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Zanu-PF has been in celebratory mood from early August when the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission released results of the July 31 harmonised elections. The revolutionary party, which had endured five years in an unlikely status of an opposition in Parliament and the embarrassment of sharing power with reactionaries, regained its position as the ruling party.
The mandate was resounding — 61 percent of the presidency and 197 seats in Parliament. Indeed it has been a four-month long party, which culminated in the party’s 14th National People’s Conference held in Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West last week.
The air in the elegant conference venue was palpably positive as the 4,300 plus delegates from the country’s 10 provinces revelled in victory. Everything ran smoothly, we understand. Food was abundant; transport to move delegates around was available while accommodation was also available for the party faithful.
The venue itself was an enormous fully carpeted, air-conditioned and fire-resistant marquee that sat basically over half the soccer pitch at the Chinhoyi University of Technology. It was a splendid venue, which, we reckon did not come cheap. This is what we have come to associate with Zanu-PF — flawless organisation, colour, happiness, style as well and above all substance.
It is a profound statement of victory and presence. The conference must mark the end of the four-month celebration, and the beginning of five years of delivery. It is only through meeting the expectations of the electorate that Zanu-PF can continue to govern.
The challenges are many and big. Achieving unity in the party is the biggest challenge, for it was because of disunity that Zanu-PF got itself on the brink in March 2008. It is not a situation that Zanu-PF does not want to relive.
“We need to emerge from this conference a united party, pursuing shared goals to one outcome,” said President Mugabe.
“We cannot do so in circumstances in which there is factionalism, whether real or imagined. Just the mere thought of factions divides us, weakens us. We need unity so we are able to implement our economic programmes.”
He has always condemned factionalism, itself an unwelcome phenomenon that divides and weakens. Party leaders must not take these exhortations as mere talk but well-considered advice from the very conscience of the party of liberation.
So we hope that the party came out of Chinhoyi more united than before so the nefariousness of the period before the 2008 elections does not recur, so that the chaos witnessed in the recent provincial elections do not happen again.
Connected to the foregoing, the party did well by coming up with a resolution that proposes the setting up of an election directorate to manage all internal elections to promote transparency and fairness. It is a very positive intention; let us see this fundamental proposal implemented.
The economy it still in trouble. Support from development partners like the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and African Development Bank, among others has not yet come to help rebuild the economy. Realistically, it may not come as we all know that a country’s brand of politics determines whether support from the West comes or not.
Ours is nationalistic politics which Zanu-PF is determined to pursue. In this event therefore, it would be too optimistic to look forward to the Bretton Woods institutions resuming their support, but at the end of the day, it is the incumbent Zanu-PF government’s responsibility to get the economy back into shape. This therefore is a challenge facing the party and its government going forward.
That the conference’s focus was on the economy shows that the party recognises the importance of reviving it. The party’s economic plan, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim Asset) would get it done for us if it is implemented well and the general environment is good enough for that to happen.
Often, many of us tend to overlook the criticalness of discipline in our economic endeavours. One big manifestation of indiscipline in Zimbabwe is corruption. It has become a way of life for many that they no longer see it as bad, evil and a genuine threat to economic recovery. Zanu-PF has to work harder than before to defeat this anathema.
If the party manages its politics and the economy well, we don’t foresee it out of power after 2018. The trickiest battle was won on July 31. MDC-T, its biggest rival, is in post-election decline and its recovery can only happen if Zanu-PF fails to conduct itself properly. We see this as a good position for the ruling party as it has its destiny in its hands, not others’.
It has to be all work and no play for Zanu-PF.
Online Reporter