Publicity and Visibility a must for ZAPU.

I have read most of Dr Mguni's articles, I was beginning to doubt whether he was the right person for the most influential position in ZAPU- the Secretary Generalship; however, his latest piece which recently appeared in an online publication, changed my mind again, this was an inspired piece, one of his best articles I have ever read. This reveals two things, that the people's complaints have hit a raw-nerve or that Dr Mguni is at his best when under-pressure. Having said that there are two or so things which I would like challenge in his article, namely the need for publicity and the "cult-figure" argument.

Publicity in an organisation is an indispensable imperative. ZAPU is operating from a position of disadvantage in a very competitive political environment. In 1987 as a means of stopping genocide against the people of Matebeleland and Midlands, ZAPU under the leadership of Dr Joshua Nkomo decided to join hands with ZANU PF, maybe it's a misnomer to use the word decided, because it was clearly under duress. For this intervening period, ZAPU morphed into ZANU and there were no distinguishable attributes which ZAPU brought into ZANU to make it a better party. ZAPU lost its connection with its grassroots or core constituencies. In 1999 MDC was formed under the leadership of Tswangirayi, and it carved a niche market in Matebeleland and other parts of the country which were traditionally ZAPU strongholds. MDC's split in 2005, saw the market being divided between MDC T and now the Welshman Ncube led MDC. Any disdainful approach and total disregard of these important parties with a following in former ZAPU strongholds will be tantamount to shooting oneself in the foot.

The Zimbabwean politics thrives on division, trite innuendos, and peddling of total lies and fear. Perceptions have been built about ZAPU and the only way to reconstruct those perceptions is through robust marketing and publicity. ZAPU cannot afford to take people for granted anymore, its historical connection has been broken and it needs reconnecting and how does one start to reconnect if shy of publicity? I remember I attended a ZAPU Conference in Leicester, two or so years back, where Professor Eliakim Sibanda was the guest speaker, the thrust of his speech was that ZAPU has traditionally been shy to tell its story, it let other organisations to tell its story, and this has proven catastrophic as we all now know how much history has been distorted about ZAPU and ZIPRA involvement in the liberation struggle.  Those who have studied psychology of retailing will tell you that people's active memory is very short, if your product lacks visibility, people will start to think of it as obsolete and the sales will plummet down.

ZAPU needs to recondition the people's thinking and perception of itself; it needs to vigorously sell its policies and it needs to re-assert its position in the Zimbabwean political terrain and that cannot happen if the party is not actively communicating with its supporters and the public in general. Publicity is not synonymous with hate, mudslinging or politics of grandstanding, but it is about visibility, it is about articulating party political position in various important issues; it is about connecting and reconnecting with the people, it is about the awareness of the political exigencies of the 21st Century and moving with the times.

There is no excuse for anybody to abdicate his leadership position under the guise of preventing to create or mould a 'cult figure'. A silent leadership is a non-existent leadership. I am sure that Dr Dabengwa is potentially loveable leader, a potentially influential leader, whose leadership skills can change the Zimbabwean political terrain for the better, however, people's concerns about him are genuine; people's concerns about his leadership are genuine, they need not be readily dismissed. Nobody is asking Dr Dabengwa to insult Tswangirayi or Mugabe, but people are concerned about his aloofness and the way he treats ZAPU supporters, for example, when he came to the UK, he did not meet the wider Zimbabwean community as expected of a leader. He only met his inner-circle, whose desires and intentions are clearly in conflict with what ZAPU stands for. Correct me if I am wrong, ZAPU is purportedly a grassroots party and therefore one would expect Dr Dabengwa to have prioritised meeting the general membership over and above his inner-circle.  To me what Dr Dabengwa did was political suicide.

There is no modern political party which can survive in the difficulty political landscape without an effective and dynamic leader, a leader who is not shy of media and publicity; a leader who is able to stand and articulate party policies; a leader who is above the rest but still remain with and within the people, his feet firmly grounded  and a leader who is not afraid to be a leader or to be called a leader or to be called upon to lead. A leader who hides and shies away from leadership is a dangerous leader, that kind of leadership avoids responsibility and accountability. If things go wrong, the leader will say we are in this together, we need to share the blame, it was not my fault but people's as I have delegated responsibility to them. Delegation is a good management concept, however, it is paramount for political leaders to realise that delegation does not mean abdicating responsibility, whatever, happens the buck should stop with the leader.

Up to now since the revival of ZAPU Dr Dabengwa has not effectively led ZAPU, he needs to up the tempo, be more visible and more aggressive in his approach, and be more responsive; otherwise ZAPU will not retake its core constituency and will find it difficult to expand and grow its membership.