“I have made reference to the excesses of the Mugabe administration; I have opposed his policies even when I was in Zanu PF. That is the reason I left the party; I made that decision on my own, on 1 December 2014 and I personally communicated that to him. The reason was that I was critical of the way he was running the party, … If I wasn’t critical of Mugabe, would I have been here today, talking to you as president of People First?”
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Former vice-president Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru (JTM) has addressed two rallies, one in Bulawayo and another in Harare, effectively asserting her position in Zimbabwe’s opposition politics following her controversial expulsion from Zanu PF last year. She addressed another rally in Masvingo yesterday. She will also visit other provinces ahead of the launch of her party, Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) on a date to be announced. The Standard’s chief reporter, Everson Mushava (EM) recently caught up with Mujuru to discuss various issues regarding her party, elections, the economy and other issues. Below are excerpts of the interview, the first part of which was published in last week’ edition.
EM: What is your comment on the attendance at your rallies so far? Are you satisfied by the attendance and do you still believe you are the game-changer in Zimbabwe’s politics?
JTM: We are happy with what we are seeing, but where I come from; you don’t beat your own drum. It is up to you to make an appraisal of the impact that we have made.
EM: Is it true the party’s key structural legs are former Zanu PF officials and if so, does this not present the party as a breakaway Zanu PF and not an entirely new political kid on the block?
JTM: It is not true. Sixty percent of our membership comes from people who were not in any political party of any form.
EM: Has the party gauged its potential in countrywide membership — and where would you put it in comparison with existing parties?
JTM: We are satisfied with the work we are doing, but we will never compare ourselves with other political parties to gauge where we are. Doesn’t the Bible say “In comparing one to another, they were not wise?”
EM: What is your vision for Zimbabwe?
JTM: We envision a Zimbabwe with peace, unity and democracy. A Zimbabwe where everyone is prosperous and in which people’s interests are put first.
EM: What would you say to Zimbabweans that are losing hope of seeing the country enjoying economic prosperity and the fruits of the country’s independence such as freedom in their lifetime?
JTM: I say to them none but ourselves can free our country. It is our God-given habitat. Let’s fight to make it habitable. Together we can BUILD Zimbabwe and make it a first world country.
EM: Where does the ZimPF strength lie? [mobilisation, policies, Zanu PF weakness]
JTM: Zim PF’s strength lies in the people. It is a party that puts people first. Its strength is in the people. We exist right inside our people’s hearts, so as long as the people are there with their hearts; we are strong, very strong.
EM: What is the party’s mobilisation strategy — does it have a rural or urban focus?
JTM: We focus on every part of the country where we have people. If the people are in Mars, we are there as long as they take their hearts with them. We are not confined to a place. We are confined within the human anatomy, in people’s hearts. So our focus is where the people are and we appeal to their hearts.
EM: How strong is the party financially?
JTM: What do you mean by how strong? We are as financially stable as we are strong support-wise. The people are our benefactors, so for as long as we have them, we are okay.
EM: After your inaugural rally in Bulawayo and the other one in Harare, are you convinced you did the right thing by joining the opposition ranks?
JTM: My willingness to see things change in this country, my realisation that we were regressing as a country informed my decision to leave Zanu PF and try to change things from outside. I made the decision to leave Zanu PF on December 1 2014 and I have never regretted that decision. It was a decision that thrust me back to the people. You have seen the numbers in Bulawayo and in Harare; I’m not alone; I’m with the people and naturally, if you are among the people you are bound to be happy unless you are an introvert.
I am not an introvert. I am firmly rooted in the life that most people live in our country. I blend with people in the rural areas, the urban poor, those in the commercial farming areas. I am at my best when I am with people. I love being with them because I am one of them.
EM: Your critics say your speech in Bulawayo was not very critical of President Robert Mugabe. Do you still find it difficult to criticise someone you once described as your father?
JTM: In People First, we don’t specialise in criticising people. We criticise policies, institutions, and if those policies are encapsulated in people, if people become policy issues, if they become impediments to policy implementation, we criticise them.
