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PRESIDENT Mugabe was clear and unequivocal in calling for an end to factionalism and divisions rocking the ruling Zanu-PF party when he addressed thousands of people who thronged Rudhaka Stadium in Marondera during his first provincial meeting with Zanu-PF youths on Friday.
The President spoke at length about the emotive subject, emphasising the need for the revolutionary party to unite ahead of crucial elections next year. Of late, Zanu-PF has witnessed unprecedented levels of indiscipline with party officials always at each other’s throats and using various platforms to ridicule and impugn their colleagues – often to the detriment of internal cohesion and unity.
Despite being counselled to desist from criticising each other in public and exposing their differences to their enemies both within and outside our borders, some party officials have taken every opportunity to berate, belittle and play down the achievements of their comrades.
Important national programmes such as Command Agriculture have been lampooned despite the obvious success of the scheme while notable achievements by Government have been downplayed as the various factions within the party jockey and position themselves in the never ending succession matrix. President Mugabe has time and again cautioned against the danger of being fixated with succession politics at the expense of service delivery and we feel the ruling party is taking its eyes off the ball by continually engaging in mortal combat with itself instead of closing ranks and expending its energies on meaningful national programmes.
In this vein, the President’s address in Marondera should be taken seriously and his words taken to heart by every well-meaning and disciplined cadre of the party of independence. We feel too much time and energy has been taken on silly and petty fights and Zanu-PF must refocus and work towards serving the generality of Zimbabweans who voted overwhelmingly for it and President Mugabe in the 2013 harmonised elections.
In fact, we strongly urge those angling for top positions in the party to wait for Congress where they can put forward their names as required by the party’s constitution. In his address in Marondera, President Mugabe said divisions in the party had reached unprecedented levels, with some party officials visiting sangomas or inyangas for them to land leadership posts.
President Mugabe said since the formation of the first liberation movement, the National Democratic Party in the 1950s, party leaders were elected on merit, without lobbying. “We looked at capabilities, that’s the culture we want to continue,” he said. “We now have factions and some are approaching sangomas. They approach the youths and say support me, I will do certain things for you. We denounce that behaviour. It doesn’t build the party. To the leaders, we also say Stop It! Stop It! Stop It!”
President Mugabe said he was aware of all the plots being done by some party officials. “If you are known as someone who takes sides, who holds secret meetings, don’t think people don’t see,’’ he said. “They see. Don’t think Mugabe doesn’t see, he knows a lot, but we want people to unite. We have a Congress and we are a party with guidelines. Congress will decide. That is what we want such that Congress exercises its powers as outlined in the Constitution.
“We don’t want to start fights before the time comes. It is too early for the leaders to fight for positions. Be at peace. The time will come, it will certainly come. We want the party to remain united, with people not segregating against each other.”
President Mugabe also slammed Cabinet Ministers and Politburo members leaking classified Government and party information to the private media.
“If you are a genuine Zanu-PF member, be true to your party,” he said.
“Don’t undermine your party. Right now we have problems with articles coming in these small papers. Breaking the law, they write the deliberations we would have held in Cabinet and Politburo. But who leaks that information? The papers don’t just write from their heads, it is coming from our Cabinet Ministers and Politburo members. It’s all about the existing fights. We are doing a harm to the party. Stop it!”
We welcome the President’s remarks and hope they resonate with the rank and file of the party. Factionalism is a cancer which is slowly gnawing away at the soul of the revolutionary party and all right thinking and patriotic cadres would be well aware of the danger of pursuing a successionist agenda at the expense of unity and progress.
The President has spoken and we hope those who were in the business of hatching Machiavellian plots in the dead of the night have been put on notice. The time will come for all those who harbour ambitions of succeeding President Mugabe to throw their hats into the ring and that platform is Congress.
Online Reporter