News / National
'Zimbabwe crisis man-made'
21 Sep 2020 at 02:09hrs | Views
OUTSPOKEN cleric and one of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's top advisers, Shingi Munyeza, yesterday said the country's crisis was man-made, and mainly centred on unresolved succession matrix.
In a sermon broadcast on social media platforms, Munyeza said: "We have a crisis, we have been going through a crisis, we are going through a crisis, we have a crisis. Our current crisis is mostly man-made and it's a leadership one, it's a succession one as well.
"If leadership succession is not handled properly, transparently, this will always create a legitimacy question and a perpetual crisis because there is always the rivalry, there is always revenge."
He said legitimate leadership embodied shared values, shared vision and a competency which empowered future generations but, due to succession squabbles in both the ruling party and opposition, Zimbabwe has remained in election mode since the late former President Robert Mugabe's era.
"When we don't have a legitimate leadership, it is always fighting among itself, and also, will be fighting the next generation. Our problem in this country was because the founding fathers both in the ruling party politics and in opposition party politics did not do any succession planning.
"They were not successfully succeeded. There was chaos when they died or left office and, therefore, we have the current political mess because there was poor succession planning."
President Emmerson Mnangagwa came to power in November 2017 after toppling his former mentor in a military coup, while the main opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa stands accused of elbowing out Thokozani Khupe for the presidency following the death of party founder Morgan Tsvangirai in 2018.
Mnangagwa's presidency is being challenged by both opposition and G40 elements who fled the country after Mugabe's ouster.
On the other hand, Chamisa and Khupe are still fighting for the party leadership although they contested the July 2018 elections under MDC Alliance and MDC-T, respectively.
In March this year, Khupe went on a warpath recalling 21 MDC Alliance MPs and 84 councillors who refused to recognise her.
She also took over party offices and on Saturday, added a new dimension to the fight when she claimed ownership of Chamisa's party name.
Munyeza said Zimbabwe could be more prosperous if politicians had followed clear succession plans to ensure smooth transitions.
"Right now, we are caught up in quarrels, challenges, bickering, factional fights, toxicity and polarity, because there was no succession planning," he said.
In a sermon broadcast on social media platforms, Munyeza said: "We have a crisis, we have been going through a crisis, we are going through a crisis, we have a crisis. Our current crisis is mostly man-made and it's a leadership one, it's a succession one as well.
"If leadership succession is not handled properly, transparently, this will always create a legitimacy question and a perpetual crisis because there is always the rivalry, there is always revenge."
He said legitimate leadership embodied shared values, shared vision and a competency which empowered future generations but, due to succession squabbles in both the ruling party and opposition, Zimbabwe has remained in election mode since the late former President Robert Mugabe's era.
"When we don't have a legitimate leadership, it is always fighting among itself, and also, will be fighting the next generation. Our problem in this country was because the founding fathers both in the ruling party politics and in opposition party politics did not do any succession planning.
"They were not successfully succeeded. There was chaos when they died or left office and, therefore, we have the current political mess because there was poor succession planning."
Mnangagwa's presidency is being challenged by both opposition and G40 elements who fled the country after Mugabe's ouster.
On the other hand, Chamisa and Khupe are still fighting for the party leadership although they contested the July 2018 elections under MDC Alliance and MDC-T, respectively.
In March this year, Khupe went on a warpath recalling 21 MDC Alliance MPs and 84 councillors who refused to recognise her.
She also took over party offices and on Saturday, added a new dimension to the fight when she claimed ownership of Chamisa's party name.
Munyeza said Zimbabwe could be more prosperous if politicians had followed clear succession plans to ensure smooth transitions.
"Right now, we are caught up in quarrels, challenges, bickering, factional fights, toxicity and polarity, because there was no succession planning," he said.
Source - newsday