I have made reference to the excesses of the Mugabe administration; I have opposed his policies even when I was in Zanu PF. That is the reason I left the party; I made that decision on my own, on 1 December 2014 and I personally communicated that to him. The reason was that I was critical of the way he was running the party, the way he allowed his wife who was not an elected official of the party at that time, to savagely attack anyone she disliked. The way things were turning out, I thought it was best to leave and most of the time, action speaks louder than words. If I wasn’t critical of Mugabe, would I have been here today, talking to you as president of People First?
You see, if people shout at you, if they act with apparent barbarism, do you also become barbaric and start hurling insults at them? Aaah mwanangu, [my child] it doesn’t work that way. I am a mother, a grandmother, a mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, a sister, a church mate, a comrade and all such other persona as assigned by society. I have to act with dignity and leave that uncouth behaviour to those without any shred of morality and dignity.
Be that as it may, I will not be restrained from calling a spade a spade. A mother who doesn’t espouse the aspirations of her children is not worth the name. I will rebuke evil, will speak against avarice, against vice, corruption, sin and any form of moral decadence, but I will not allow myself to be morally decadent to drive any point home. There is a way of rebuking vice that does not leave you needing to be rebuked as well.
EM: The People’s Democratic Party delivered a solidarity message at the Bulawayo rally; did that mean you are closer to reaching an agreement on a coalition to contest the 2018 elections?
JTM: I am glad you called it solidarity message. Does delivering a solidarity message equate to engaging in coalition talks? I have said it many times; in Bulawayo and even in Harare. There are a lot of things that bind us as a people, as Zimbabwean politicians, and these things form the basis of our desire to work together, to unite our people and work for the development of the country.
Coalition or no coalition, we should work together because we are one people. We have a common goal of making our country work again. This we can achieve if we realise the strength in our diversity, if we respect the different qualities and skills we bring to the table. Political coalitions, or whatever name you can call them, can be formed at the right time, what is important now is to find each other, to unify our people and work our way out of the mess Mugabe has plunged us into. It is a task for every Zimbabwean, not only those that come to give solidarity messages at our rallies.
39 Replies to “Mujuru: I Have Always Criticised Mugabe, That’s Why He Kicked Me Out”
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Do you know what tribalism is? To you you, merely hearing the words “Ndebele ” or “Shona” automatically means tribalism? You grew up under Mugabe propaganda. I only speak the truth; not this “tribalism ” nonsense of yours.
Do you know what tribalism is? To you you, merely hearing the words “Ndebele ” or “Shona” automatically means tribalism? You grew up under Mugabe propaganda. I only speak the truth; not this “tribalism ” nonsense of yours.
I am the son of soil my man,tribalism will not built the country but it will destroy it to where it is now
I am the son of soil my man,tribalism will not built the country but it will destroy it to where it is now
Point taken
Point taken
I’m against people who follow the ZANU PF 1979 Grand Plan. You can’t copy ZANU PF when you claim to be opposed to ZANU PF. Zim is for everyone not just Shonas. So the tendency to always emphasise Shona whilst ignoring the presence of other language communities is idiotic and is typically Mugabe like. This is what they are doing in Parliament. An MP speaking in Shona is accepted. One speaking in Ndebele is reprimanded and told to use Shona or English; what nonsense is that? Is that what the Constitution says?
I’m against people who follow the ZANU PF 1979 Grand Plan. You can’t copy ZANU PF when you claim to be opposed to ZANU PF. Zim is for everyone not just Shonas. So the tendency to always emphasise Shona whilst ignoring the presence of other language communities is idiotic and is typically Mugabe like. This is what they are doing in Parliament. An MP speaking in Shona is accepted. One speaking in Ndebele is reprimanded and told to use Shona or English; what nonsense is that? Is that what the Constitution says?
Mr Truth are you against Shona speaking pple or the government?
Mr Truth are you against Shona speaking pple or the government?
