Maridadi blasts ZANU-PF members for being hypocrites

James Maridadi
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Movement for Democratic Change legislator James Maridadi on Thursday blasted Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front members for being hypocrites because one day they were singing praises for president Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace- even chanting kusina mai hakuindwe- but they are now falling over each other to get Mnangagwa and Auxillia’s attention.

Contributing to a motion to congratulate President Emmerson Mnangagwa on his elevation to the country’s president, Maridadi said congratulating Mnangagwa had no value.

“It does not add value to anything. It does not add value to him; it does not add value to this nation. What we must focus on is work. We are an institution of the State and what we must do is to hold the President to account,” he said.

“We must be saying to ourselves, President Mnangagwa, these are the things you promised us, how far have you gone and what are you doing about these things instead of saying makorokoto, makorokoto. Ekuita sei makorokoto?”

Maridadi said the congratulations were out of order because they were being proposed by the very people who had ditched Mnangagwa when he was being dressed down by Grace Mugabe and when he was dismissed from the government and from the party.

“Zimbabweans must not be hypocrites. The Holly Bible, even Jesus Christ said, people that he detested during his time were hypocrites and he called them stiff-necked people of callused feet, vanhu vane man’a nemitsipa yakaomarara,” Maridadi said.

“People must not be hypocrites. I have realised that in Zimbabwe, there are people that do not follow principles but they follow people. If Madam Speaker, by some stroke of I do not know what miracle, if president Mugabe were to come back today as President, the same people fall over each other congratulating him.

“Madam Speaker, it was in this House, on this microphone, using the same leave that I am using today when I spoke about the former First Lady, Mai Grace Mugabe. I was saying, ko vanofambireiko vachituka vanhu? People on your right disapproved. Points of orders were raised from all over the place. Mapoints of order akanyuka kuita kunge howa. Point of order that side, point of order that side.”

Maridadi said that the people that were now showering praises at Mnangagwa had ditched him when it seemed that his political career was ending.

“What I know is that I was invited to a function three four days before Hon. Mnangagwa was dismissed as Vice President of this country. Most Members of Parliament sitting in this House were also invited. I was invited by a special invitation card because the owner of the company, I am friends with him.

“When I went to that function, despite the fact that more than 50 Members of Parliament of this House had been invited, there were only two Members of Parliament and I was only one of them from the Opposition. I stood there and looked around, there was not a single Minister to support the Vice President. There was not a single Member of Parliament. The only Member of Parliament who was there was Hon. Owen Ncube, I am going to mention him by name. Only Hon. Owen Ncube was the Member of Parliament there.

“As I was walking out, I said to one of them, aaah, ko vanhu hamusi kuzo supporter Vice President sei? Zvikanzi aaah, tovasuporterei ? Vane chiikowo ivava? “

Full contribution

HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I wish to thank the mover of the motion and the seconder, Hon. Rtd. Brig. Kanhanga. Madam Speaker, I rise here to debate this motion. I have gone through it very carefully and there are a number of issues that I want to raise. I think congratulations to His Excellency are in order for assuming the position of President of this Republic. Madam Speaker, if you look at this motion here, the first point is that; Acknowledging the Preamble of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which among other endeavours is to commit ourselves to build a united, just, prosperous nation founded on the values of transparency, equality, freedom, fairness and dignity of hard work.

We, as Zimbabweans must be dignified and we must be honest people. Those values are sacrosanct. If we look at events leading to the ascendancy of Hon. Mnangagwa, they make a very sad reading, if we are going to put it in a book. Madam Speaker, it was in this House that I rose to debate a motion on some issue. As I was debating that motion, I raised the point that it was not right for a sitting President to go to a public forum and insult his deputy. There was a chorus of disapproval from your right Madam Speaker. The Vice President I was talking about is none other than Hon. Dambudzo Mnangagwa, now the President. Actually, one of the Members of Parliament sitting to your right raised a point of order that I was no longer debating a motion but I was debating the President; yet they are the same people today who are falling over each other, congratulating Hon. Dambudzo Mnangagwa; the same person they were insulting two weeks earlier.

Madam Speaker, it was in this House, on this microphone, that I stood up to debate when Hon. Dambudzo Mnangagwa, as Vice President had been insulted at ZANU PF Headquarters. There was a chorus of disapproval from your right. They are the same people today who are standing up to say, he is a man of vision, where did the vision suddenly come from – [Laughter.] – [AN. HON. MEMBER: Vave natenzi wechipiri.] – Zimbabweans must not be…

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order. Can we hear the Hon. Member please?

HON. MARIDADI: Zimbabweans must not be hypocrites. The Holly Bible, even Jesus Christ said, people that he detested during his time were hypocrites and he called them stiff-necked people of callused feet, vanhu vane man’a nemitsipa yakaomarara. People must not be hypocrites. I have realised that in Zimbabwe, there are people that do not follow principles but they follow people. If Madam Speaker, by some stroke of I do not know what miracle, if President Mugabe were to come back today as President, the same people fall over each other congratulating him – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Madam Speaker, it was in this House, on this microphone, using the same leave that I am using today when I spoke about the former First Lady, Mai Grace Mugabe. I was saying, ko vanofambireiko vachituka vanhu? People on your right disapproved. Points of orders were raised from all over the place. Mapoints of order akanyuka kuita kunge howa. Point of order that side, point of order that side.

