Stampede to please Mugabe?

THE stampede for President Robert Mugabe's favour and affections has gone into overdrive in Zanu-PF this past month with supporters from different factions and various standpoints clamouring for the pole position in bestowing "love" on the veteran nationalist. While there is nothing new to this, the clamouring for the incumbent's attentions has heightened of late.

"Jostling for (President) Mugabe's attention has always been a marking feature for Zanu-PF members for a long time," said political analyst, Earnest Mudzengi. "But this has been heightened of late because of the intensified infighting between the respective factions." The ruling party is said to be warring from two camps - one linked to Vice President Joice Mujuru, and the other to Justice Minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa - both of whom have since denied leading factions.

The internecine infighting has seen proxies from both factions accusing each other of not "loving" President Mugabe, with each side looking to score more points for liking the President more. In a hard-hitting statement released on Monday, party spokesperson, Rugare Gumbo, launched a scathing attack on those he accused of claiming to love the President but instead had a hidden agenda.

"We have always known that there is a regime-change agenda in place, only this time it is being pushed by our own people under the guise of loving President Mugabe," Gumbo said. "This is unacceptable behaviour," he added, "which smacks of deceit and a very high level of wickedness. We must all be wary of elements that feign love for President Mugabe and Zanu-PF yet their real agenda is to divert President Mugabe's attention from the core business of government in order to create problems…"

Following the entry onto the political stage by the First Lady, Grace Mugabe, as the nominated candidate for the position of secretary for the ruling party's Women's League, her ascension, coming as unexpectedly as it did, has fast become a fighting point between the two warring factions. This has seen some positioning themselves on top of those they claim are not in favour of the First Lady's meteoric rise within the party ranks straight to the apex.

"Apparently one of the factions has come up with a strategy of pitting the other faction against the President's interests, in this case his wife's imminent appointment to the position of secretary for women's affairs," Mudzengi said. In a development that saw violence erupt in some parts of the party's Harare province in the last two weeks, some youths, including chairperson of the youth for the province, Godfrey Gomwe, have alleged that him and a few others were being victimised by their provincial leadership from the main wing (believed to be aligned to Mujuru) for supporting the First Lady's ascension. This assertion has served to cast doubt on the province's leadership, which has put it on record that they were, in fact the first to endorse the First Lady's nomination.

Further to that, the leadership of the Harare province, in a bid to show they have the First Family's interests at heart have since moved a notch up by nominating the First Lady to be a provincial representative in the party's Central Committee, which is the highest policy making platform after congress.

The tumultuous events in Harare province also saw the Women's League provincial chairperson, Angeline Matambanadzo, slamming party members for organising meetings behind her back and accusing them of wanting to appear as if they "loved" the President more than others.

"Muno hamuna munhu anotaura kuti ndini ndinoda VaMugabe kudarika vamwe (No one here can purport to love the President more than others). We are all here as Zanu-PF members and we all love the party and the President.

"Kwakuuya mapere akapfeka dehwe rehwai vane maagenda avo atisiri kuziva kuti ndeei victimising others saying you do not love the President. Wazonyanya kuvada zvakadii kudarika vamwe vese tiri muno? (There are sheep in wolves' skins with hidden agendas we others are not party to. Where do you get the thinking that you love the President more than others?)" Matambanadzo questioned.

According to Mudzengi, this jostling for the President's favour and attention is part of a patronage system rife within the party, which ensures people are rewarded for their alignments with the leadership. "The jostling for his attention is part of the patronage system. If you don't get this attention then you are in danger of not getting in line with the wishes of the President and so may fall out of favour," Mudzengi said.

Another political analyst, Rashweat Mukundu, fears the intense factional fights could end up affecting the whole country. "Zimbabwe faces the risk of serious political convulsions as (President) Mugabe is failing to initiate a smooth power transition hence putting the country at risk as Zanu-PF is meshed with State institutions and succession in Zanu-PF will engulf the whole country in flames if not handled wisely," Mukundu said.