Vice President Kembo Mohadi last week told Zanu PF supporters in Chegutu that government was not losing sleep over the “Junta Government” label being given to them saying there is nothing they can do as they are all trained soldiers.
Mohadi was sworn in last December after the removal of former president Robert Mugabe following a military intervention.
Mohadi admitted that his government is largely made up of former military personnel but conceded that it was unavoidable as all the leaders are trained soldiers.
“This dispensation yamuri kuona pano apa, inotaurwa nemazita akawanda, vamwe vanoti i junta. Chokwadi kana muchida Kuti i junta then i junta, we are all trained soldiers and but there is nothing we can do.
“Inguva yedu and takaitiswa training nevakuru vedu and ndisuwo tabata matomu manje, so there is nothing untoward about this government,” said Mohadi.
(This dispensation you see here, it has been called a lot of names, some call it a Junta government. Its true, if you want to call it a Junta government then it is a Junta government. We are all trained soldiers but there is nothing we can do.
“It is our time (to rule) because we received, military training (during the liberation war) from our leaders and we are now in positions of power…)
Since being sworn into power, the Mnangagwa administration has received numerous criticism from mainly, former Cabinet Minister and Mnangagwa’s biggest critic, Professor Jonathan Moyo, for grabbing power and appointing former military personnel in powerful positions.
Mnangagwa’s other deputy, Constantino Chiwenga retired from the army to take over the second most powerful position in the land.
Mohadi’s statements comes hard on the heels of related utterances made by Deputy Minister of Finance, Terrence Mukupe who said Mnangagwa would not vacate office if defeated in the upcoming polls.
Mukupe was clearly heard on video saying that “the military did not grab power from President Mugabe so that it would give it to a child like Nelson Chamisa who talks about building spaghetti roads and impregnating girls.”
Last week, Masvingo Provincial Affairs minister Josiah Hungwe reminded his audience in Chiredzi that if Mnangagwa (who himself is a trained soldier) shot his way to power in November last year, nothing would stop him from doing the same to keep to stay in power.
Lord Peter Hain, who served as Tony Blair’s Minister for Africa was in the country last week and told reporters that the military takeover of November 15 was a shift within the power elite.
“Well, I described it not as a coup, but a dramatic shift within the power elite. I think that’s what happened, that is the historically correct narrative. Obviously, the military was part of the power elite, through the JOC (Joint Operations Command) and the whole architecture of the Mugabe regime.
“So everybody realised in the Zimbabwe power elite that the country was just collapsing and there had to be change at some point. I couldn’t see it happening in any other way.”
