AS President Robert Mugabe and Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa made their way to the venue of the 99th Ordinary Session of the ZANU PF Central Committee at ZANU PF Headquarters last Friday, there were enduring moments when the country’s top two men, who are supposedly fighting, marked their march to the venue with a tete-a-tete chat, constantly nodding their heads and an occasional smile here and there.
That moment defied the constant portrayal Zimbabweans have been subjected to by the so-called ‘independent’ media that ZANU PF is now a fiefdom of what they say is ‘factionalism’.
According to this lunatic fringe media, as it is now aptly referred to, the First Lady, Amai Dr Grace Mugabe is entangled in an abrasive ‘battle’ with VP Mnangagwa to take over from President Mugabe.
We are yet to see evidence of this wishful thinking on the ground.
But what we have seen is a hysterical drive to see ZANU PF split, a myopic crusade to see ZANU PF disintegrating; a hypocritical and malicious agenda aimed at pushing ZANU PF towards extinction.
“They (opposition parties and private media) have nothing to talk about, so they will create something,” said President Mugabe.
“It is Mnangagwa and the First Lady going at each other in order to take care of themselves before what they call ‘succession’.
“It may be also some women in Manicaland said to be going for each other for dominance of the province or perhaps in support of the fictitious factions of Mnangagwa on one hand and the First Lady on the other.
“Yes, we get annoyed and irritated by those allegations made against us, but what do you expect to get from the opposition and its sponsors?
“They have no programmes to sell to the people, no ideas anymore to talk about.
“But we were not born yesterday and so, we know how to take these jibes, allegations and lies that are manufactured every night and published every morning.
“We take them for what they are – rubbish for the dustbin!”
Such has been the nature of the other part of our media that pursue a vigorous and nefarious agenda against President Mugabe’s Government and his party that they end up confusing their resentment for the country’s leader with hating their country and wishing it ill.
Recently, the Daily News, the chief orchestrator of the anti-Zimbabwe campaign published a report which celebrated what they said was the ‘omission’ of Harare by that great Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote from his list of investment destinations.
And days later, Dangote, through his team announced that they are coming to the country to finalise modalities of their US$1,2 billion deals.
How a man who allegedly ‘snubbed’ Zimbabwe can then announce that he is coming to put final touches to the proposed investments remains a mystery.
During the disastrous era of the so-called Inclusive Government, the same Daily News, together with its cousins from the private media, played a pivotal but futile role in trying to prop up the fortunes of the opposition MDC which was evidently clueless in matters of governance.
They continued spreading their malicious falsehoods that the MDC-T would be physically annihilated by ZANU PF, even in the aftermath of their July 31 2013 horror when they were routed by ZANU PF.
A persuasive and sometimes aggressive strategy to accost Zimbabweans into believing that Joice Mujuru was going to form a party, that Joice Mujuru had ‘rattled’ ZANU PF, that ZANU PF had split because of Joice Mujuru’s unceremonial exit from ZANU PF had been the order of the day until the creation of the First Lady and VP Mnangagwa tiff.
In all this madness, The Patriot maintained that Joice Mujuru, a total product of ZANU PF, would not form a political party and we still stand by that position.
We maintain also that the ‘succession issue’ will be dealt with through ZANU PF channels when the time comes not through newspapers and their weird and wild wishful thinking.
There shall be no drama that Jealous Mawarire, whom we shall give attention to in the next coming few weeks, the Daily News and their allies in their anti-ZANU PF project, are wishing for.
The only drama is apparently playing out in their newsrooms and wasted paper sheets.
This recklessness will come to haunt them in spectacular fashion.
They are forewarned.
Let those with ears listen.