Zanu-PF bolsters structures ahead of polls

The setting up of an Elders Council coming on the back of the intense cell verification programme has put Zanu-PF in good stead to win the forthcoming elections, analysts have said.

Secretary for Information and Publicity Christopher Mutsvangwa last week said the science and art of organisation runs in the DNA of Zanu-PF, and is the springboard from which the party of the revolution always wins elections.

"We are contrasting ourselves to the other party (referring to CCC). They disregard, they are now saying they are a secret society, which works at night when everybody else is asleep," said Mutsvangwa.

He said there is absolutely no reason to disturb the people of Zimbabwe at night in order to try to organise them into a political party which is being claimed by CCC and its leader Nelson Chamisa.

"I think it's a lie, he wants to appear like he is organising. We don't see him on the ground, but definitely we will not as a party disturb Zimbabweans during the God given hours of resting in order to try to organise them as if we are fighting in a war. We won't do that," said echoed Mutsvangwa.

Political analyst Ms Tatenda Regedzai said President Mnangagwa was entrenching democracy, opening the gates for aspiring young blood to enter the political fray in the coming harmonised elections, while the opposition has no structures to talk of.

"There is a guess work in CCC. CCC is a party led by one man, who has no deputy, no chairman, no secretary general, and who for all intents and purposes leads a secret society that bizarrely seeks to assume the levers of power in a democratic country. He only works with his spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere and Gift Ostallos Siziba, the deputy spokesperson," she said.

Harare lawyer Advocate Obert Gutu said Zanu-PF was a seasoned revolutionary political party that has been in the trenches for more than six decades.

"They have seen it all. The decision to create a Council of Elders shows and proves that the party will continue to tap into the wise counsel and solid experience of veteran nationalists in the mould of Sydney Sekeramayi," said Adv Gutu.

One of the reasons why Zanu-PF continues to strengthen as a political party, Advocate Gutu said, is its unique ability to avoid splits by holding together both its old and upcoming cadres.

"They fully appreciate that you can only be stronger by holding onto your veteran cadres so that they don't feel neglected, ignored and unwanted," noted Adv Gutu.

Researcher and political analyst Mr Gibson Nyikadzino weighed in saying Zanu-PF under the leadership of President Mnangagwa has managed to rebrand and present a newly restructured institution by the incorporation of the War Veterans League and also the Elders Council.

"These two elements, ahead of elections, are the foothold, foundation and guiding compasses of the party providing a nationalist conscience in mobilising people to vote Zanu-PF and defend the revolutionary ideas that will be part of government policy," echoed Mr Nyikadzino.

The Elders Council is also providing conscious dictates to the party by recalibrating the party's institutional capacity so that there are marked institutional changes under the Second Republic of both the party's form and character ahead of the elections.

Another political analyst Dr Hamadziripi Dube chipped in saying President Mnangagwa is broadening his advisory board to strengthen the party.

"The appointments showed how the revolutionary party is ready for the forthcoming general elections. They are ready to make a clean sweep come elections considering there is no opposition to talk of. President Mnangagwa's work ethic has charmed even opposition members and their masters in the Western world," said Dr Dube.

By putting in place its structures, Dr Dube said, Zanu-PF is showing that it is not a briefcase party which can be run by an individual like other political parties such as CCC.

"It needs everyone to participate in day to day running of the party and mobilise people to vote for the future," he said.

He said while Zanu-PF democracy is bottom-up, its opposition has a man who has an infantile propensity to undress even his closest lieutenants and strip them of their positions on social media platforms.

While Zanu-PF has the pedigree of organising people and structures that date back to the liberation struggle culminating in a victory against the Rhodesian army and the hoisting of the Zimbabwean flag in 1980, Mr Chamisa has no known structure or measurable organisational capacity.