"DOES MUGABE WANT ALL OF US TO BE HIS WIVES?"

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/viewinfo.cfm?linkcategoryid=3&linkid=8&id=4174 Patrick Kombayi, one of the leaders of the movement that fought the liberation war and later became the first black mayor of Gweru believes his former teacher President Robert Mugabe was corrupted by absolute power. He also blames the people of Zimbabwe collectively for the current problems bedevilling the country. He speaks to our special correspondent. SC-On March 24, 1990 you survived an assassination attempt by two CIO officers, Alias Kanengoni and Kizito Chivamba, who were sentenced to seven years in imprisonment but then pardoned by Mugabe through the use of Presidential powers of clemency. What is your view of the powers Mugabe wields under the current constitution? PK- Mugabe and I never saw eye to eye again from the moment I said we had to give it to a people's congress to elect the leader of ZANU whilst he wanted to grab the position. Then came the elections of 1990 where I stood against his handpicked Vice President, Simon Muzenda and before which I was almost killed by the CIO people. I wasn't surprised by the pardon knowing Mugabe as I do. He wanted me eliminated. He allowed the election to be held in the constituency despite me fighting for my life in a Bulawayo hospital. If it was in progressive democratic countries, the election could have been postponed. Despite that, I won. The people who were counting the votes called me straight from the command centre to congratulate me. However, Tobaiwa Mudede when announcing his own version of results gave my 14 000 votes to Muzenda and gave me his 8000 votes, 2000 of which he claimed had come from postal votes by army members fighting in Mozambique. He failed to justify such a shocking claim when I challenged it. SC-What role do you think your ZUM party played in moulding Zimbabwe's current so-called multi-party democracy? PK-We definitely managed to stop the system of one-party-state. We didn't form ZUM because we wanted to rule at the time. We knew Mugabe was still popular and had not yet made many mistakes as is the case now. Even when we formed the Forum party, the main purpose was to stop the one-party-state system. Having experienced Kaunda and Nyerere failing with the one-party-state system we decided with some international cooperation from some Front Line leaders to form ZUM and FORUM. SC-You were the first black Mayor in post-independent Zimbabwe. What is your view of local governance in Zimbabwe at the moment? PK-It is no longer local governance. It is now Mugabe's type of rule where the people that were democratically elected into the local councils kicked out to be replaced by appointed commissions. But consider this: Sekesai Makwavarara leading the Harare Commission after the ouster of Elias Mudzuri quit the liberation movement together with Nathan Shamuyarira to form FROLIZI. Ignatius Chombo, who is orchestrating all this chaos, was also a member of FROLIZI. He is picking his former FROLIZI colleagues to fill the commissions. SC-You worked closely with Mugabe during the liberation struggle in Zambia. Do you think he still remembers the reasons you went to war for? PK-Yes, he still remembers. The only problem is that he is a politician with hunger for power. He got absolute power, which corrupt absolutely. But I don't blame him alone because we the people of Zimbabwe have contributed to this mess. Let me cite some few examples. He sent soldiers to Mozambique without approval from parliament. We don't even know how much was spent there, even the number of casualties. We remained quiet. He did the same with the war in the DRC, where my brother Col Kufa died and the story was the same. Zimbabweans didn't do or say anything. When we got independence we received a lot of money such as that from ZIMCORD. We don't even know how much it was, only Mugabe and Chidzero did and the account is still private to Mugabe. We never questioned. Even the money which came from Britain for de-mobilisation of our army members was never accounted for. There was looting of state funds by ZANU PF as a party as well as money from NSSA and ZIMDEF without us questioning and that is why I blame the people of Zimbabwe. SC-You are now MDC secretary for Gweru. Do you think the MDC has the intellectual clarity and gravitas to form the next government? PK-If intellectual abilities are what determined the capacity to provide good leadership, then the MDC has the right material because there are many intellectuals in the party. But in my view, it is not merely academic power that matters in leadership but the need for good policies, which the MDC has as well. The leadership of the MDC is very capable of implementing these policies. I am confident because we work as a team in the party, guided by a clear constitution. SC-Founding Zanu (PF) secretary general Edgar Tekere has just published an autobiography claiming Mugabe was a reluctant recruit into the liberation struggle. How accurate is Tekere's narration of events? PK-Very accurate. Remember it was Tekere, Eddison Zvobgo, Enos Nkala, Morris Nyagumbo, Rex Nhongo, Herbert Ushewokunze and sometimes myself who could manage to stand up to Mugabe and tell him the truth after he had made himself very powerful in Zanu. Hence all of us became his enemies. I remember Nkala saying 'khati hau madoda uMugabe ufuna ukusiyenza abafasi bakhe yini? (Mugabe wants all of us to be his wives).'

 

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