen in Zimbabwean politics.”