Last night before Rangarirai our 7 year old son went to bed, he came to our bedroom and hugged his mother and kissed her goodnight. He did not even talk to me and went out of the room. I said to MaNyoni, I feel like I am invisible and she answered me back, “Do you expect him to kiss another man good night? It made sense. After work, I normally get home a minute or so ahead of her mother as I always use the stairs. When I open the door, Ranga always ask me where is mama and at times he does not even greet me and then wait by the door for his mother. To be fair I am not really invisible to him, when he fights with his older brothers he comes to me to report . Ranga also thinks I am an ATM because anything he wants to be bought for him he asks me to buy. For the past weeks he had been asking me to buy him a Nintendo Switch and I eventually goggled the price, a whooping R6 000.00, I can’t afford that.
Yesterday I read on social media that Mary Chiwenga the estranged young wife to Rtd General Chiwenga the Vice President of Zimbabwe had been arrested. The story did not make sense as it involved the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission. For a start any serious anti-corruption drive will start with investigating and arresting heavy weights such as Obert Mpofu who is rumored to own over 50% of properties in Victoria Falls town centre and the rest of Zanu-Pf leadership. To make the story even bizarre it involved the Judge President George Chiweshe himself a retired senior military officer. George Chiweshe is regarded as a coup judge in some circles after he passed a ruling to say the military coup that forced Robert Mugabe from office was legal. George Chiweshe is also known for the dark period of 2008. After Morgan Tsvangirai trounced Robert Mugabe in the first round of Presidential elections at the end of March 2008, George Chiweshe then as the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission sat on the results for over a month whilst the military was strategizing. He then later on announced that Morgan Tsvangirai had only got 47% of the vote and Robert Mugabe had secured about 43% and there was going to be a runoff between Tsvangirai and Mugabe in June 2008.
The military took over the Zanu-PF campaign and senior military officers were seconded to supervise the violent campaign that saw over 200 MDC supporters murdered, thousands injured and more than ten thousand were forced to flee their homes. Morgan Tsvangirai had no choice but to withdraw from the runoff election. A lot of us are convinced that Morgan Tsvangirai had won the first round convincingly but the military tempered with the figures to force a run off. I also don’t like Mary Chiwenga but even for my enemies, I want them to get a fair trial and that is what one expects from a civilized society. I also expect Grace Mugabe to be taken through the legal process for all her transgressions and for pay back on how she humiliated the ruling elite during the funeral of Robert Mugabe. I also dislike Grace Mugabe and even for her, she should face a fair legal process. I doubt that Mary Chiwenga will face an impartial judicial process.
The way the general is treating his estranged wife rings alarm bells for me. If he treats the mother of her children that way what more for an opposition supporter or any ordinary citizen. When his children ask him where their mother is what will he say? If he can’t have empathy for the anguish that his children are going to face, we are in trouble as a country as he is one of those effectively running the country and is in line to become the next president of Zimbabwe. Children should only be taken away from their mother in exceptional circumstances especially after a fair court process has deemed it fit that the mother is a danger to her children. Most of us turned out okay because our mothers were there to care for us after the death of our fathers. Persecution of any woman is a no for me. Women are the most marginalized people in our society; I saw what my mother went through after my father’s death. The face of poverty in Africa is black and female. Even in the corporate world, women have a glass ceiling as most top positions are occupied by male. Many people including women seem to believe that any woman rising in the workplace do not do so on merit. I also saw firsthand the disadvantage for women when I saw my wife struggling to find employment for almost 11 years in South Africa despite the fact that she was also qualified and had the suitable experience.
To anyone especially women celebrating the persecution that Mary Chiwenga is going through due to political differences, they should pose and see the bigger picture. This is about abuse of power by the general and the ruling party.
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