Madam Speaker, people must tell the truth. What I know is that I was invited to a function three four days before Hon. Mnangagwa was dismissed as Vice President of this country. Most Members of Parliament sitting in this House were also invited. I was invited by a special invitation card because the owner of the company, I am friends with him. When I went to that function, despite the fact that more than 50 Members of Parliament of this House had been invited, there were only two Members of Parliament and I was only one of them from the Opposition. I stood there and looked around, there was not a single Minister to support the Vice President. There was not a single Member of Parliament. The only Member of Parliament who was there was Hon. Owen Ncube, I am going to mention him by name. Only Hon. Owen Ncube was the Member of Parliament there.

As I was walking out, I said to one of them, aaah, ko vanhu hamusi kuzo supporter Vice President sei? Zvikanzi aaah, tovasuporterei ? Vane chiikowo ivava? – [HON. MEMBERS: Ndiani akadaro?] – Take it easy. I am debating, take it easy, I am coming there, take it easy.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. Can we have order? I think if you did not say anything, why do you worry. Can you leave the Hon. Member to debate?

HON. MARIDADI: Madam Speaker, three days later, the then Vice President, Hon. Dambudzo Mnangagwa was sitting in some House …

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa please!

HON. MARIDADI: Hon. Dambudzo Mnangagwa was sitting in some House, as Vice President and he had just been dismissed and there were only five people in that room. His wife was one of them. His phone did not ring for about three to four hours. When Hon. Mnangagwa jumped the border to go to South Africa and things happened in this nation and it was a day before he came here, I am told his phone was ringing off the hook. He switched off his phone but it continued to ring because people were continuing to phone – [Laughter.] – When he came back to Zimbabwe as President and his wife came and sat there, people were almost climbing on her to say, congratulations. She was almost suffocated but it is the same Auxillia Mnangagwa whose husband was dismissed in public and people laughed at her. Barely three days later, people were falling over each other congratulating her. Isisu taitaura navo, we could not even talk to her. Up to now, I have not even spoken to her because you cannot even go through because people are busy phoning from your right.

Madam Speaker, let me tell you and this is a warning to the President, His Excellency, those people who are going to his office and those people that are sending congratulatory messages, those are wolves in sheep’s skin. They do not like him, they like his power – HON. MEMBERS: Yes. Wabata pane mari.] – Madam Speaker, I am one person who did not like the Presidency of the former President Cde. Gabriel Mugabe. That is why I tried to move a motion to impeach him from 2013. I tried from 2013, until I had to go to the Constitutional Court. Madam Speaker, today I would never rise to say anything disparaging of Cde. Mugabe. Handife ndakavatuka in his personal capacity, but a Member of Parliament from the right once stood up and said Mrs. Mugabe is a prostitute. It is there, it is in the public domain. If you want I can copy it. It is there in the public domain. Hon. Chinotimba in an interview said Mrs. Mugabe is a prostitute and we told him that you do not say such things about someone’s wife.

Let me tell you, if you are a senior in ZANU PF today and you are a Minister and you hear people say that, they could say the same thing to your wife tomorrow. They will say exactly the same thing to Hon. Auxillia Mnangagwa, they will say exactly the same thing to the wife of the Speaker because these are people without principles. What they follow is power, they do not follow ideals.

Madam Speaker, we must not be a nation of hypocrites. If things had not gone the way they went, I am telling you Madam Speaker, you would not be sitting in that Chair. I am telling you Hon. Kashiri you would not be a Minister. Hon. Kashiri, you would be living in Mozambique in exile and Madam Speaker, you would be living in Mutoko in exile. Madam Speaker, congratulating Hon. Mnangagwa has no value. It does not add value to anything. It does not add value to him; it does not add value to this nation. What we must focus on is work. We are an institution of the State and what we must do is to hold the President to account. We must be saying to ourselves, President Mnangagwa, these are the things you promised us, how far have you gone and what are you doing about these things instead of saying makorokoto, makorokoto. Ekuita sei makorokoto?

Madam Speaker, today we were told there are hoards and hoards of t-shirts printed R. G. Mugabe with a signature. Now they do not even know what to do with those t-shirts. It is because people are hypocrites. I am challenging ZANU PF today to give me those t-shirts so that I can give them to the less privileged people of Mabvuku and Tafara. I am challenging you because you do not want them. Give them to me. Madam Speaker, just two weeks before Hon. Mnangagwa became President here, this car park was full of cars which had the signature of President Mugabe and the face of Grace Mugabe with the words ‘Munhu wese kuna amai’. We have videos here of people three days after Hon. Mnangagwa was fired saying ‘Munhu wese kuna amai’, but they are the same people who almost climbed on the President when he came here. Literally climbed on him. What nonsense is that?

