G40 threatened liberation values, says Mnangagwa

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said Operation Restore Legacy was launched to restore the values of the liberation struggle that were under threat from a cabal of counter-revolutionaries.

The First Secretary and President of Zanu-PF said this while opening the Extraordinary Congress of the ruling party in Harare yesterday. The operation was initiated by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces to rid Zanu-PF of the criminal cabal that had surrounded former President Robert Mugabe.

"Operation Restore Legacy was about our nation: Its past, its present and most of all, its future, which had indeed become threatened," said President Mnangagwa.

"It was about securing a future for our current and future generations. Furthermore, it was about rescuing, restoring and reasserting the founding ideals, values, principles and traditions of our national liberation struggle, as espoused by our party, Zanu-PF.

"The traditions and values that we held and still hold so dear, stood imperilled by a cabal of counter-revolutionary upstarts who, weevil-like and over time, had burrowed deep into the pith of our party and its structures, in the process compromising its leadership." President Mnangagwa said the cabal had also destabilised the party and caused confusion in the nation.

"It had destabilised the party, causing absolute divisions and disquiet in the nation which sat on edge," he said.

"The party ideology, rules and protocols were being desecrated daily or simply being brushed aside at will. Party structures were overrun, while elected office-bearers were summarily suspended and dismissed at speeds of caprice and vaulting ambition. Corrupt activities and corrupt individuals were daily sanitised, while millions were being stolen and stashed outside the country."

President Mnangagwa said the economy suffered as a result of the cabal's actions. "The economy bled from repeated rampant smuggling," he said.

"The country was violated with impunity. Disaffection was building, especially from among the youths, who were seeing their hopes of a bright future slipping away. Veterans who had sacrificed for the liberation of this country were not just being reviled; they were being abused and incarcerated on flimsy pretexts.

"Party events were manipulatively re-engineered to contrive a show of popularity and unanimity. Party mobilisation was reduced to coercion. Party rallies became expensively choreographed pseudo-events dominated by a roving core group which used different venues in order to create a misleading illusion of populism, which belied the bitter discontent which simmered beneath, threatening to boil."

President Mnangagwa said the survival of Zanu-PF was threatened and the party had lost its image as a progressive and forward thinking party that existed to serve Zimbabweans. "Let us draw lessons from all that happened," he said.

"We must vehemently defend to the hilt the party values, cultures and traditions. Revolutions do get infiltrated and corrupted and once corrupted, they degenerate and lose direction. We must never lower our guard and must arrest any negative tendencies that creep into the party, they hold, corrupt and alienate us."

President Mnangagwa said it was every Zanu-PF member's responsibility to defend the ideals of the revolutionary party. He said war veterans had a big role to play in restoring those ideals and that the party should appreciate them for the sacrifices they made.

"I, thus, urge the party to manage the inter-generational transitions so that the spirit of the struggle is retained and passed on as a living tissue," said President Mnangagwa.

"We must, therefore, thrive to offer a positive, progressive vision for the future which tallies with the hopes and dreams of all. In this regard, we should not be a party of the past, we must also be a party for the future, a party for posterity. Let us always be alive to the fact that successful parties constantly renew themselves, speaking to women, youths and the disadvantaged. Equally, it is essential to constantly engage with all stakeholders across the socio, economic and political spectrum and indeed across borders to make ourselves responsive and relevant."