Zanu-PF appeals: Close scrutiny needed

Mukachana Hanyani
THE formation of the National Disciplinary Appeals Committee recently by the Zanu-PF leadership has come at a time when those people who found themselves chucked out of the revolutionary party were crying foul over the findings and ruling of the National Disciplinary Committee against them. Some alleged that they were chucked out of the party without due diligence and them given any opportunity to defend themselves.

Now that Zanu-PF has seen it fit to accord anyone with his/her grievance against the NDC to come forward and appeal, people should grab this opportunity so that they clear their names as to get readmitted in the revolutionary party.

Actually by coming up with this NDAC, Zanu-PF has shown its members and some critics that it is a party which is open to compromises as a way of bringing sanity in the ruling party. The NDAC has also come at the right time since it would clear the air on all those members who thought the NDC was not fair in its delivery of justice against the alleged rogue members of Zanu-PF.

Reports coming from Zanu-PF circles are that quite a number of individuals who were dismissed from the ruling party and some suspended depending on the seriousness of their cases have appealed to the NDAC for their cases to be reviewed.

It has been reported that even those who were dismissed on allegations that they were associates of the former Vice-President, Dr Joice Mujuru`s cabal now the leader of ZimPF have also appealed against their dismissals and suspensions from the ruling party.

They want to clear their names against being alleged to have been behind Mujuru`s manoeuvres to remove the sitting President Mugabe from power.

Their intentions are to get their cases reviewed and then get readmitted into the ruling party. They want to disassociate themselves completely from the Mujuru cabal as well as her political outfit going by the name ZimPF. These people believe that they were not treated fairly when they were dismissed from Zanu-PF hence the move to appeal against the decision and ruling of the NDC.

So the formation of the NDAC has come as a relief to those who have been languishing outside the comfort zone of the revolutionary party Zanu-PF, hence the euphoria by those members in rushing to appeal. For some of them it was clear from their activities that life outside Zanu-PF was becoming cold as they began to attend rallies addressed by the First Lady, Dr Amai Grace Mugabe throughout the country in recent months.

So the formation of the NDAC came as a relief to them as they did not waste time in putting forward their appeals papers to the NDAC so that their cases are looked upon and reviewed as soon as possible.

The NDAC which is headed by Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko has a bigger task at hand in which it is supposed to make sure that those who have appealed are clear candidates prepared to serve the ruling party with wholeheartedly without malice again. The formation of the ZimPF could be a challenge to Vice-President Mphoko and his NDAC crew in dealing with all those members who have appealed against their dismissals from the ruling party.

A case by case scenario needs to be analysed so that there is no danger of bringing back those who would destroy the party from within

While the NDAC has been formed to bring normalcy and sanity to the ruling party, the alleged members of the Mujuru cabal who appealed against their cases need to be closely scrutinised as to make sure that they have totally reformed.

Some of those people who have appealed against their dismissal from Zanu-PF when they were alleged to have been the Mujuru cabal associates could have been inspired to been in Zanu-PF again as a means to lure those in Zanu-PF to join ZimPF.

This writer has no intention of going by the names of such alleged members of the Mujuru cabal who have appealed against their cases to the NDAC, but the NDAC itself should carry out its own investigation against those members as a way of finding real facts about their personalities.

The NDAC has a bigger task at hand to make sure that it would not get attacks from Zanu-PF supporters in the event those to be readmitted do not find themselves active in destroying the party from within.

Close scrutiny of such members would clear the dust and make them truly reformed members of the revolutionary party Zanu-PF.

Of late, Zanu-PF has been grappling with political wars to eradicate factionalisms within its file and ranks. Factionalism in Zanu-PF has caused divisions within the party with some developmental programme being affected as people spend their time fighting for political positions.

Most of those people who were dismissed from the party were alleged architect members of factionalism and such members need to be scrutinised as to find out whether they would not come to destroy the party from within. While factionalism has been as old as history in some political parties but it would not be fair for individuals to create it for the benefit of their political aggrandisement.

For that reason, the NDAC should not be fooled by those who have appealed for their cases to be reviewed into believing that all of them are genuine members of the ruling party. The truth of the matter is that some of them have found it difficult to destroy Zanu-PF from outside and doing it from inside is their main objective.

An eagle`s eye is what is needed by the NDAC so that everyone is scrutinised and his/her allegiance to the ruling party is assessed before being admitted again.