Precious Kadodo: Guest Blogger
K.D.C Mohadi is the first government official under Mnangagwa's regime to resign and the first vice president to resign in the history of Zimbabwe. There are however several officials that have tendered their resignations before including Maurice Nyagumbo, Nkosana Moyo, Edmund Garwe, Dzingai Mutumbuka and Robert Mugabe.
Mnangagwa’s administration has endured enough embarrassing blows; from Prisca Mupfumira's $95 million corruption scandal during her time as the Labour Minister, to Dr. Obadiah Moyo's alleged criminal abuse of office as Minister of Health and the $60 million contract of Covid-19 supplies. Advocate Fortune Chasi lost his job as the Emergy Minister after he suspended the executive chairperson of ZESA Holdings, Sydney Gata.
Apart from the three cabinet ministers mentioned above, Covid-19 also claimed the lives of four senior cabinet officials namely; Perrence "Bigboy" Shiri, S.B Moyo, Joel Biggie Matiza and Ellen Gwaradzimba. The latest cabinet member to part ways with Mnangagwa is his most trusted lieutenant, Kembo Mohadi.
Mohadi's immoral shenanigans were caught or most likely deliberately exposed, but he is not alone, it's a political culture in the ruling party. Political events don't just occur, there is always someone, somewhere directing, but knowing who and why is not always easy.
The purpose of these leaks is to create public outrage and this is exactly what happened. Women organisations were not happy, parents and guardians were also not impressed particularly ZANU PF supporters.
Like the old adage goes; “A good soldier knows when to fight and when to throw in the towel”. It was highly improbable for Mnangagwa to embarrass his friend and fire him over a sex scandal. To save himself from the embarrassment of getting sacked, tendering his resignation was probably the only political remedy at Kembo's disposal.
Kembo Mohadi is one of the most decorated and patriotic veteran to have ever come out of Zimbabwe. As of today, Mohadi (71) begins his new life as a private citizen after serving his country as the Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of State security for a combined 17 years, before his 3 year term of service as the vice president.
His resignation follows three audio recordings that went viral on social media after ZimLive released the recordings on Twitter. ZimLive is a brain-child of journalist, Mduduzi Mathuthu. Journalists are exposing government officials and forcing them to respond. Hopewell Chino'no exposed Obadiah Moyo, while Advocate Alex Magaisa, a well known blogger exposed Gideon Gono and the farm mechanization scheme.
It is not the first time Mduduzi Mathuthu has made headlines in the country. Mduduzi was demoted to Namibia during his time as the editor of the state-controlled newspaper, The Chronicle, after writing an article about the Gukurahundi massacres that portrayed the then, vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa in the negative.
To one's surprise, the government or the party did not respond or use state apparatus at their disposal to defend comrade Mohadi, who sometimes used to be the acting-president. When Chino'no exposed Obadiah Moyo and his accomplices he was arrested and sent to Chikurubi maximum prison. When ZimLive exposed Kembo Mohadi, nothing happened to the former, instead Zimbabwe's then vice president called for a press conference to denounce sex allegations.
“The allegations levelled against me are not only false, but well-choreographed to demean and soil my image as a national leader and patriot” - K.D.C Mohadi
The allegations were serious and affected his image. In his resignation letter, Kembo denied these allegations, he described these allegations as “falsehoods and character assassination in the digital ecosystems”. He said his resignation was necessitated by his desire to seek clarity and justice on the matter in which his legal team will undertake to pursue.
While Prophet Bushiri saw Kembo Mohadi's rise to power in the spiritual realm, I doubt he saw Mohadi's downfall. Kembo Mohadi's replacement might come from the barracks in the form of Philip Valerio Sibanda or a woman in the form of Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri or Sithembiso Nyoni just to strike the gender balance in the presidium.
Section 92 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides for two Vice-Presidents and following the national Unity Accord, President Mnangagwa and his advisors know that either way, Mohadi's replacement should come from Matebeleland.
President Mnangagwa usually casts his net wider than people think in search of bright minds. We saw him hire Professor Mthuli Ncube to manage the national purse and recently he went all the way to Washington DC only to find Frederick Shava who replaced the late foreign minister, S.B Moyo.
Mohadi's story is a life lesson not only to politicians but all the leaders and public figures, play your cards close to your chest and don't allow social media to make you wash your dirty laundry.
Precious Kadodo is a final year Law student at the University of Zimbabwe. Precious writes in her own personal capacity.
@KadodoPrecious