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May I extend my heartfelt condolences to all revolutionaries on the loss of Mama Betty Kaunda. Zambia, and indeed Africa at large, has been robbed of a strong and exemplary mother figure, wife of one of Africa’s great icons and Zambia’s first President Dr Kenneth Kaunda.
Mama Kaunda died in her sleep in Harare on Wednesday 19 September 2012 while visiting her daughter employed at the Zambian Embassy. In recognition of the strategic role played by the Kaunda family towards our own independence and most significantly in the struggle for the liberation of the entire African continent, His Excellency President R G Mugabe promptly dispatched a high-profile delegation accompanying Mama Kaunda’s body back to Zambia. Such solidarity was warmly embraced by the Kaunda family, President Michael Sata and the entire fraternal people of Zambia.
As a party, we continue charting our course absolutely outside the imperial orbit of our erstwhile colonisers and their neo-colonial puppets in our midst in the Inclusive Government. We do so undeterred in pursuit of our vision, principles, values and objectives to achieve the much needed national social cohesion, peace and prosperity for all Zimbabwean people. These principles, vision and values teach all cadres life-long lessons that will inform us that whatever we do, wherever we are, we should ensure that our actions unflinchingly contribute towards the attainment of a peaceful, free and just society and the upliftment of our people.
I am conscious that the sterling work being done at every level of our party structures in all the country’s 10 provinces will continue, guided by the spirit and determination to ensure the objective of a strong party and prosperous people. As the lifespan of the inclusive government draws to a rather uninspiring end, we should not lose focus on the central task at hand: winning the next general elections resoundingly and establishing a stable government structure for Zimbabwe.
As a revolutionary party, we have shifted our eyes to focus on the neo-colonial regime change agenda and have put significant energy into dealing with the Western puppet parties, the MDC formations and the multiplicity of problems that they have invited onto this land, including sanctions, which are a brutal strongarm tactic meant to get us to relinquish power.
However, we should not lose focus on the people, the very ones who have given us the mandate to rule. We should better our work so that many of our socio-economic challenges are addressed. The challenges of poverty, underdevelopment and corruption should cease to define the lives of many of our people. Leaders must lead by example and refrain from despicable conduct. Leadership is collective and calls for responsibility, accountability as well as respect for other colleagues.
The party has a “zero tolerance” policy on the twin challenges of indiscipline and corruption and we should work collectively to combat these evil phenomena within and outside the party to ensure that people will live in conditions of trust, prosperity and development.
We need not look at indigenisation as the beginning and the end of our economic efforts. We now need to consciously create science and technological skills, especially in the areas of medicine and ICT.
Without concerted effort to offer Africa and the world at large such skills and resources, we will make Zimbabwe’s children permanent secondary citizens in the world. We need to very quickly and cleverly adapt to this changing world. Build hospitals and centres of technology that will attract others from around the world to our country and provide a significant revenue stream other than the traditional mining and farming revenues. In terms of the human resources factor we have done a sterling job, all we need to do is focus and harness this resource in a way that benefits the country, instead of allowing countries like Britain to benefit from all we have put in our people in terms of education.
As we are all aware, the country is in the process of making a new constitution. This process should be “people driven” and must ensure that Zimbabweans are given an absolute opportunity to make their constitution by themselves. When a country is at such a critical and strategic stage of its development it must ensure that the rights, interests and security of its people are never compromised through a piece of paper. Zanu-PF notes with grave concern that the Copac processes and procedures culminating to the current draft are marred with various fatal flaws.
The draft inappropriately excluded the views of the people as expressed during the outreach programme and as espoused in the National Report. As a party, we have come up with legitimate amendments to the draft reflecting the views expressed by the people. The amended Copac draft has been presented to the principals and should be taken seriously at the Second All Stakeholders Conference set for this month.
On another significant note, the party has embarked on a “meet the people campaign”, where senior leaders of the party will be meeting people throughout all the country’s 10 provinces to investigate the nature of their challenges.
This is a critical consultative probe, where our leaders will hear from the people first hand their concerns and aspirations, their dreams, hopes and desires. It will also provide party leaders with an opportunity to educate and enlighten people on some critical areas in the development of the nation, for example the constitution making process. Many of our people are not even aware of the fact that their views have been left out of the proffered Copac draft. All in all, this is a mutually beneficial exercise, where the party leaders will gain information first hand and also be able to engage people on pertinent issues. People come first. People are supreme hence the saying “vox populi, vox dei” — “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
Overall cadres, from the tone of this newsletter you may be able to deduce that there is much work to be done. We have been working hard yes, but we cannot afford to rest on our laurels in the false belief that our country and its people are secure. We continue to be under threat from all angles and it is imperative that at this time we stick together and survive or we divide and perish.
The neo-colonial agenda has never been more aggressive, with major shortages of food and resources as well as a global economic meltdown; we must never feel too secure. Let us exercise wisdom in all we do at this time, let us stick closer than brothers and walk with a oneness of purpose, a sense of unity and ubuntu/hunhu. We must never move our eyes from that which is the very reason and core of our existence. We are a proud people. Free forever. Zimbabwe is not for sale.
Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo is Zanu-PF National Chairman. He wrote this article in the October issue of the Zanu-PF National Chairman’s Newsletter, The People. The first issue of the magazine was published last month.
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Londile Moyo