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Wallace Ruzvidzo Zimpapers Elections Desk
A WISE man once said, “Those who respect the elderly pave their own road toward success.”
The old guard in any case are the fountains of knowledge that any society or form of organisational structure should seek to tap into.
There is even an old adage that says, “Respect and learn from your elders, have manners, listen and absorb from their decades of wisdom.”
Under President Mnangagwa’s leadership, the ruling ZANU PF has shown that it is alive to this fact and principle of respecting its elders.
The ruling party, at President Mnangagwa’s instigation, set up a 10-member council of elders and established the War Veterans League, masterstrokes that not only showed its inclusivity but also its willingness to incorporate experience and wisdom.
The council comprises former members of the Presidium and Politburo as well as luminaries from party organs appointed by the President in terms of their probity, integrity, experience, and knowledge of the party.
Their function is to advise the President on all pertinent party matters relating to governance and external relations; to advise on the resolution of conflicts that may arise among and between senior party members, at the instance of the President or its own initiative; to provide guidance on party doctrine and ideology; and to advise on any issue referred to it by the President and First Secretary of the party.
On the other hand, the establishment of the War Veterans League only served to show that truly, President Mnangagwa intended to immortalise the country’s rich history. It was also an endorsement of their leadership role at both community and national levels.
The President has continued to assert that their indomitable spirit, coupled with their sacrifices over the years and sheer force of determination, can inspire Zimbabwe towards upper middle-class economic status by 2030.
In stark contrast, CCC leader Nelson Chamisa has shown disregard and disdain for the older and more experienced members of his waning political outfit in a show of a lack of maturity and leadership nous.
The beleaguered opposition leader has sought to get rid of his matured rank and file, as he views them as serious threats to his dictatorial leadership, favouring to flock with the young, naïve, and malleable.
By so doing, Chamisa has created active opposition internally with disgruntlement among his members now the order of the day. He has sought to paint the party’s old guard as insipid and rendered them inactive.
The CCC has seemingly rejected continuity and is heading towards its all-so-evident loss and consequent demise in the forthcoming harmonised elections.
As @Jamwanda2 has aptly noted: “After Tsvangirai and his generation in opposition, Triple C today is now a place for high school and college yobs who, apart from not having been born at the time of conclusion of the Armed Liberation Struggle, have wilfully adopted pro-Western politics reeking with a strong anti-liberation struggle ethos. They have not cared to bend down low, so elders of this Land tell them what they should know. Or even to read the story of our Nation which escaped them existentially. This is why they think the Liberation War – any war for that matter – has had a clean closure, placing it behind us.”
ZANU PF has demonstrated that the old guard is alive with so much knowledge to impart and guidance to proffer as they know this road all too well, while on the other hand, the CCC has viewed them as dead skin which needs to be shed off.
Chamisa and his literal minions have demonstrated clear naivety as even his handlers know the importance of keeping the old guard close as they carry with them a degree of experience and stability.
Following MDC founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s demise, Chamisa wrestled power shamelessly from Thokozani Khupi. He has also gone on to sideline and put a leash on Tendai Biti.
Welshman Ncube, Ian Makonese, and other senior members of the party also faced the same fate when Chamisa assumed power.
His handlers are now even cognisant of his inability to lead so much that he has been left in the cold and has not been rendered the support he had hoped for from the country’s erstwhile detractors.
On the contrary, President Mnangagwa and his administration have even gone on to honour the dead from their graves by righting the wrongs of the past administration. Cases in point are the recent conferment of national hero status on Reverend Ndabaningi Chandiwana Sithole and Cde James Dambaza Chikerema who had both been overlooked by the previous administration.
When the ZANU founding father, Cde Sithole, died in November 2000, frantic efforts to have him declared a national hero hit a brick wall as the previous administration flatly snubbed him of the highest honour, however, President Mnangagwa, then a Minister, promised to relook at the matter at the right time, and true to his word, he did.
In the same vein, for 16 years, Cde Chikerema’s family was in agony following the death of the renowned and illustrious gallant son of the soil, who had also been denied national hero status by the First Republic.
President Mnangagwa realised these dire omissions and led by bestowing and restoring the two liberation stalwarts’ dignity, giving them their rightful and well-deserved honour. The Head of State continues to emphasise that the old guard is the heartbeat of the country and plays an integral role in its success.
“You remain the source of inspiration that must help propel our party and give confidence to all our people to drive the national development agenda forward, towards Vision 2030. Let us, therefore, never abdicate the responsibility to inculcate patriotism, loyalty, hard-honest work, sacrifice, and self-belief among the younger generation.
“In every circumstance, I challenge us to be exemplary and the embodiment of the Party’s ideology, national character, culture, and value system. I recognise and commend you for your continued participation in various national events and programmes that are aimed at immortalising our rich history and collective memory,” said President Mnangagwa at the inaugural War Veterans League Conference.
The blind leading by Chamisa has consequently seen many of his members defecting to the ruling ZANU PF as they have seen precedents that continue to be set by President Mnangagwa.
The two political parties have handled their old guard in totally different ways and the better ones are clearly and undeniably evident.
Online Reporter