I never said ZANU PF is popular. Besides I’m talking about the 1980s not post 1990. The fact remains that the majority of Shona people voted ZANU PF and Mugabe in the 1980s. I was there; but that’s now water under the bridge. I’m only raising this issue to counter those who want to monopolise opposition space on the basis that so and so is ZANU PF as if noone else in opposition has been ZANU PF before. The only people who can argue with confidence that they have never been ZANU PF are those in Mthwakazi and those born after 1990.
I never said ZANU PF is popular. Besides I’m talking about the 1980s not post 1990. The fact remains that the majority of Shona people voted ZANU PF and Mugabe in the 1980s. I was there; but that’s now water under the bridge. I’m only raising this issue to counter those who want to monopolise opposition space on the basis that so and so is ZANU PF as if noone else in opposition has been ZANU PF before. The only people who can argue with confidence that they have never been ZANU PF are those in Mthwakazi and those born after 1990.
You are right. My problem is with people who seem to think that only them have a right to oppose Mugabe and noone else. People who want to monopolise opposition politics. This is what I hate about the Tswangirayi crowd. They are just as intolerant of opposing views as Mugabe and ZANU PF are. And they like labelling people who are not in their party as CIOs whilst ZANU PF labels their opponents as Western stooges. Both camps have no respect for the rights bestowed on the citizenry by the Constitution.
You are right. My problem is with people who seem to think that only them have a right to oppose Mugabe and noone else. People who want to monopolise opposition politics. This is what I hate about the Tswangirayi crowd. They are just as intolerant of opposing views as Mugabe and ZANU PF are. And they like labelling people who are not in their party as CIOs whilst ZANU PF labels their opponents as Western stooges. Both camps have no respect for the rights bestowed on the citizenry by the Constitution.
Even shonas do not like Mugabe and his ZANU PF thugs. It does not matter where the next leader will come from, as long as he or she will restore the dignity of the Zimbabwean people. Surely this will not be Mugabe or anyone from ZANU PF, as this will lead us into a real crisis. People need change and they need a new narrative where every Zimbabwean is free to express himself or herself without fear or favor.
“The Truth” or whatever you call yourself. You do not know how ZANU PF was voted for in 1980. I was in Mudzi and I tell you that people were intimidated into voting for ZANU PF and until today people are being intimidated into voting for ZANU PF. If you get reports of the last elections, Mudzi had the largest number of assisted voters in a country boasting of the highest literacy rate in Africa. People were asked to have their hands bandaged even though they were not injured, just to make sure that someone from ZANU PF will vote for them. You can see for yourself that this can happen if you see that people are not going to vote for you voluntarily. So do not tell us that ZANU PF is popular, in fact ZANU PF is very unpopular, that if there is going to be a free election, they will not win even a single parliamentary seat. That is the reason why they stage manage soldiers holding a press conference uttering rubbish that they will only salute ZANU PF thugs. If you are popular you will not do that. They even control the media and have feared to license any independent TV station because they know that the only way they can suppress the will of the people is to have only ZBC staffed with ZANU PF thugs to bombard people with their outdated propaganda. Know that ZANU PF smells like sewage and no one will like ZANU PF near in the absence of intimidation and force.
“The Truth” or whatever you call yourself. You do not know how ZANU PF was voted for in 1980. I was in Mudzi and I tell you that people were intimidated into voting for ZANU PF and until today people are being intimidated into voting for ZANU PF. If you get reports of the last elections, Mudzi had the largest number of assisted voters in a country boasting of the highest literacy rate in Africa. People were asked to have their hands bandaged even though they were not injured, just to make sure that someone from ZANU PF will vote for them. You can see for yourself that this can happen if you see that people are not going to vote for you voluntarily. So do not tell us that ZANU PF is popular, in fact ZANU PF is very unpopular, that if there is going to be a free election, they will not win even a single parliamentary seat. That is the reason why they stage manage soldiers holding a press conference uttering rubbish that they will only salute ZANU PF thugs. If you are popular you will not do that. They even control the media and have feared to license any independent TV station because they know that the only way they can suppress the will of the people is to have only ZBC staffed with ZANU PF thugs to bombard people with their outdated propaganda. Know that ZANU PF smells like sewage and no one will like ZANU PF near in the absence of intimidation and force.
