Zanu PF grassroots vent frustration

Growing frustration among grassroots supporters overshadowed Zanu PF's national cell day on Saturday, with several party members accusing senior officials of benefiting from empowerment programmes while ordinary supporters remain sidelined.

The ruling party held its annual national cell day across the country, an exercise aimed at verifying membership registers at ward level and attended by party leaders and supporters.

However, interviews with party members in Manicaland revealed simmering discontent, with many describing the exercise as largely symbolic and disconnected from the economic realities facing the party's rank and file.

A supporter from Ward 11 in Mutare, who requested anonymity for fear of victimisation, said ordinary members felt excluded from empowerment opportunities.

"It was good to come to the event, but this was only symbolic because from the grassroots we are not happy. Only the party leadership are benefiting. They have mines, farms and everything they want; they get it," the supporter said.

Another party member in Mutare said the concentration of benefits among senior officials was becoming increasingly difficult for supporters to ignore.

"We love Zanu PF, but there is a worrying trend that only party leadership is benefiting from the many projects, and we are not happy at all," he said.

"We have been used and bussed to rallies, and sometimes we are dumped once we are at the rallies and given one piece of chicken and chips. This is not good at all for us."

Similar concerns were echoed by supporters in Chipinge and Buhera districts, who alleged that the party leadership had enriched itself while grassroots members continued to struggle.

Political analyst Reason Wafawarova said the complaints reflected a wider disconnect between the ruling party's leadership and its support base.

"Zanu PF itself has been captured. Its grassroots supporters, like everyone else, have been robbed of the right to vote," Wafawarova said.

"They are just wanted for votes; any form of help is symbolic and a form of theatre. This is how President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration works."

Wafawarova also argued that the proposed Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB 3) offered little to ordinary party supporters, describing it as legislation designed to consolidate power among the political elite.

Political commentator Tendai Ruben Mbofana shared similar views, saying the proposed constitutional changes were focused on restructuring political power rather than improving the welfare of citizens.

"CAB 3 is a piece of structural political engineering aimed at changing how power is structured, not a public welfare or economic development programme," Mbofana said.

"Whether it benefits ordinary people or just the political elite depends entirely on how one views its core changes."

Responding to the allegations, Zanu PF Director for Information Farai Marapira rejected claims that the party's empowerment initiatives only favour senior officials.

"Empowerment programmes are all-inclusive in Zanu PF," Marapira said.

"Zanu PF is a grassroots party and we change lives from households, so these allegations are very untrue."

The growing dissatisfaction among some grassroots supporters comes amid heightened factional tensions within the ruling party over the eventual succession of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The succession debate has been further fuelled by the controversial Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3, which proposes extending the terms of the President, Parliament and local authorities, while also transferring the election of the President from a direct public vote to Parliament.

Opponents of the Bill argue that the proposed changes would weaken democratic accountability by removing citizens' direct role in electing the country's President and could significantly reshape Zimbabwe's future political landscape.