The man who carried his cross
WHEN Cde Webster Shamu bounced back last October during the term of former President Mugabe and was retained in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Government, he easily wrote the script for one of the biggest political stories of the year.
He had spent three years languishing in political Siberia.
He was booted out in 2014 for associating with former Vice President Joice Mujuru, who lost her place for plotting to illegally oust President Mugabe and fanning factionalism. They went with a host of other officials. And who can forget that day during the Zanu-PF Congress in Harare when Cde Shamu cut a forlon, confused figure as he attended the event when other rebels, including Mujuru herself, stayed away?
Mujuru has since formed her own National People’s Party and will challenge for the State Presidency in elections next year. Others such as Didymus Mutasa and Rugare Gumbo have found the going very tough, failing to adjust to the reality of opposition politics.
In Mutasa’s case, he has also lost his economic direction and now is bankrupt and saddled with debts.
There doesn’t appear to be good prospects for those that fell by the wayside and Temba Mliswa has his stars and exuberance (and perhaps business acumen) to thank as he managed to clinch an independent ticket to Parliament, ironically beating a Zanu-PF candidate in a by-election last year.
Cde Shamu could have chosen rebelliousness – and things, by now, could be worse for him. He chose to bear his cross and he bore it with grace. He suffered humiliation.
He was treated as a pariah and illtreated at party and national events which should have wounded his pride and broken his spirit.
A few incidents would be illustrative. In August 2015, he was bundled out of a VIP tent at the National Heroes Acre where he was perceived to no longer belong following his fall from grace.
“Former Zanu-PF commissar Webster Shamu and his wife Constance were publicly humiliated after they were kicked out of a tent reserved for ministers, top Government officials and other Zanu-PF bigwigs during Heroes Day commemorations at the National Heroes Acre on Monday.” (NewsDay, August 12, 2015).
The paper explained that the former ICT minister, together with his wife, had taken seats in the VIP tent before State security agents ordered them off, saying Cde Shamu was no longer a Government minister and therefore did not deserve a place at the high table.
We are told that: “The couple immediately moved across to the next tent usually reserved for diplomats and senior military personnel where they sat dejectedly.”
In another humbling incident at a rally in Norton last year, Cde Shamu was left licking his wounds after being barred from a closed door briefing at a rally to support Mliswa’s then rival, Ronnie Chindedza (Financial Gazette, October 20, 2016).
“Shamu and his wife’s attempts to join in the proceedings in the briefing room where the party’s leadership, led by (Vice President Phelekezela) Mphoko, were having a working lunch, hit a snag after they were ordered out. In shame, they walked back to their car where they had their own packed lunch. To add to their mounting woes, youths operating the public address system disconnected the microphone as the former minister was about to chant the party slogan after he had sneaked to the podium,” it was reported.
The former commissar was not broken and he soon won sympathy for showing contrition. His penance had been public.
Last year, in November midway through their five-year banishment, the ruling party decided Cde Shamu, along with others, had served their punishment.
Last November, the ruling party’s Secretary for Administration, Ignatius Chombo, announced: “The three (Shamu, Francis Nhema and Flora Buka) are now free to contest any party position as they have repented their wayward ways, shown remorse and were working well with the party.
“There is need to let bygones be bygones. We are building the party in the wake of prevailing challenges.”
It’s less than a year on and Cde Shamu is smiling all the way to the Government offices in Mashonaland West. As a matter of fact, his name had begun being touted as a possible returnee to the political commissar’s position — when it appeared as though the then organiser Cde Saviour Kasukuwere was headed out after rounds of votes of no confidence against him.
It is one of the truly remarkable come-back stories in recent memory. But it appears Cde Shamu had a game plan, which eluded others who are out sanctioned, despite the fact that they still want to be part of the old, revolutionary organisation.