You are confused. That’s why you agree with nonsense. Ignorance is bliss!!
You are confused. That’s why you agree with nonsense. Ignorance is bliss!!
Which Shona aged 47 and above right now was not born and bred by ZANU PF – please name one?
Which Shona aged 47 and above right now was not born and bred by ZANU PF – please name one?
No siGukurahundi here please. Write in English!
No siGukurahundi here please. Write in English!
Wena Mfowethu, don’t be silly. 90% of Shonas voted for Mugabe and ZANU PF in 1980 and 1985 when PF ZAPU and Nkomo were destroyed. So just as well they must also shut up now and go back to ZANU PF!!
Wena Mfowethu, don’t be silly. 90% of Shonas voted for Mugabe and ZANU PF in 1980 and 1985 when PF ZAPU and Nkomo were destroyed. So just as well they must also shut up now and go back to ZANU PF!!
Joyce does not write the Newspaper headlines. Ask the Editors.
Joyce does not write the Newspaper headlines. Ask the Editors.
Joyce the topic of the story says(always critised Mugabe that is the reason he kicked me out )but u turn around and say you left the party on your own on 1 December 2014 ,manje chokwati rachona ririkupi ipapo
Joyce the topic of the story says(always critised Mugabe that is the reason he kicked me out )but u turn around and say you left the party on your own on 1 December 2014 ,manje chokwati rachona ririkupi ipapo
Joyce Mujuru was there by time Joshua Nyongolo Mqabuko Nkomo was running away to Sir Seretse Khama for protection,what did she do?she was also tthere when the schools of maNdebeleland were closed,in 1983, what did she do? She was also there when this government developed Mashonaland only what did she do?when Bthis government centralised everything what she does?when pple were killed for being voting for change? Worst part of it when Mdc won the election she kept quite soon after that she was a vice president,Mujuru go to where u belong Zanu and stop taking pple for a ride
Joyce Mujuru was there by time Joshua Nyongolo Mqabuko Nkomo was running away to Sir Seretse Khama for protection,what did she do?she was also tthere when the schools of maNdebeleland were closed,in 1983, what did she do? She was also there when this government developed Mashonaland only what did she do?when Bthis government centralised everything what she does?when pple were killed for being voting for change? Worst part of it when Mdc won the election she kept quite soon after that she was a vice president,Mujuru go to where u belong Zanu and stop taking pple for a ride
She is being diplomatic asi. I only respect the way she has handled herself. No papaz. Took her time to come out of her shell. Putting Grace to her right place without vengeance. As an adult I respect her for that.
The only downside is her audience need quick answers. They are coming albeit slowly. She must convince us that she has fought the regime from inside. Yes we know she was mentioned several times as a ” moderate”.
People are tired. They have no space for moderates anymore. She should come out guns blazing now.
Being a moderate is sitting on the fence. Thats where she needs to clarify to extinguish all scepticism.
She is being diplomatic asi. I only respect the way she has handled herself. No papaz. Took her time to come out of her shell. Putting Grace to her right place without vengeance. As an adult I respect her for that.
The only downside is her audience need quick answers. They are coming albeit slowly. She must convince us that she has fought the regime from inside. Yes we know she was mentioned several times as a ” moderate”.
People are tired. They have no space for moderates anymore. She should come out guns blazing now.
Being a moderate is sitting on the fence. Thats where she needs to clarify to extinguish all scepticism.
I agree. Trust her at your own peril!
I agree. Trust her at your own peril!
I-i mwaakuzviwanzawo maimwi. Ngekunyanye kuite mutsvene here, iwe wakarerwa nge zanuph. Kunyepa chaiko.
I-i mwaakuzviwanzawo maimwi. Ngekunyanye kuite mutsvene here, iwe wakarerwa nge zanuph. Kunyepa chaiko.
There is nothing she say Coz she was born and bred by Zanu trust her at your own expense
There is nothing she say Coz she was born and bred by Zanu trust her at your own expense