Old Lies: When Mugabe Played Dead in 2001

Original Post Date: 2003-01-13  Posted By: Jan

From the News Archives of: WWW.AfricanCrisis.Org
Date & Time Posted: 1/13/2003 11:58:41 AM
Old Lies: When Mugabe Played Dead in 2001

Everyone,
in the light of the recent BBC Story which says Mugabe is going to step down, let me take you into my archive to show you why I take these sorts of stories with a pinch of salt.

This article is from about October/November 2001 from my website at www.AfricanCrisis.org. Back then stories of Mugabe’s impending death were doing the rounds, and I issued a word of caution that is was a lie.

Read what I wrote back then:-
>
> Here is the text of the story:-
> I have noticed that every time the heat is on Robert Mugabe he
> (literally) tries to “play dead” by pretending that he doesn’t have
> long to live.
>
> I would be most surprised if in fact he really had health problems.
>
> I, on the other hand, am always advising people that the true solution
> to ALL of Zimbabwe’s problems is to put a bullet through Mugabe’s head.
> But of course it won’t happen. He has HUNDREDS of people guarding his
> sorry, corrupt, communist ass.
>
> Here is the original news article from News24 in South Africa:-
> published:Mon 29-Oct-2001
>
> Mugabe prays for longer life
> —————————-
> Harare – Ageing Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe has asked God to make
> him live longer so that he can finish seizing white-owned land, the
> state-controlled press reported on Monday. “The biggest prayer of my
> life is that God gives me more life to see me through the land issue,”
> the government-run Herald daily quoted him as saying. “I have the
> backbone to pull through, the courage and I am fearless, but I need
> God’s blessings. I am human.” Also, in what was seen as an indication
> of growing divisions among his senior aides, Mugabe said he did not
> trust members of his cabinet to continue supporting him in his
> notorious campaign of violent land invasions.
>
> “If I look at the calibre of the ministers that I have, I do not trust
> them,” the independent Daily News quoted him as saying. “They might say
> something good now, but if sanctions are imposed because of the land
> issue, I know they will give up.” His remarks, made at ruling Zanu(PF)
> party celebrations on Sunday to mark the 79th birthday of vice-
> president Simon Muzenda in the southern town of Masvingo, have
> re-ignited speculation over the state of health of Mugabe, now 77 and
> in his 21st year of autocratic rule. The remarks
> also came as the European Union (EU) was due to discuss imposing
> sanctions against Zimbabwe because of its refusal to allow officials to
> monitor presidential elections due by the end of March.
>
> Photographs of Mugabe have shown him with a swollen face then showed him
> to be gaunt and hollow-cheeked. Medical specialists suggested that he
> was on heavy medication. Senior government sources speak about anxiety
> over Mugabe’s mental state. They said that at recent cabinet meetings,
> he often lost concentration and ministers had to listen to lengthy
> monologues that had nothing to do with cabinet business. Criticism by
> senior government figures of Mugabe’s reckless rule is almost never
> heard publicly, but ruling party sources say there is alarm among
> ministers over the collapse of the economy and that his reckless
> decisions are turning the once-prosperous country into a disaster.
> Analysts also say it is clear that Mugabe has created enmity
> within his cabinet by effectively cutting off most of his cabinet from
> the decision-making process. They say he rules single-handedly,
> allowing only one or two ministers to play any role.

This article below is from October 2001, from my website. It shows a story wherein his generals tell him to go. Note the conceptual similarity between that and what is supposedly happening now with the latest trick.
He did not go, now did he??

> This article was sent to you by Jan Lamprecht.
> It was sent from the Southern Africa in Crisis website at:
> http://WWW.AfricanCrisis.Org/br>>
> Here is the text of the story:-
> Financial Gazette (Zimbabwe)
> By David Masunda Deputy Editor-in-Chief

> Zimbabwean army generals urged President Robert Mugabe to quit and
> anoint a successor on the eve of the governing party’s Victoria Falls
> conference
> to enhance Zanu PF’s chances in next year’s crucial presidential
> election, it was learnt this week. Authoritative sources said the top
> generals, under the umbrella of the Joint Operation Command (JOC), met
> Mugabe in one of their regular briefings just before the conference at
> the weekend to “reflect” on his and Zanu PF’s chances in the election
> set for March. The JOC comprises General Vitalis Zvinavashe, Commander
> of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Constantine Chiwenga,
> Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, Air Marshall Perence Shiri of
> the Airforce, Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri and Elisha
> Muzonzini, Director-General of the spy Central Intelligence
> Organisation.
>
> In the meeting, the sources said, the generals expressed feelings that
> Zanu PF’s chances in next year’s poll could be enhanced by a new
> unifying
> candidate given the rampant factionalism which has torn Zanu PF and
> resulted in its dwindling national support base in recent months. Mugabe
> has vowed to crush his opponent, the Movement for Democratic Change’s
> Morgan Tsvangirai, in the ballot, but analysts say the 77-year-old
> President no longer has the stamina nor the appeal to woo a restless and
> angry electorate. According to the highly placed sources, it was pointed
> out to Mugabe in the meeting that his support base in former Zanu PF
> strongholds such as Masvingo, the Midlands and Manicaland had dwindled
> and that he could only bank on the Mashonaland vote. Other sources said
> the generals’ feelings are shared by a number of senior Zanu PF
> officials
> and it was hoped that the suggestion of a new candidate would be tabled
> at Victoria Falls but it never even made it to the party’s provisional
> agenda.
>
> It was not immediately clear how Mugabe responded to the JOC concerns
> but
> the sources said the Zanu PF leader, whose candidacy was endorsed at
> Victoria Falls, tried to address the issue of factionalism and dwindling
> support by urging supporters to close ranks and rally behind him.
> According to other sources, if Mugabe had accepted the gentle nudge to
> quit, he would then have used the conference to announce his departure
> from active politics and appoint a team of four senior Zanu PF
> officials,
> one of whom would be picked to contest the presidential election. The
> four mentioned were Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo, former Zanu PF
> Matabeleland strongman Dumiso Dabengwa, party economic czar Simba Makoni
> and Speaker of the House Emmerson Mnangagwa, his own blue-eyed boy.
>
> Although details of the proposed succession plan remained sketchy, the
> sources said Nkomo, as party chairman and the most senior of the
> quartet,
> was likely to have been chosen to succeed Mugabe. Another suggestion was
> that the four would then agree to take turns at the helm of the party
> and
> the country in six-year-term turns. The plan, which apparently has the
> blessing of many party heavyweights, is viewed as the best antidote to
> contain the rising groundswell locally and internationally against
> Mugabe’s iron-fisted rule of 21 years. Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe’s
> independence from Britain, is largely blamed for the collapse of the
> economy and the deterioration of law and order in the southern African
> country. It is believed that his orderly and managed departure would
> have pleased Western donors and Zimbabwe’s key supporters such as South
> Africa who have become increasingly concerned about the ageing leader’s
> style of governance.
>
> Meanwhile, it also emerged that Zvinavashe recently summoned former Zanu
> PF Masvingo provincial chairman Dzikamai Mavhaire in the presence of
> Shiri to hear first-hand the state of the party in the strife-torn
> province and ask for his support to help Mugabe’s re-election. Mavhaire
> and former party leader and mentor Eddison Zvobgo have boycotted
> campaign
> rallies for Mugabe’s re-election in Masvingo since Mavhaire’s executive
> was booted out in a controversial party poll earlier this year. The two
> failed to attend the Victoria Falls conference.

xxxxx Sign Up