The Sunday Mail
Over the last two weeks, First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe visited all the country’s 10 provinces on her “meet the people tour”. Her message was clear, Zanu-PF needs to tackle real issues and call a spade a spade
Mashonaland West
“Chinhu (factionalism) chinofanira kukondemwa in the strongest terms. Hachiende, taneta ne nyaya ye factionalism. Unoona vanhu vachiti VaMugabe tinovada, inhema last night vaiti vachembera. Ngatidzidzei kumira pachokwadi, kumirira nguva yako kana yakwana uchaona vanhu vachiti vanokuda nemabasa ako. Even vamwe varume vakuru mumusangano vakapihwa zvigaro vari vadiki. Havakuri pawisdom. Unoona murume mukuru dumbu kudai, vana mudhadhaha, asi wisdom pasina. Pa politics kana waaccepter kuti unoda kushandira vanhu, uri servant yevanhu, zvichanetsa ukada kuzvitutumadza. Politics zvadziri istorm, ukasaziva kuti istorm warasika.”
Midlands
“Mucompany chaimo zvazvinoitwa ukange uripo uchinzi ndiwe chief executive vakatarisa performance yako vakawona kuti you are not perfoming zvinonzi chimbosuduruka. Ini ndiri kufunga kuti ndozvinofanira kuitwa mumatowns. Baba vari kunetsekana kuti muHarare maseats hatisi kumbotora, hapana chiri kuitika… Ukaona uine company isiri kuenderera mberi iwe wakaisa manager kuti akushandire unoramba uchingomusiya aripo here manager iyeye? Varipo mamwe mamanager anogona kuita basa iroro. Haisi Harare chete matowns mazhinji kusiri”
Harare
“White people came to me with $10 million to stop the land reform programme. I said to them don’t ever come back to me. I chucked them out of my office and almost spat at their faces. They thought I was a soft target on the programme. Money from enemies, for your own benefit, is not good. Clean money should be brought to all of us because if given to you only, you lose focus and wisdom. If it comes only to you, what about the rest of the people?”
Masvingo Province
Proverbs 16 verse 9 inotaura kuti, in their hearts women plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. Kutaura kuti izvo isu tine urongwa hwedu sevanhu venyama, asi urongwa watinahwo hausihwo, kune vakuru vari kudenga. Saka hazvifaniri kumboshamisa kana zvichiitika nenzira iyi.”
Manicaland
“I don’t belong to individuals but to everyone. As I have been touring the provinces I have realized that if you are not careful you will be used. I have realised that there are some individuals with scores to settle and I want to tell you that you should not use my name to settle scores. I have listened carefully to some of the things that have been said and have realised that most of them are useless. I have realised that the problem is ramp.”
Matabeleland South
“Vamwe nokuti ndakataura kuti vanhu vakajairira kuberekwa kumusana kwaPresident, vamwe vanongofunga kuti kungonoita Vice President kunongonzi ndiri Vice President ndakangogara muoffice VaMugabe vachingondishandira. Hatichadi izvozvo, we want people who are capable. Hatidi! Hatidi! Hatisi kuda munhu anove liability isu. Hatimude! Anongoswera agere bedzi. Ndozvandiri kuti chingotanga wazviongorora.”
Matabeleland North
“Look at the divisions you have caused. We think that as senior people who follow the rules of the party, senior people who love their country Zimbabwe, if you want Zimbabwe to continue peacefully, you could sit and talk about what’s good for you and what’s good for Zimbabwe. This thing of going to newspapers after deciding that you want a post doesn’t work. We say ‘what has gotten into you men?’ because most of them are men. The spirit you are spreading to people, if it gets to women and they decide that since men want chaos and throw their in their names, how many people will we have?”
Bulawayo
“But here in Bulawayo, Bulawayo, Bulawayo, what’s wrong with Bulawayo? We came here at White City Stadium [during 2013 election campaigns] and the leadership of the party promised the President [Robert Mugabe] that they have done their homework and will sweep all the seats. We left very happy. But the results amazed us. The Bulawayo leadership is not showing unity of purpose. Whether you like it or not, there is factionalism.”
Mashonaland Central
“The person leading (Zanu PF) factions is the same person who accuses me of being involved in diamond deals, yet it is them that own a diamond mine,” said First Lady. That person also moves around saying I want to acquire money using unscrupulous means when it is known that I started my businesses from scratch. It is that same person who goes around demanding 10 percent shareholding in ompanies. If you go to any company now, the name of that person is mentioned. You lead factions, you extort companies and you are involved in illicit diamond deals, so you cannot say you are not corrupt. Mukadzi mukuru kupedza nguva kuita makuhwa, kutaura zvakaipa pamusoro paFirst Lady, instead yekushanda, uri busy kufunga zvakaipa. Unofanira kunyaraso (A very senior leader wasting time spreading malicious gossip about the First Lady instead of working to address the country’s problems. You should be ashamed of yourself!”
Mashonaland East
“We have said the moment of truth will come. I might not be mentioning names, but if people decode the information in a particular way, that is not my problem. When the truth has been told and people zero in on you, it’s your problem because it’s you who started it. Chinonetsa ndechekuti munhu iyeye ari kuleader zvinhu zvefaction ndiye mumba make makafomwa MDC munhu iyeye. Munhu mumwechete iyeye, mumba make makafomwa Mavambo tichingozvinzwa tichinyarara. Hazvirambike nekuti zvaiitika ikoko”
