Zanu-PF commissar castigates Bulawayo Provincial leadership

THE violent scenes that rocked Davies Hall, the provincial headquarters of the ruling party Zanu-PF in Bulawayo on Sunday, should be condemned in the strongest terms.

The offices resembled a war zone as some party youths engaged in altercations prompting the party leaders to call in the police to quell a potentially ugly scene.

The commotion did not end as some youths crowded the hall, the traditional meeting venue of the Provincial Coordinating Committee's meetings and the PCC had to be held in a smaller office.

While the meeting was going on in the small office, some elements turned the esteemed meeting venue into a beer hall as some rogue elements drank alcohol within the party premises.

Whatever disagreements the party youths had, violence and disorderly conduct can never be justified. Disagreements in the interaction of human beings are inevitable but it is important to find each other in peaceful means.

The Sunday brawl in Bulawayo is especially embarrassing as it happened days after President Mugabe, during his birthday bash, hailed the youth league for demonstrating its capacity to organise and mobilise the people.

President Mugabe said the youth were an integral part of the party as it is the pool where future leaders would come from.

Instead of getting inspiration from the wise words of President Mugabe to be orderly and united, the youths engaged in running battles, tarnishing the brand  Zanu- PF.

The party has performed badly in Bulawayo since 2000 lagging behind other provinces in terms of bagging seats in times of elections. It was only in the 2015 by-elections that the party managed to break the MDC-T strangle hold of Bulawayo by winning seats formerly occupied by MDC-T officials.

In the wake of such victories, the party youths in the province should be working on recruiting more supporters to join the party so that they totally liberate Bulawayo from the MDC-T in the 2018 elections and not engage in running battles that yield nothing.

What is needed are concerted efforts by all members to build from the 2015 gains so that the 2018 elections become a stroll in the park.

A city like Bulwayo that had gone for 15 years of political orphanage cannot afford to have irresponsible youths like what was demonstrated on Sunday.

Chaos will not help recruit members neither will it help win votes but will cast the party in a negative light. In January 2015, party political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere castigated the Bulawayo provincial leadership for spending too much time on rumour-mongering and engaging in personal fights resulting in the party performing badly in elections.He said Davies Hall had been turned into a place for gossiping and infighting instead of fighting to regain seats from the MDC-T.

"Next time we're not meeting here. We'll meet where the people are. This place has been turned into a room for rumour-mongering and gossip. That is not politics. Politics should be building the party," he said.

"We can't build the party through gossip so this should come to an end. We can't be fighting each other because that'll cost the party in the elections." Kasukuwere said the party was tired of playing second fiddle to MDC in elections in Bulawayo.

"We can't get used to be under the leadership of the opposition in the province, we're tired," he said.

Kasukuwere said it was time that Bulawayo province was counted among top performers in terms of huge numbers of voters.