adminCollen Mharadzano
THE game of politics has always been about numbers since time immemorial, in all the cases, these figures tell huge stories which at times bring amusement and laughter.
In May, Zanu-PF intends to embark on a march that will attract a million people to the capital City of Harare. Yes, the party has the experience and the stamina to mobilise the millions of the revolutionary party’s supporters. Zanu-PF has the unique ability to attract people from various walks of life who equally support it despite the discrepancy in their socio-economic status.
One would wonder as to where the party derives this political talismanic feature from? The party has won every other election in Zimbabwe with astounding numbers, save for the 2008 debacle when there was at least some competition from the opposition.
The 2013 elections is ample testimony of the popularity which Zanu-PF commands in the political realm. Zanu-PF is the party of liberation, it is also the party of today as its policies are tailor-made for the populace and it is the party for posterity given its illustrious vision for the nation anchored in its agrarian and empowerment policies.
Zanu-PF’s clarity of vision is explicitly elucidated in the economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset). Zim-Asset summarises the economic aspirations of the populace and provides the panacea to a myriad of economic challenges confronting the people.
As much as they are other political players in the country’s political terrain, they cannot match Zanu-PF’s aura of invincibility which pervades the country’s political space. The march will ignite debates among the opposition founders and funders who will certainly question whether it is prudent to continue pumping their coveted financial resources into a bottomless pit.
Worse still, political parties such as the Movement for Democratic Change led by Mr Morgan Tsvangirai have a sell-out tag which nauseates conscious Zimbabweans who witnessed the brutality of colonialists .Even the recently formed Zimbabwe People First which is predominantly overseen by Zanu-PF rejects such as Dr Joice Mujuru, Mr Didymus Mutasa and Mr Rugare Gumbo has no clue as to what the people want.
Imagine a political outfit which purport to be serious when it has already started to engage in verbal leadership wars in social media hardly a year into its existence. Its tiny support base, if ever it has, is already questioning the leadership of Dr Mujuru.
Some political pundits are already writing the epitaphs of the Zimbabwe People First, arguing that with almost a year to an election, it is yet to have an elective congress and hardly any structures in place. Now that some of the characters they hoped would join them after they were expelled from Zanu-PF have lodged appeals to the revolutionary party’s National Disciplinary Appeals Committee in their bid to make amends, where will they get their support from?
With such a disjointed opposition with a penchant for gallivanting with colonial interests, who will begrudge Zanu-PF’s juggernaut when it steamrolls into Harare, showcasing its political superiority with more than a million people.
Lest some have forgotten, Zanu-PF has already done this when war veterans organised a similar march prior to the 2013 elections which again asserted Zanu-PF as a people’s entity which they are endeared to. The capital city, Harare, was brought down to a standstill as the liberators sang and danced in solidarity with their patron, President Mugabe and the party, Zanu-PF.
Surely, this is history stubbornly repeating itself, as Zanu-PF savours once again for another triumphant 2018 plebiscite.
The leadership of Zanu-PF Youth League has already dismissed suggestions by its detractors who sought to portray the intended march as a ploy to discredit part of its leadership.
The party spokesperson, Cde Simon Khaya Moyo also landed his weight to the march, describing it as a party project with the total support of all who belong to it. Cde Khaya Moyo added that the march was also a huge token of appreciation to the quality leadership which President Mugabe has given to the nation.
Indeed, the wise leadership of the veteran statesman and Africa’s illustrious son who has meticulously championed the cause of the poor and down trodden deserves such a huge walk in his honour.
This walk will be an enormous statement to the likely verdict of the 2018 elections.
The Morgan Tsvangirai-led Movement for Democratic Change had its own demonstration which was sanctioned by the police. It will be interesting to see how events will unfold at the Zanu-PF Youth League organised million men march. The crowd that gathered in Mbare for the preparation of the march told a story of a party in unison ready to explode as it parades its political arsenal.
The exuberance of Zanu-PF’s Political Commissar, Cde Saviour Kasukuwere could only ignite hope to the millions ready to make history by being an indispensable part of this historic march.Some have always argued that political shrewdness demands that one should not always reveal that potent weapon in matters political. The opposition in Zimbabwe seems to always use the constitutional allowance to demonstrate as an avenue to showcase their political relevance. Yet, Zanu-PF will now take the initiative to demonstrate to all and sundry who care to watch that it has always had the numbers to rattle the political terrain.
Certainly, with the election season beckoning, the country is heading for interesting times. Already, opposition parties have failed to demonstrate any ability to form an alternative government with their partners, the country’s erstwhile colonisers unashamedly showing their ugly hand in the schemes of the opposition’s strategy.
Zanu-PF has the opportunity to consolidate its dominance by showing to all its detractors and usual skeptics through a resounding march which befit its status as a liberator and progressive party which values the people’s aspirations.
Online Reporter