Latest News Editor's Choice


News / National

ZANU PF needs compromises on no confidences votes

by John Mukumbo
23 Mar 2016 at 12:04hrs | Views
The nationwide campaigns by the main opposition political parties in the country should send clear message to the governing revolutionary party ZANU PF that the time of back-biting and unnecessary vote of no confidences against party cadres is carried out with due care. With the reports that the MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his counterpart Dr Joyce Mujuru of the ZimPF are on the ground seeking political support from the electorate should also make ZANU PF to take this move seriously and create unity instead of division with the party.

Dr Ignatius Chombo, the revolutionary party's Secretary for Administration made it clear recently in Chinhoyi while addressing the ZANU PF supporters that due process should be taken in coming up with vote of no confidences against party members. He called for party members to carry out through investigations before one is voted out. Dr Chombo went on to discourage some party members from carrying out no confidence votes against members on the grounds of "frivolous and unsubstantiated", claims as that could turn out to be counterproductive.

So ZANU PF should take Dr Chombo's advice seriously and start preaching unity for its members and call for all unresolved problems to be compromised for the betterment of the revolutionary party. While it is necessary for the revolutionary party to take disciplinary action against those suspected and alleged to be on the wrong side of the revolutionary party's guiding principles and ideologies but the exercise should be taken with care to avoid unnecessary disunity in the party. ZANU PF is a bigger institution than some individuals' interests hence it should not be used by few individuals who are there to settle their political scores against their preferred and supposedly adversaries.

Recent developments in the revolutionary party where vote of no confidences have been put even on senior members of the party cannot help unity to prevail. It should be noted that unity within the revolutionary party is very critical especially when the opposition front is now talking of a coalition to take head on the mighty ZANU PF in the 2018 harmonized elections. It is the same time again in which the revolutionary party, ZANU PF should be seized with the full implementation of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset) so that the 2013 harmonized election manifesto is fulfilled.

ZANU PF should not afford to waste its time on dealing with who should take this and that political position while the economy is deteriorating at an alarming rate. The electorate is closely monitoring developments taking place in the ruling party with keen interest. The electorate needs to hear and see the ruling party carrying out meetings that would come up with some strategies to fix the economic malaise not political bickering that has nothing to bring food on people's tables. It is not the good time for ZANU PF to have its time consumed with political issues that end up dividing the party instead of creating unity.

Disciplinary action against some rowdy elements in the ruling party is most welcome but those targeted should be given opportunity to appear and defend themselves in front of the National Disciplinary Committee (NDC). Such a move would dispel the notion that the revolutionary party is dismissing its members from the party without apparent reasons.

The emergency of opposition political parties like the ZimPF complimented by the one powerful MDC-T has been seen by those dismissed from the revolutionary party as finding a sanctuary to revive their political aggrandisements within such political parties, The ZimPF has of late been leading the pack as preference of where the disgruntled members from the revolutionary party get accepted without problems. So ZANU PF should come up with some means to avoid a situation where the party destroys itself by such vote of no confidences which are hurriedly applied to a means to satisfy some few individuals' interests in ZANU PF.

As a way of avoiding a backlash from the dismissed individuals in the coming 2018 harmonized elections, ZANU PF should have some due processes in carrying out vote of no confidences against some suspected rowdy elements within the party as espoused by the Secretary for Administration, Dr Chombo. Doing such a move would result in those with proven cases dismissed and those mistakenly accused of wrong doing spared.

Currently the revolutionary party has been allegedly infiltrated by individuals who are fond of making sure that their personal interests are catered for in the expense of building a strong base of ZANU PF. Some of the vote of no confidences that have been carried out throughout the country seem to have been instigated by malice and jealousy thereby confusing the electorate.

However the ZANU PF National Disciplinary Committee led by Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko should be commended for its diligent handling of such cases brought against it. Recently the NDC cleared the three Members of Parliament from Mashonaland East who were alleged to have been working against the revolutionary party's principles and ideology by supporting ZimPF led by Dr Mujuru. The three MPs Tendai Makunde(Murehwa North), Felex Tapiwa Mhona(Chikomba Central) and Washington Musvaire(Maramba Pfungwe) were said to be seriously involved in campaigning for the ZimPF but investigations by the NDC revealed that it was only different of opinions with those who came up with such allegations against the trio which caused all the hullabaloo.

Cde Lawrence Katsiru, the Mashonaland East Provincial Secretary for Administration told the Dailynews recently that he was currently going around the province correcting the bad image that the trio was being accused of. Such a move carried out by the NDC could be a tip of an iceberg. There could be a lot of individuals who were wrongly accused of doing things against the party resulting in their dismissal. As such the NDC need to be complimented for that and it should make sure that all the cases before it are handled well without favour and prejudice. The case against the three MPs from Mashonaland East could stand out as a case study to what would follow.

For that reasons the revolutionary party could create and maintain unity and peace in the party by giving the suspected rowdy elements some opportunities to defend themselves in front of the NDC like what the Mashonaland East trio did. Those dismissed from the revolutionary party could have been wrongly accused of supporting ZimPF or may have been accused of any sins which they did not do just because the accusers could have been having some bones to chew against them. So the revolutionary party should take Dr Chombo's advice seriously so that people are not dismissed for the sake of their accusers who would be seeking to satisfy their political interests.

It should be made clear that the party is bigger than individuals hence it should not be destroyed by few individuals for the sake of making sure that their interests are fulfilled in the expense of the revolutionary party's unity of purpose.

Source - John Mukumbo
More on: #Zanu-PF