Zanu-PF shows off democratic credentials

Harare Bureau
THE Central Committee elections that were held over the weekend are a demonstration of Zanu-PF’s democratic credentials and organisational capacity that is structured to respond to people’s needs and which will ensure the party cruises to victory in next year’s polls, the party’s spokesperson, Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa, said yesterday.

Results of the elections will be announced any time this week from the National Command Centre.
With the exception of Masvingo which held its Central Committee elections yesterday, all the other nine provinces conducted the elections on Saturday.

In an interview, Cde Mutsvangwa said the Central Committee elections were conducted in a peaceful and transparent manner which shows that democracy runs in the veins of Zanu-PF.

“There were thorough preparations by the ruling party, by the Political Commissar Cde Mike Bimha, his team and the secretariat to make sure that the elections run as smoothly as possible, building up on some of the mistakes which were made in the past.

“I am glad to say the organisation was up to scratch. The response was very enthusiastic. In general, the discipline of the candidates also lives to expectations. Yes, we have had one or two mishaps here and there but those were isolated cases,” he said.

“There was also an effort by those who thought they had an influence in the party to cause commotion and discord, but their efforts have been thwarted. Where incidences of vote buying were recorded, due attention was paid and that was corrected.”

Cde Mutsvangwa also slammed some attention seeking organisations that are trying to equalise the democratic Zanu-PF and the structureless and one-man led opposition CCC that is in the habit of harassing journalists.

Results of the elections, yet again a demonstration of the ruling party’s democratic ethos and values, are trickling in and a formal announcement will be made after the Politburo, the Central Committee’s secretariat, sits this week.

“The results are coming in with most of them already at the head office. They are being collated, complaints are being handled and a report is being compiled by the national Political Commissar Cde Mike Bimha, so that it can be taken to the leadership of the Politburo which is the secretariat of the party outside Congress.

“Once that process is done there should be due announcement of the winners and the losers in the coming days,” explained Cde Mutsvangwa.

He said there are no winners or losers in Zanu-PF as ultimately it is the party that wins.

The holding of the Central Committee elections is the final step towards the Zanu-PF Congress that will be held later this month. This is after the party held conferences for its three wings, also in a democratic manner.

“We are a family in Zanu-PF, this is a party of more than 60 years. It has gone through thick and thin. It has undertaken some of the most difficult assignments on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe like setting up an army to defend themselves which is now the soul of our Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

“We are a family and we tend to be governed by ethos which come from our history. This is manifest in the general organisational discipline which has marked the elections all over the country. We have this other singular pedigree as a revolutionary party that in 1979, we had overcome the catspaw of the British army in the form of the Rhodesia forces.

“We were on the verge of military victory and hitherto the tradition was that you march from bullet to office — from bush to office. Zanu-PF decided that in 1979, we lay down our arms. We gathered at assembly points, we gave the people the freedom to choose the pen and the ballot box as a way to come to power.

“This was done with the whole world watching, with even the former imperial power being invited to go through the ceremony of lowering their flag.

“We came to office through a democratic manner and we have been true to the word of democracy, that’s what we fought for. Forty two years later we still hold elections at national level to choose who is our leader,” said Cde Mutsvangwa.

“We never pride ourselves that we were a victorious army therefore we are entitled to rule, no. We work very hard to make sure that the people support us. We missed the boat somehow with the First Republic. There was a tendency within the leadership of the First Republic to turn Zimbabwe from being a republic into a monarchy, a dynasty, but Zimbabweans rejected that.”

As opposed to the First Republic, Cde Mutsvangwa said President Mnangagwa is cultivating democracy in Zanu PF and the country at large.

Unlike other political parties like CCC where leaders come from the head of the political leader like rabbits, the ruling party’s approach is that the leadership comes from the people and it is through those structures that Zanu-PF will win next year’s elections.

This is especially so because of President Mnangagwa’s work ethic which has seen major investors flocking to Zimbabwe, creating jobs for locals and repositioning Zimbabwe as a major global player in business.

“We are very happy with the work which he is doing. It has also enabled him to bring to fore the business aspect of our party. Remember, the businessman is an important man in delivering goods and services to our society especially in the age of capital. We are in the age of capital.

“So if you do not handle capital well and it is hostile to your country, it’s very difficult to deliver prosperity, and if you do not want to deliver prosperity to the people of Zimbabwe then you are actually betraying all those young people who offered their own lives, because they said even if I die, Zimbabwe will be prosperous,” Cde Mutsvangwa said.

Meanwhile, in Matabeleland South, elections went smoothly in all seven administrative districts.

These include Beitbridge, Gwanda, Insiza, UMzingwane, Matobo, Bulilima and Mangwe.

Provincial party chairman, Cde Mangaliso Ndlovu, commended Zanu-PF members for conducting themselves in a peaceful and respectable manner during the internal elections.
He said voting went on well without any logistical challenges and that they had not received any negative reports.

“We are happy that democracy is very alive within our party and we were able to conduct this critical internal process without any challenges,” Cde Ndlovu said.

“I want to commend our party members for conducting themselves in a mature manner. So far, we had no incidents in all the administrative districts, the process went well as planned.

“Additionally, we haven’t had complaints from those members who failed to make it to the various positions that were on offer. This shows that we are principled people who respect all the democratic process to select representatives.”

The only member who was not contested in Matabeleland South was the party’s Second Secretary, Cde Kembo Mohadi.

The rest of the members had to contest based on the recommendations from the structures depending on the area they came from.

In Mashonaland East Province, provincial elections team leader, Cde Caroline Mugabe, who presided over the Central Committee elections, commended the province for holding peaceful polls and also being gender sensitive.

“We applaud the provincial team for its professionalism in the way they handled the electoral process,” she said.