Leaving Zanu-PF is not an option Cdes

Cde Cephas Msipa is one of the few surviving members of the PF ZAPU national executive committee. He was elected Secretary General of PF Zapu in 1984. He, however, defected to Zanu-PF before the historic Unity Accord of 1987. He is one of the politicians who saved the longest tenure as the Governor of Midlands Province.

This is not an obituary but just a brief political background of a man who recently hinted at the split of Zanu-PF if President Mugabe did not intervene to nip in the bud the unprecedented internal factional strife bedevilling the revolutionary party. The senior politburo member said the buck stopped with the President.

There is no doubt that Cde Msipa's views are shared by many and will receive an extensive buy in considering his impressive political portfolio that qualifies him to be an opinion leader. With all due respect for this veteran politician, who was very instrumental in the Unity Accord negotiations between Zanu-PF and PF Zapu, the projection of a split is totally off the mark and will remain a flight of fancy.  

Factionalism is not a new phenomenon in Zanu-PF. There have been such battles since the formation of the revolutionary party in 1963.

History has taught us that Zanu-PF cadres can be at variance on other things but on principles. Once people remain glued around the same principles, the chances of a split are next to nothing. This is where Zanu-PF differs from the fly by night western backed opposition parties like the MDC which suffer from ideological dearth.

Since its formation in 1999, the MDC has had several splits which dented its chances of posing a serious threat to the incumbent. Armed with the western support, the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC entered into the political front riding on, among other things, the protest vote, alleged corruption within Zanu-PF and its perceived inability to deliver services to the public. In this vein, the MDC-T touted itself as a harbinger of change which would undo all the so-called vices prevalent within Zanu-PF.
 The MDC was a hotchpotch of people with a volatile concoction of ideologies, among them vendors, touts, shebeen queens, unemployed persons and civil rights activists. This is where the revolutionary party goes out of line with the imperialist surrogates masquerading as democratic opposition parties. Zanu-PF has a solid ideology and principles that continue to hold its centre.

Six years after formation, the upshots of the ideological mishmash manifested in the split that birthed several MDCs. In the beginning was the MDC led by Tsvangirai. The Secretary General and Vice President Welshman Ncube and Gibson Sibanda respectively, broke away and formed a party which maintained the name MDC. Tsvangirai was left with the MDC-T. Professor Arthur Mutambara was conveniently put at the helm of the breakaway party for tribal balancing. That split heralded a series of other breakaways that have been hitherto dogging the MDC.

The Ncube-Sibanda breakaway was followed by the maverick Job Sikhala who formed his own MDC-99. Professor Ncube later broke away, leaving Professor Mutambara with a break apart. Of late, Tendai Biti and his band disentangled themselves from the MDC-T to form a renewed MDC. Professor Lovemore Madhuku, a declared former ally of Tsvangirai, recently broke ranks with the later and transformed his insolvent NCA, into a political party.

In just 15 years, seven splinter groups have already emerged out of the original MDC of 1999 and more are threatening to break away. Zanu-PF is 51 years. A simple calculation can show how many splits will be there by the time MDC hits 51.

Since the formation of the revolutionary party, there has never been a serious split save for unguided individuals who were either sacked or fired themselves. Fifty-one years down the line, it's inconceivable that some members of Zanu-PF might break away to form a splinter party.
Let's give Cde Msipa the benefit of the doubt. In case there are some comrades who are entertaining injudicious thoughts of breaking away, it's quite revolutionary for them to reconsider those thoughts. The late Zanu-PF leader, Cde Eddison Zvobgo used to say that no matter how much you are frustrated, quitting Zanu-PF should never be an option. Thus, the Cdes, if ever they are there, should not burn their houses to kill a snake.

History has taught us that political life outside Zanu-PF is not sustainable. Professor Jonathan Moyo last year advised fellow comrades who wanted to divorce themselves from Zanu-PF that it was cold out there. Prof Moyo gave the advice from a deep sense of reflection based on his experience. "They should take it from me. It's horrible and miserable. They should take it from those who have been down the path," said Prof Moyo.

He went on to say such move is unwise, misguided and career threatening. Indeed it is career threatening. A look at the post Zanu-PF political careers of, among others, Dr Simba Makoni, Dumiso Dabengwa, Edgar Tekere and Ruth Chinamano can testify that it is indeed cold outside.
The unwise decision to quit Zanu-PF destroyed the political career of these people. Dr Makoni for instance, has reduced himself to a village politician. He was so promising and polished that at one time, almost everybody believed that he was the heir apparent to President Mugabe.

Dr Makoni has been seeking relevance through joining other political parties. He joined MDC Ncube in the 2008 elections where he performed dismally. In 2013 elections, he joined hands with the MDC-T and miserably lost a parliamentary seat in Makoni, his home area.  He is currently the most willing person to have his Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn party swallowed by the so called grand coalition.

Cde Tekere died a political pauper, so did Chinamano. Dabengwa is now a political nonentity waiting eagerly for a slightest opportunity to be invited to rejoin the revolutionary party.