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On February 27, 2016, President Mugabe celebrated his birthday in the ancient city of Masvingo. He was his usual jovial self and the event itself was, let’s say, routine. But there was something to take home anyway, from his bag of witticisms. He talked about political parties in Zimbabwe and the rate at which they disintegrate because of paucity of solid bases and ideological clarity.
There has been the MDC and all its many offshoots from Welshman Ncube’s “original” MDC; Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T, Job’s Sikhala’s MDC 99 right up to an outfit called Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe led by one Elton Mangoma.
Some zanu-pf rejects coalescing around former Vice President Joice Mujuru have since come together to form what is called Zimbabwe People First and it looks like the wheels are already coming off!
And that is one of the things that President Mugabe predicted back in February.
He said: “Zvimwe zviparty zvakagurunuka. Hauchambokwanisa kuisa zvigamba. Mabhaudhi anotyoka. Kana kudii hapana. Kana vakada kuti ndisu vanaani aaah hapana. (Some parties are disintegrating. You cannot even patch them up. The bolts have broken. You cannot do anything. They cannot be distinguishable.)
“Vanosvotoka vachibva kuMDC-T hamheno vanozviti MDC-T T, MDC-T. Hamheno kuti vanozviti MDC chii. Avo vakabvawo kwedu vakamboedza kuti vangatore zita redu vakari nzvengese.
“Vakati tinoda kuti tizonzi People First. Aaaaah uchanzwa People First, People Second, People Third, People Fourth. Regera. Zvinoramba zvakaita mutorododo zvakadarowo mugwagwa.
(They come off and splinter from the MDC-T . . . there are those who came from zanu-pf, who initially tried to use our name but altered it somewhat. They said they want to be called People First. Behold, soon there will be People First, People Second, People Fourth . . . Just watch. The disintegration will continue like that.)
We were tempted to say that this was prophetic.
Perhaps that would be blasphemous. Or, at any rate, cheapen the importance of such prediction since the office of the prophet has been degraded in Zimbabwe over the past few years.
But it was an important observation.
And just as he predicted, it would seem People First is ripe for People Second, a splinter to arise from the original band of zanu-pf rejects.
We reported yesterday that the party had just hit choppy waters.
There is a war between the young people of that party and the old guard — mainly derived from zanu-pf.
The young people want to take over and direct proceedings at the party.
They have had enough of domination from the likes of Didymus Mutasa.
Poor Mutasa!
At the twilight of his career, his options are severely limited.
Ditto Rugare Gumbo.
They all thought that after being booted from zanu-pf, they would be happily ever after in People First.
Not quite!
They are being confronted with something very rude and it is the challenge of young people and in general people who are all too clear of the fact that the likes of Mutasa and Gumbo are the proverbial anthill that now burrows a snake.
They are useless, or something very close to that.
They are powerless.
Worst of all, they cannot claim the seniority and glory they had in zanu-pf.
PF is the great equaliser: everyone was booted out from zanu-pf and everyone has an equal stead and say.
Perhaps except for poster girl, Joice Mujuru.
But she too cannot be so comfortable: she is not the sole centre of power with the power of a god.
Or, at the very least, the power that she would wield in zanu-pf in a similar role.
That is how the ball game is all changed in PF.
It is dangerous.
Dangerous for the old order, and dangerous to the ultimate existence of Zimbabwe People First the party.
Gone to the “goats”
Now the chap called Kudzai Mbudzi (mbudzi is vernacular for goat) represents the younger cadres, who at face value appear to want a change of how politics in PF should be done differently from zanu-pf, the erstwhile party of the majority of the party membership.
These young guys are enjoying the impudence that they can speak right in the faces of the likes of Didymus Mutasa.
In the great equation, Mutasa and his ilk such as Mavhaire, Rugare Gumbo and Kudakwashe Bhasikiti are people not to be feared.
They are just ordinary chaps.
They are also dispensable.
That is how bad the situation has become for the old guard.
There are new dogs in town – and a goat, literally, is the new dog!
How the mighty have fallen
And you realise that Mbudzi is enjoying the impudence in the face of Mutasa, who for all we know was in the scale of demi-gods in his days in zanu-pf.
He imagined he had the power over life and death.
Now that is gone.
And the manner of his fall from grace was bound to set up for ridicule and disrespect.
Which the likes of Mbudzi are doing now.
He thus can proclaim, as he did in his statement that, “In People First it is not about individual positions, but it is about creating a free Zimbabwe of equal opportunities for all to benefit irrespective of whether you are Mujuru, Mutasa, Gumbo or Biti. It’s about building a people’s party, not a springboard for specific individuals to engage in personal pleasurable plunder of national resources.”
And Mbudzi is not done.
He also has the power to usher out a former stalwart like Mutasa.
How the mighty have fallen!
He tells us: “If VaMutasa then wants to form a political party so that he quickly elevates his pleasurable personal ego to higher political platforms, he thus aspires to achieve in life, so let it be. We will simply say to them welcome to the real world of boys and men.
“But I don’t think VaMutasa will thus be unwisely guided to see it viable to form a political party purportedly for the future of Zimbabwe at such an advanced age in his life.
“If he wanted to do so, he could have done it much earlier in life when he still was more energetic to drive such a vision. It’s much easier to elevate oneself overnight to any political position through these political self creations, but quite another mammoth task to create sustainable political competitive advantage and therefore to stay atop and afloat in this field.”
Ouch!
We are sure this must be cutting close to the bone for these demigods of yesteryear.
Perhaps they should have thought better about their politics and avoid this ignominy they are now being subjected to.
People First has gone to the dogs, oops goats, rather too early!
Online Reporter