What transpired yesterday during the impeachment of Mugabe proceedings – full debate

Mr. Speaker, I quote from a senior African statesman Kenneth Kaunda and, President Mugabe you better listen.  Strong as you are in economic terms because you controlled the national purse and just recently, you appointed the poster-boy of Zimbabwean corruption to the national purse to head the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.  Strong as you are in economic terms and strong as you are in military terms because you controlled the army, you controlled the police and you controlled the CIO; the masses of Zimbabwe have one superior weapon against you and Kenneth Kaunda calls it moral right.  The right of political morality is with the children of Zimbabwe and President Mugabe was presiding over a rotten system.  A system like that cannot be defended in the long term, and that is why we are here today to show him the exit.

Mr. Speaker, I have had the privilege to sit in Parliament and when I sit in Parliament when President Mugabe comes to Parliament, I sit directly opposite him.  President Mugabe’s state of health is such that, he cannot run a country.  He tumbled at the airport, he wobbled when he was going to the podium at the United Nations and he had to be given assistance by his aides.  When he was in India, he wobbled going to the podium and he had to be assisted by the Indian Prime Minister in full view of the international community.

There are 15 million Zimbabweans and most definitely one of us is able to run this country and that is why the Constitution of Zimbabwe says, for you to be President, you only need to have three things.  You have to be 40 years old, you need to be a citizen of Zimbabwe and you must be able to read and write.  It does not say what you are able to read or what you are able to write.  If you can write baba and you can write umama, you are able to be President.

Mr. Speaker, they say in Shona, imbwa hadzisvinuri musi mumwechete.  I discovered that President Mugabe was not fit for the purpose in 1999 when I joined the MDC and that is what we have been saying.  My colleagues Mr. Speaker, to your right, only woke up last week and that includes you Mr. Speaker – [Laughter.] –

Mr. Speaker, we were telling you to say, ‘Children of man, rise and smell the coffee – this man is no longer fit for the purpose.  My motion to impeach President Mugabe was dismissed from Parliament because it was said to be frivolous, but the issues that I wrote in that motion are replicated in this motion.  What has changed – it is the same President Mugabe that you said will be your presidential candidate in 2018 and it was the same Speaker of Parliament who presided over this impeachment today.  You dismissed my motion and Mr. Speaker, those things must be heard – [HON. MEMBERS:  Hear, hear.] –

THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Maridadi, you have to be honourable. When the motion was turned down, it was not exactly like what you suggested last Friday. Furthermore, we had a meeting this morning in which we said because there are two motions they should be rationalised. I think you need to be honourable and tell the truth please. Can you proceed with the motion?

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