'Mnangagwa surely does not deserve this'

The Zimbabwe People's Party led by Rugare Gumbo and Didymus Mutasa wishes to convey a message of solidarity and support to the recent military intervention in defence of the Zimbabwe Constitution and revolution.

This follows the capture of the State by reactionaries and counter-revolutionaries bent on pursuing their own narrow, selfish, parochial and criminal interests.

The Zimbabwe People's Party led by Rugare Gumbo and Didymus Mutasa wishes to convey a message of solidarity and support to the recent military intervention in defence of the Zimbabwe Constitution and revolution.

The people's response to the timely intervention – characterised by a sense of great relief, jubilation and genuine gratitude – is evidence that our nation was clearly on the precipice and in danger of collapsing into an anarchical and conflict-ridden polity.

The Government had been hijacked by a family dynasty and ruling political elite devoid of ideological clarity and policy coherence, rendering the nation susceptible to fascist, anarchical and populist misrule.

The intervention, in our view, rekindles hope in the nation and it is our fervent expectation and is a rallying point around which our people can refocus on important national issues and can redefine their political, social, economic and development goals in peace and unity.

It provides a fresh opportunity for our society to unite in its quest for meaningful development in an environment that shuns corruption, nepotism, partisan politics, regionalism and all forms of clan politics.

We firmly believe that is the only way that our nation can respect the ideals of our revolution and fully honour those that paid the supreme sacrifice for the freedom of our people through the blood that they shed.

As we go forward, it is hoped that a sustained mobilisation effort ought to be carried out to educate our people about the values of our liberation struggle and that the capture of the State should be for the purpose of serving the people rather than for the pursuit of narrow, selfish interests.

ZimPF recognises the embryonic ties we have with our sister countries in the region, in particular, the Sadc Group, and the oneness of the Bantu people in general.

We, therefore, welcome constructive contributions from this family.

We, the Zimbabweans, take great exception to unwarranted actions in words or deeds for purpose of reinstating a primitive system that is characterised by flaunting the rule of law, gross human rights abuse, violence, lack of free and fair elections, corruption, plunder of national resources and the collapse of economy.

We want to take this opportunity to advise our brothers in the region that the masses in Zimbabwe are fully behind the Zimbabwe Defence Forces since the move is justified as it converges with aspirations to remove this scourge of misgovernance.

Any military opposition against the ZDF will be opposed not only by our military but by the masses of the Zimbabwe people.

The Zimbabwe People First party also calls for a re-think on the fate of ousted Vice-President, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.

The party also implores the international and diplomatic communities to intervene on behalf of the embattled former Vice-President, through solidarity appeals for the Zimbabwe Government to exercise restraint in the spirit of leniency, democratic tolerance and humane treatment of those who have fallen foul in the wake of the internal discord in Zanu-PF.

The appeal is made in full recognition of the reality that the Vice-President's ouster is essentially an internal Zanu-PF matter and that as a private club the ruling party has the final word in this sensitive matter – irrespective of the national political repercussions.

Our appeal for caution and restraint is premised on the following:

Firstly, information on hand regarding the dismissal of the former Vice-President of Zimbabwe is not yet crystal clear.

Whereas we are aware that the announcement was made by the Minister of information – who is also Zanu-PF's spokesperson – doubts still linger on the constitutionality of the whole process especially with regard to whether the President was directly responsible for the dismissal as required by the Constitution.

Questions have also been raised on whether the modus operandi was appropriate since the expectation was that such an important announcement would have been made by the Chief Secretary to the Cabinet.

Our first observation arise from media reports indicating that the former Vice-President is now living in exile in South Africa after sneaking out of the country in fear for his life.

Our view is that this is an unfortunate development given the sacrifices made by the former Vice-President in contributing towards the freedom of his motherland – a well-known role that nearly cost him his life when he was sentenced to death at a tender age.

Whilst accepting the reality that we are all fallible as humans, we appeal to Government to take into consideration that exile may not be the ideal reward for the sacrifices that were made by this man.

It is also pertinent to observe that the trauma which the man is undergoing is happening against the backdrop of him being ill-disposed in terms of his health.

The third point arises from what we observe to be now a common trend in ZanuPF where those that fall from grace are immediately accused of various crimes and misdemeanors (the same was the case when the previous Vice-President, Dr Joice Mujuru, was dismissed).

We are befuddled that the crimes surface when a fall-out has occurred and in our view this speaks volumes about the nature and character of our systems of governance.

It calls to question, important moral issues of our ethics and values including culture of governance with the potential, if interpreted correctly, to seriously tarnish the image our political system.

By implication, are we saying that we have all along been complicit in defeating the course of justice or are we also criminally liable through association (socius criminus) or other forms and acts of connivance?

In the interest of good governance and for the sake of our motherland – including the Pan-African cause – should we not be introspecting on the implications of some of our actions and the perceptions created particularly to the outside world on the quality of our governance system, leadership styles, levels of political tolerance and so forth?

Are we saying that failure to resolve our internal differences as members of the same political formation should imply outright condemnation leading to exile and threats of deaths?

Is it not possible to agree to disagree and resolve our contestations through legitimate means guided by our constitution or by popular arbitration through the electoral process?

We, ZimPF, support those who are opposed to the shenanigans of this regime; in particular the culture of expelling people just before a Zanu-PF Congress and dismissing the same from Government, thereby impacting on the nation negatively.

On the issue of those who participated in the liberation struggle, we are of the view that they should be accorded the respect of their contribution, and their welfare be taken care of as in other nations, and not be humiliated and deprived of all basics.

We want to remind the security apparatus in the country that their constitutional mandate is to defend people and provide national security to all people irrespective of those people's persuasions.

The people of Zimbabwe simply want basics: an economy that works; a conducive environment to create wealth for themselves and the nation at large; ability to transact within and outside Zimbabwe without visible ad invisible barriers; a national health system with medical facilities that are well resourced; and personal security irrespectively of one's station in society.

We therefore implore Government to re-think the issue of the fate of the former Vice-President, ED Mnangagwa, whilst we simultaneously call on the international and diplomatic communities to plead with the Government to show political tolerance and maturity.

To the Zimbabwean community at large, we plead that-irrespective of our differences, we should live in unity, be prepared to forgive and exhibit greater levels of political tolerance.

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Mr Egypt Chitauro is the ZimPF chairperson