Zimbabweans Say Firing of Mujuru Won't Save Ailing Economy
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition spokesman, Mfundo Mlilo, said the infighting in Zanu-PF is simply a distraction from the government’s key role of policy making and delivering services.
HARARE — The long-speculated expulsion of Vice President Joice Mujuru by President Robert Mugabe didn’t take many Zimbabweans by surprise, but the majority of people are concerned about the impact of her expulsion on the country’s ailing economy. Mrs. Mujuru’s firing has left tongues wagging in all parts of Zimbabwe. For many, her firing only raises questions about its significance in light of the nation’s current socio-economic problems. Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition spokesman, Mfundo Mlilo, said the infighting in Zanu-PF is simply a distraction from the government’s key role of policy making and delivering services, which many argue is already compromised. Mlilo said Mrs. Mujuru’s firing will not help anything, as she’s not the reason the country is in a poor state. Another resident, who refused to be named, said Mrs. Mujuru’s sacking has revealed the first lady’s influence on the president. Senior Zimbabwean journalist, Barnabas Thondlana, who has covered such developments within Zanu-PF for many years, echoed the same sentiments saying local people want progressive development. Not everyone in Zimbabwe believes that Mrs. Mujuru allegedly wanted to topple the president. One of them is Blessing Vava of the National Constitutional Assembly, who said the vice president’s key fault was openly expressing her interest to succeed President Mugabe, which he noted, showed his lack of understanding of Zanu-PF’s ways. Concurring with Vava, researcher Tjenesani Ntungakwa, said accusations of assassination plots have been going on since independence, forcing even the late founder of the PF Zapu leader Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo to flee the country in the 1980s under similar circumstances.