Zimbabwe’s former deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara, has insinuated that Robert Mugabe might not have been removed from power through a coup if Zimbabwe had adopted a running mate clause in 2013.
Mutambara speaks at the backdrop of efforts by the ruling ZANU PF to amend the constitution to do away with the running mate clause and to grant the president power to appoint his vice presidents, the Chief Justice and deputies.
In an exercept from his upcoming book: In Search of the Elusive Zimbabwean Dream Volume 3, Mutambara argues that Mugabe might not have been forcibly removed from office by a coup d’état in November 2017 if Zimbabwe had a running mate clause.
Mutambara says Mugabe was removed “after having incredulously expressed interest in running again for the presidency in 2018, ridiculously and unashamedly at the age of 94.” He added:
With hindsight, maybe if the running mate clause was implemented in 2013, the political history of Zimbabwe could have been different.
Anyway, that is the price we pay for the utter lack of leadership in both Zanu PF and the opposition parties.
Mutambara also says there is absolute silence from the opposition MDC Alliance over the running mate clause issue. He added:
It seems the MDC Alliance leader also does not want a running mate!
In fact, he ran for the 2018 presidential elections without a vice president in the party, much less a running mate.
In 2020, there is speculation that some of the MDC Alliance leaders are having second thoughts about the term limit clause in the 2013 National constitution.
‘What if the people want their person to continue? We must not undermine the people.’
Those are their unprincipled and shameful utterances.
Mutambara added that it is obvious that Mnangagwa intends to consolidate political power and is “repurposing” state institutions towards this objective.
This is an extended excerpt from Arthur Mutambara’s upcoming book: In Search of the Elusive Zimbabwean Dream Volume 3.
More: Pindula News; The Standard