At least what I like about Cde. Mugabe is that when he came here, people did not try to climb on him to say congratulations. Why are they doing it to Cde. E. D. Mnangagwa? They will remove him from focusing. What Hon. Mnangagwa needs now is support and the support is not to go in front of him and say, we are supporting you. No, you support from the background. You support by action by what you are doing. What you must tell the President is that he is the President of ZANU PF and he is also President of the nation, so he is also President of MDC-T people.

Madam Speaker, just last week, I was told rice is available for Members of Parliament at the Ministry. I go to the Ministry and I am told no, it is no longer available for urban MPs, but Hon. Makari got hers, Hon. Mazivisa got his but now it is not available because it is Maridadi who supports the MDC-T. Is MDC-T a party from Mozambique? Those are the things Hon. Kashiri you must be telling President Mnangagwa, that he should depart from Cde Robert Mugabe’s legacy. Go on a new trajectory. This is the new trajectory where I must be able to come into your office as an opposition person and say Honourable, I want this and this and you must be able to grant them. That is what we want, but we have young Ministers who think like 90 year olds. They think like people born in 1922 and yet they are young, they are in their 40s and in their 50s. What nonsense is that?

Madam Speaker, what we want now – I am also going to give recommendations to the President. The President of this country, Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa must never receive presents from people. Not birthday presents, not even a birthday card. He must not because when you do that, you compromise him. Former President Mugabe’s cake which was the size of this table would come from Premier Medical Aid Society. Just see how difficult it was for us to deal with the issue of Premier Medical Aid Society because the President was compromised.

I wish Hon. Auxillia Mnangagwa was here and I would say to her, if you see people from ZANU PF coming to your house, tell them to go away. If they want to see the President, they must go to ZANU PF Head Quarters and make an appointment. Why do they want to go to his house, say what? That is when they tell him Hon. Nduna said this and that and Hon. Maridadi said this, trivial things – [Laughter.]-

Madam Speaker, we want to build this country. This country belongs to all of us, whether you are ZANU PF. Whether you are from Chimuti party or from the MDC-T, at the end of the day, the country comes first and the party comes second. So, this idea of thinking that if you belong to this party you are more patriotic than people who belong to this party is wrong. Also let me give another recommendation to the President. President Mnangagwa must not allow people to go around wearing t-shirts printed ‘ E. D. Kutonga Kwaro’. I will tell you what that means. I saw a group of young boys who were driving a Mercedes Benz with a picture of the President. When they get to a road block police do not stop them, their vehicles are not searched. They are not subjected to what other citizens are subjected to because they say can you not see that I am driving a vehicle with the picture of the President.

The same people used to do that in the previous dispensation. They would drive around. In Mabvuku and Tafara what they would do is they would get a piece of land and Hon. Kashiri here knows it, they would come to an area, find an empty space, take a flag which is written ‘ Munhu wese kuna amai’ put it there and the rest is history. Police cannot even come there and cooperatives are given names such as R. G. Mugabe, Grace Lands, Amai Mugabe Cooperative, ZIM ASSET and what have you.

Madam Speaker, I am going to repeat myself for the purposes of Hansard. A Member of Parliament from this House, Hon. Chinotimba, in an interview said Grace Mugabe is a prostitute. Madam Speaker, that must never be repeated – [Laughter.] –

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order. Hon. Chinotimba, could you please take your seat. Hon. Maridadi, I think you should refrain from repeating yourself.

HON. MARIDADI: I was doing it because he is here.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, I do not allow you. Just continue with your debate. Also mind you…

HON. MARIDADI: Okay the light is on, that is fine but I have dealt with them.

HON. CHINOTIMBA: On a point of order, Madam Speaker.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order Hon. Chinotimba? Hon. Maridadi, could you please take your seat.

*HON. MARIDADI: That is what they would also do when former President Mugabe was there.

*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Madam Speaker, you have warned Hon. Maridadi that he is repeating himself. My point of order, is I once had a discussion with Hon. Maridadi and informed him that this august House it is not a place where you have to snatch other people’s wives and he is repeating that. He always wants to snatch other people’s wives because he is a radio personality – [Laughter.]-

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order. Can we have order please? Order! Hon. Maridadi, would you please wind up.

HON. MARIDADI: Thank you. This is a very good House, Madam Speaker, because even those that have nothing to say are also given a platform to just show their ignorance and to share their ignorance. It is okay.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Maridadi, this is where you go wrong.

HON. MARIDADI: I am sorry Madam Speaker…

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I said please proceed and wind up, just concentrate on your debate.

HON. MARIDADI: In conclusion Madam Speaker…

HON. HOLDER: On a point of order Madam Speaker.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?

HON. HOLDER: Madam Speaker, my point of order is that, can you add another 5 minutes to Hon. Maridadi, I am enjoying this – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I did not hear what the Hon. Member said – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Let us have order please, there is no need for making such noise. Hon. Maridadi – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Is there an objection?

HON. CHINOTIMBA: I object.

HON. MARIDADI: In conclusion, Madam Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Madam Speaker, I want to be heard in silence.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: If there is an objection, you cannot proceed Hon. Member.

HON. MARIDADI: Madam Speaker, the issues have been raised; I thank you so much for your time.