Choose leaders on merit

Methuseli Moyo
DEBATE on who should succeed the late Landa John Nkomo as the other vice president of Zanu-PF and Zimbabwe is unprecedented in the history of the ruling party’s modern succession politics.
The dual vice presidency started in 1990 under a constitutional amendment which saw then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe become President. Dr Simon Vengai Muzenda who was deputy PM, and the then Senior Minister in the PM’s office, the late Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo, otherwise known as Father Zimbabwe or Umdala became the two vice presidents. As fate would have it, President Mugabe has survived four vice presidents, namely, Joshua Nkomo, Muzenda, Joseph Msika and John Nkomo. Msika succeeded Umdala, while John Nkomo succeeded Msika, and current VP Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru succeeded Dr Muzenda.

Joshua Nkomo, Msika and John Nkomo were all from the old PF-Zapu which merged with Zanu-PF under the December 22, 1987 Unity Accord to “form” Zanu-PF. The trend therefore was that an ex-PF Zapu person succeeded an ex-PF-Zapu VP. Msika’s ascendancy to the throne was accompanied by intrigue when some questioned his suitability to succeed Nkomo on the grounds of his ethnicity. Msika was forced to come out and say he was not really Shona, but a Shangani. By so doing Msika himself somehow implied that one had to be Ndebele to inherit a position understandably reserved for ex-Zapu leadership. By questioning Msika’s suitability, his ex-Zapu comrades were admitting what they have always disputed — that Zapu is/was a Ndebele party, and by implication, Zanu was a Shona party. In the end, sanity prevailed and Msika ascended to the throne.

John Nkomo’s case did not need much arguing because he was Ndebele anyway and senior enough in the old Zapu, having been secretary for publicity before the merger with Zanu. Also, he was chairman of the united Zanu-PF party. All hell has broken loose, literally, as to who will succeed John Nkomo. A record number of people have been tipped (or are tipping themselves) for the country’s number two (or even three) job. Big names such as current party chairman Simon Khaya Moyo, Obert Mpofu, Phelekezela Mphoko, Ambrose Mutinhiri,

Didymus Mutasa, Emmerson Mnangagwa, among others have been touted. Suddenly, it seems there are various interpretations of the Unity Accord, and several arguments on how Nkomo’s successor should be chosen. Some say the next senior person in the unified party must takeover, while some say the next senior person in the old Zapu must take over. The first position favours Khaya Moyo, while the second position has seen some people like Mutinhiri fancy their chances by virtue of having been the Zapu armed wing, Zipra’s chief of staff. Mphoko will tell you that he is the most senior of the old Zapu, even though he may not be senior enough in Zanu-PF. Other arguments are that there is no need to nurse the 26-year-old Unity Accord now, and it is time leaders were chosen on merit rather on tribe and hierarchy of yester years. This is where the likes of Mutasa, Mpofu, and Mnangagwa come in.

It is clear the latest VP succession issue is hotter than ever. Some are using the unity accord to blackmail the rest of the people in Zanu-PF to land the post. Statement from the pro-hierarchy old Zapu clique is clear: “Give the post to one of us or else”. Those opposed to them seem determined to take the risk and see what happens.

Was the Unity Accord a political or tribal arrangement? In theory, Nkomo and President Mugabe signed the accord on behalf of their parties, while in spirit and practice, one would not be wrong to say they signed on behalf of their tribes, the Shona and the Ndebele. Zimbabwe’s nationalist politics took a tribal dimension in 1963 when the split from Zapu to form Zanu by some nationalists was viewed, rightly or wrongly, as tribally motivated, though the official line was that it was due to differences on how to move the struggle forward.

Ever since the unity accord, all other upcoming political formations have followed the Zanu-PF model of a Ndebele vice president and chairman, to the extent that it is now ritual that those positions are reserved and not to be contested by Shona-speaking people, and the Ndebele people will not contest for presidency and secretary general’s position. The only parties that have dared to be different are revived Zapu and MDC, and have never been forgiven by some people for violating “protocol”.

What makes the current VP succession race even more intriguing is the fact that there is belief that President Mugabe will not contest the 2018 elections due to advanced age. Whoever therefore becomes vice president alongside Mujuru has a chance of being president in the not-so-distance future. Should we therefore still use tribal cards at this crucial stage of our politics to allow people to ascend to high political office? Even if we were to agree that political power must be fairly shared to all regions and tribes, is it helpful therefore to say only a Ndebele who was old enough to be in Zapu leadership in 1987 should be VP? Is it not time to say the best candidate from Matabeleland should represent us in the presidency? How has Matabeleland or PF-Zapu benefitted from the three past succession scenarios to necessitate the perpetuation of the dynasty?

In my view, the time has come for Zanu-PF and any other political movement for that matter to allow members to choose the people they want to lead them on merit.

I am sure Zimbabweans are mature enough, and know what needs to be done to keep the country united and will always balance their leadership. It is wrong for some to use “undemocratic” tactics to discount others, to use Mpofu’s terminology. There seems to be some people who have monopolized the ex-Zapu status to mean people who were in Zapu in 1987. Those who were in Zapu even before them and decided to cross the floor, or took a back stage, have all been dismissed. Why would you want to punish someone for leaving Zapu for Zanu when you also ended up in Zanu-PF anyway, even if you came under the Unity Accord? In any case, most nationalist politicians started off in Zapu before the split. President Mugabe himself, Mutasa, Mnangagwa and others were in Zapu. Should they also be discounted from holding party positions because they “defected” from Zapu?

Then there is the fallacy that the Unity Accord reserved one of the VP’s post and the chairmanship for ex-Zapu or Ndebele people. I have read the Unity Accord several times and have never come across that provision. The accord simply talks about the establishment of a one-party state, and that President Mugabe will continue to lead the party, and shall choose two vice presidents.

If the rest was important and was meant to happen in a specific manner, I am sure it would have been put down in black and white in the accord. My view is that in their wisdom and experience, President Mugabe and Nkomo did not want to cast the accord in stone because they knew politics was dynamic.

They left the accord open to make it possible for the rest of the Zimbabweans to relate to it. It is people who have selfish interests who are adding words where the accord is silent to favour themselves or their connections.

In conclusion, I believe the time has come for parties to practice democracy internally. Doing things the usual way may make political parties irrelevant in the modern world of democracy, where choice is multiple and voter power is decisive. The next election will be different from the last. Zimbabwe seems to have finally entered the digital age, where citizens have multiple sources of information and platforms for debate.

There is no more monopoly of views. The profile of voters is changing and changing very fast. Parties that remain in the past will remain in the past.

May the best man or woman become the next vice president of Zimbabwe.

Methuseli Moyo is a freelance journalist-cum-political commentator. He has worked for Zimpapers, ZBC and Zapu. He writes from Bulawayo.