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PRESIDENT Mugabe has once again called for unity of purpose and ideological clarity in Zanu-PF. More than that, he told the Politburo in Harare on Wednesday that the party needed to deliver on its electoral promises as encapsulated in Zim-Asset, the country’s economic recovery blueprint.
The President’s call comes hard on the heels of a similar plea by the First Lady, Dr Grace Mugabe, for an end to political infighting and for party members to refocus their attention on serving the people.
We couldn’t agree more with the sentiments expressed by the President. We have said it, and it bears repeating that the purges in the revolutionary party have gone on for far too long since the National People’s Congress in December last year. This has raised fears that a process which started as an effort to cleanse the party of undesirable elements may have been hijacked by forces with a completely different, personal agenda which has nothing to do with serving the party and national agenda.
The purges appear to have assumed a life of their own, completely divorced from the broader national interest. The attacks on and removal of senior party members which have become a daily staple have created a sense of anxiety and uncertainty about the future for everyone. No one feels safe in their position. That is very unhealthy for any organisation, more so a ruling party. There is a sense that Zanu-PF managed to unite to win the harmonised elections in July 2013. Thereafter it became a dog-eat-dog affair, hence calls by the First Family for the party and the leadership to re-engage Zim-Asset in a united and more purposeful manner.
While Zim-Asset is long on brilliant ideas, it has been short on delivery. It has virtually been neglected. The party is overly consumed in internal affairs. That is regrettable and must be condemned. We must condemn this dereliction of duty by the party the same way we condemn the debilitating effect of economic sanctions on Zimbabwe.
One of the biggest problems of our politics has been too much focus on winning elections and less on delivery. Thus, once it became clear that the opposition MDC-T had lost the fight to reverse the land reform programme, the ruling party seems to have dropped its guard, and turned on itself.
We now have the land and the national Constitution guarantees its ownership, but investment in productivity on farms is not getting the priority it deserves. The result is that 15 years on, Zimbabwe’s food security remains threatened by vagaries of nature such as drought. There is little investment in irrigation infrastructure while maize farmers are reduced to near-destitution every year because the GMB won’t pay them on time. But there is always money to pay for maize imports!
Land reform was one of the greatest imperatives of Zimbabwe’s sovereignty. It should remain the biggest prize of the liberation war. It is one legacy which Zanu-PF cannot afford to lose by spending too much time and energy on internal fights. The success of the land reform programme must go way beyond tobacco production. Success should be measured in terms of food self-sufficiency, a sure guarantee of national security and stability.
Without food self-sufficiency, national stability is at risk. That is why demands for jobs have such potency. It is because people are hungry. They cannot readily relate to the land reform programme if we cannot feed ourselves as a nation.
These are the primary concerns which should preoccupy Zanu-PF and its leadership, not party positions. These are legacy issues on which the revolutionary party cannot afford to fail. It is its duty to correct mistakes made in land reclamation, including farm sizes, and make a success of the land reform programme. That is the only fitting tribute we can pay to the fallen heroes of the liberation struggle.
The First Family is right, enough of Zanu-PF internal fights; it is time to deliver on electoral promises, and to look beyond 2018. It is the legacy of delivery which is most important, not winning elections.
Online Reporter