. . . claims he was never a CCC card holder
By Brighton Chiseva
MASVINGO- Dzikamai Mavhaire, who seems to be wallowing in poverty, has retraced his footsteps back to Zanu PF for the second time in two decades, a development which analysts said was an attempt to get resources from the ruling party.
Mavhaire was recently paraded at State House together with his son, Tawanda and former Gutu Central legislator Oliver Chirume.
Sources who accompanied Mavhaire to meet President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the former Energy Minister did not waste the opportunity as he immediately requested for a private one on one meeting with the President. The sources suspected that he wanted to beg for resources from the President.
“We went with him (Mavhaire) to meet the President. We were, however, surprised when he suddenly pleaded with the President for a private meeting. We are not sure what he wanted to discuss with the President but we suspect it has to do with his welfare as you can see he is in a sorry state,” said the source.
Mavhaire’s fortunes took a nosedive when he got fired as Minister of Energy in 2014, which also saw him being sacked from the ruling party amid factional fights.
He subsequently lost shares at Bikita Minerals where he was a shareholder after the mine was sold to Chinese company Sinomine in 2022.
With his truck company also collapsed, and the ministerial fleet he left government with continues to depreciate, Mavhaire was now surviving from a not-so-thriving horticulture project at his farm along the Great Zimbabwe Monuments road.
Speaking to TellZim News in a phone conversation a day after his State House visit, Mavhaire asked the reporter if he had ever seen him with a Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) membership card, insinuating that he was never a member of the opposition party.
“So you want to write that I have joined Zanu PF? Have you ever seen my CCC membership card?” “I thought you would ask some- thing better and write a positive story, you should write develop- ment than writing this nonsense,” Mavhaire said before hanging up.
Political analyst Dr Lucas Ari- bino said the move by Mavhaire was not something extraordinary because politicians would always want to be where they can bene- fit which is why they were always shifting within parties.
“What has just happened is indeed a qualitative indicator of the credo that politics is about self-preser- vation. In terms of international relations, politicians just behave like nation states that enter into ei- ther bilateral or multilateral agree- ments for the purpose of compara- tive advantages, it is the ‘what is in it for me’ thing.
“Mavhaire just like any other po- litician has demonstrated that the centre of gravity in politics begins and ends with self-hood,” said Dr Aribino.
Dr Athur Fidelis Chikerema who once worked with Mavhaire said his return to the ruling party should not be a surprise to anyone as he was power-hungry and always wanted to be close to power.
“The issue with Dzikamai Mav- haire should not be a surprise to anyone. I knew him when we were both representing our respective provinces during our tenure at the inception of Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) led by former Vice President Joice Mujuru.
“What I observed is that Mav- haire is an opportunist and a po- wer-hungry politician as he was the self-imposed chairperson. Due to his egoistic and power-hungry nature he engineered the split of the party as there was disagree- ment on the composition of the constitution on the issue of two vice presidents where the ‘young turks’ wanted one vice president which made members think that ZPF was a Zanu PF project,” said Dr Chikerema.
He said after the demise of ZPF, it did not come as a surprise that Mavhaire rushed to join MDC-Al- liance and later CCC, hero-wor- shipping Chamisa while lambas ting Zanu PF and its leader whom he said was too old.
“Everyone knows that if you lea- ve Zanu PF, life will not be rosy, as they will come after you and will strip off all of the benefits you were getting. Being left as director of Bikita Minerals shows that the- re is a paradox, meaning that the- re were still connections between him and Zanu PF,” said Dr Chikerema.
Ironically, Mavhaire had become so close to opposition leader Nelson Chamisa and would often be given a chance to speak at any gathering he attended even ahead of Chamisa’s then deputies Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube and Lynette Karenyi Kore.
He was one of the few critics of former President Robert Mugabe whom he told to resign because of old age and that was alleged to be one of the reasons why he was later expelled from the revolutionary party.
His other son Moses, who is doing charity work in Masvingo Central, was however quoted in the press vowing that he would never join Zanu PF and will remain loyal to Chamisa.
