LOCAL Government minister Daniel Garwe took bootlicking to another level, saying removing President Emmerson Mnangagwa is never an easy task as he was “God-anointed”.
Garwe made the remarks, while addressing councillors attending a Zanu PF indoctrination programme in Harare organised by the Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology.
Over 1 300 councillors from around the country attended the event.
In his closing remarks on Monday, Garwe said the ruling party’s 2030 agenda was God’s plan.
“We have the duty to build the country.
“You hear about Vision 2030. It’s not the brainchild of the President to come up with that plan,” he said.
“He does it through divine visions. He sees visions from the one who anointed him. And it’s God.
“Leaders are chosen by God and we, the people, only support what God has chosen for us.
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“That is why after elections, no matter how much you want to fight to remove the anointed one, he will still stand.”
Mnangagwa’s term of office constitutionally ends in 2028.
His loyalists are championing ED2030 slogans saying the President needs to fulfil his vision to transform Zimbabwe into an upper middle income economy by 2030.
The 2030 agenda has caused serious ructions in the ruling party as some Mnangagwa loyalists now want the Constitution amended to ensure he extends his term of office.
Party members supporting the ED2030 agenda are using public meetings to grovel at Mnangagwa’s presidency much like the way the late former President Robert Mugabe’s loyalists used to do.
Former Information minister Webster Shamu once likened Mugabe to Cremora, a powder milk brand.
The late Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo also once described Mugabe as a liberator of unparalleled proportions, who God should keep for a long time to rule Zimbabwe.
However, Mugabe’s loyalists quickly switched camps after he was forced out of office at the height of a military coup in November 2017.
On Monday, Garwe rallied opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) councillors who attended the event to support Mnangagwa and the ruling party’s programmes.
“Go and tell others there that Zimbabwe is our country. Our colleagues from the opposition, thank you, keep it up,” the minister said.
“Go and spread the word. Even you from Zanu PF, go and spread the word.
“Go and preach the gospel of unity as Zimbabweans, that is what the President (Mnangagwa) is saying. We are just messengers.
“He encourages us to tell the people not to fight each other, or mock each other. We are all Munhumutapa’s descendants.”
Garwe, who had warned councillors against boycotting the indoctrination programme, promised a review of their allowances and other benefits.
During the training, Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology principal director Ishmael Mada revisited the November 2017 coup saying Mugabe was a “cunning leader” who refused to sign his initial resignation letter which he had sent to Parliament.
“It was the issue of constitutionalism. And as he [Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga] addressed us that evening, he never referred to the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe having taken all the power,” Mada said.
“He merely said, restore legacy . . . But somehow, the old man, you know, he was very cunning. He had not appended his signature to that letter.
“But everything else he had stated, in terms of maintaining stability in our nation, I will defend from this day here by taking up my resignation from the office of . . . But he had not appended his signature.”
