Kaukonde castigates his Zanu-PF counterparts

Zanu-PF Member of Parliament for Marondera Central, who is also a well-known businessperson and the chairperson of the parliamentary portfolio committee on Industry and Commerce, Ray Kaukonde, on Friday tore into his party, accusing it of fighting for political power while the economy was dying.

Giving a vote of thanks at the end of a tour of plastics manufacturers organised by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) Kaukonde did not have kind words for his party, where he said dog fights for power and factionalism had been given more priority and prominence leaving the economy unattended.

"We are busy fighting for political positions but the economy has been ignored and left asleep. Zimbabweans are a resilient lot, we were talking about diamonds recently, now no one is talking about them," he said.

Kaukonde said Zimbabwe should borrow a leaf from countries like South Africa where its citizens put the country and the economy first before anything else and added that the leadership there understood it was elected by the people.

"It is Zimbabweans who can turn around this economy, so it is our duty to instill confidence in every company. Let us put politics aside, we are all Zimbabweans," said Kaukonde.

Another Zanu-PF legislator who spoke on condition of anonymity said the ruling party should up its game in reviving the economy.

"I have gone to the chairperson of this committee (Kawukonde) many times and told him to tell the president the truth about the economy. I even wrote a paper to the vice-president to this effect.

"Right now we have an advantage in that politically we do not have any competition, so this is the time we can push vigorous policies that can yield results in the next three years.

"Companies are closing and the money to pay civil servants is coming mainly from Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, but the number of companies contributing taxes is dwindling. There will come a time, not long from now, when we will not be even be
able to pay the civil servants," said the MP.

Factionalism is threatening to tear the core of Zanu-PF and Mugabe has on record, many times, castigated factional fighting within his party.

The party has for a long time been rumoured to be divided into two major factions, one reportedly led by vice-president Joice Mujuru and the other by Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, although both
have steadfastly denied leading any factions.

Mugabe recently hinted that neither of the two were certain to succeed him, as there were other potential candidates that the people may prefer.