'Mugabe very much in charge,' claims Chombo

Zanu-PF holds its 16th Annual People's Conference in the ancient city of Masvingo next week and, with all logistics in place to hold the indaba, attention is on the issues that will be deliberated on and how the meeting pans against a background of a raft of issues that have affected the party, including factionalism, over the past year. The Herald's Political Editor Tichaona Zindoga (TZ) spoke to the party's secretary for Administration, Ignatius Chombo (IG) about Masvingo.

TZ: Perhaps you could start by telling us how the party has fared in the past year in light of resolutions of the last indaba in Victoria Falls?

IC: The last 12 months were quite hectic within the life of the party. It was a year in which troublemakers and nonsense givers associated with the cabal of (expelled former vice president Joice) Mujuru were tried and expelled depending on the seriousness of their cases.

But critically, the party was not keen to only expel, but it wanted the affected persons to see and appreciate the errors they made and to give them an opportunity to come back into the fold if they so wished.

So the party, through the leadership of the President, smartly created an appeals committee chaired by VP Mphoko to hear appeals made by various members. They would be appealing against sentence or against a conviction etc.

The whole year VP Mphoko and his team were hearing these concerns from the people saying "yes, I made a mistake but five years is too much. Can you please let me come back to the party?"

Nearly everyone wrote letters of appeal because they realised that they erred, but to err is human so they wanted to atone for their mistakes and they were given a chance. Nearly all of them have been readmitted into the party. It is very important that now the party is building itself.

There is also the disciplinary committee which has been very active in making sure that those who have made a mistake are dealt with quickly and fairly. I really think that those two committees worked really hard and anybody who felt that the disciplinary committee's decision on him or her was harsh, got an opportunity to be heard and sometimes they reviewed the penalty downwards, sometimes they increased the penalty.

They sometimes felt that since the individual was working well with his province and with his district, people got an opportunity to be readmitted into the party. This has brought new spirit to the party which I am quite happy with and excited about.

From where I stand as secretary for Administration, I am more buoyed by the functionality of the systems that are put in place. All my systems are working and performing and that makes me feel quite happy.

Each and every person with his or her portfolio is doing what they are supposed to do. From that point of view, we are bringing in more harmony than division. You will never get 100 percent harmony when there are more than two people. You are also aware that when two people always agree, it means there is no thinking.

In a mass party you expect different ideas, views and philosophies but at the end of it we all become one party, Zanu-PF under one flag and one leadership. If you are so arrogant that you continue to resist and defy, then you have no one to blame but yourself. So overally I am happy.

TZ: Just taking you back on that, when you mentioned trouble makers, to be honest, people would immediately think of current troublemakers just as we see that the party has been riven by factionalism, which even President Mugabe has decried?

IC: Don't misunderstand the President. He was simply giving guidance to his party, that as a mass party when you have disagreements you need to resolve them in an amicable manner. That is what the President said. He further said, as a party, we have hierarchy. As a party, we know our pecking order.

So if you have a disagreement with somebody, take them aside, discuss the matter, or find an extra person to assist you and you are home and dry. He was simply giving guidance on how to manage differences. How to manage misunderstanding. I thought that was good advice from the leader of the party.

He also clearly stated that there are differences, I do agree, left, right or whichever way and with whatever name you want to give them, I don't know them. But he said when everything is said and done, we are Zanu-PF.

That collectivity of all those statements, that is what I am managing, that is what gives me an idea of where the boss wants us to go. So the left side and right side may disagree but we still remain one and move forward.

The papers appear to have lots of stories, but to some extent is much ado about nothing. The statements were not correct it was more speculation. The headline is more brazen and shouting and when you read the paper, you have got nothing.

I think some papers went a little bit too far to portray a picture of what's happening within the party or in which they were not members. They were now beginning to believe in their own propaganda and I thought that was quite unfortunate.

But I think that's what the papers are and what they do. We also continue to do our work and continue to remain focused on what we are supposed to do as a party which is to win elections.

TZ: But is the party capable of healing these internal divisions because soon after 2014 going into 2015 there were new raptures after the Mujuru debacle. And now as you correctly point out, there are some fissures. You understate them, though, but is the party able to effectively banish factionalism?

IC: This is quite an old political party. It has survived many issues of differences. It has had so many people who have left Zanu-PF and gone out to form their own political parties. All those who have left the party are all, bar none, regretting what they did.

They are realising that it is quite cold out there. They should have stayed inside. You remember (former US) President Lyndon Johnson, saying "it is better with them in the tent than out of the tent."

He said let's accommodate everybody so that we benefit from the views of everybody, that makes us grow.

The party has had some difficulties or some problems here and there but from where I stand they were very minor so I wouldn't worry about that when I look at how big this party is. We have about five million members and have two or three people disagreeing out of five million, I will be very happy because they don't constitute a significant number.

TZ: Then there are some affiliate organisations like war veterans who have been quite unhappy this year. Going into this conference, are you not worried that some of your old time friends could be unhappy with the organisation?

IC: The problems that the war veterans had, it's not all of them. There are about 34 000 war veterans and the members of the association who fell out of favour with the party are only five. So five out of 34 000, really I think that's quite an insignificant number in my view.

Otherwise as an affiliate body, we are moving well with the war veterans. There could be other war veterans who are vocal, that's found everywhere, but again it's a matter of saying you are not dictated to or controlled by how vocal one is.

The majority of the members of the war veterans are very loyal members of the party and are working well with the party except the five that I have talked about. All the others, we are in sync.

TZ: Talking about loyalty, the question of one centre of power recently bobbed up following a resolution by one province which was seen to have an effect of seeking to strip President Mugabe of his powers to appoint his VPs. Can we say the principle will still hold after Masvingo?

IC: I can categorically state that the one centre of power in this particular case the centre being President Robert Mugabe, is very much intact. It is cemented and there is absolutely no doubt about it.

I know there are some other malcontents out there who wish it was not so but this is what it is. The President is very much in charge and in control, very much loved and preferred. I would dare anybody who thinks he or she has clout, they should come in and stand against the President. That person will be beaten to shreds like a prodigal child.

At the end of every year, we give our districts the opportunity to make an assessment of how well the party has done, how well the Government has performed and to make resolutions in terms of what they wish to be done to by the party.

Everyone has the freedom to raise anything. The issue is will others support you in what you are bringing forward. If it is a good idea, you will get traction. If it is not a good idea, it will dry in the wind. That is how things work. We are a democratic party and system.

Things are in order. There is one centre of power, that is why we changed the constitution. But if you want to recommend the change of the constitution you also have to bring your own arguments and we don't shy away from them, they make the Party strong. We are very clear.

TZ: This conference is being held ahead of the year 2017 and which is the home stretch to electoral 2018. What should people expect to come out of this conference because some might want to think that this is just one of those talk shows where resolutions are made but not followed up?

IC: We have never had a conference where we talk and don't follow our resolutions. I said last year we gave all ministers an opportunity to defend themselves. When I made the programme I did so and I have done the same this year.

Tell us what you did. On what page of that book is it? The book we call ZimAsset. I have ordered five copies of them today. We want to check how well you have done. So make a report to the people.

We really are focusing on these deliverables. We are also saying tell us about last year's resolutions and this year's resolutions. Chinamasa is going to work on that and he has already produced his document on all aspects. To say how have we done in terms of food and nutrition, poverty alleviation, livestock production, infrastructure, environment, land tenure, legal issues, housing, social protection, harmonisation of transportation, energy and power supply, public amenities, value addition, ICT, manufacturing, labour and other areas.

As Secretary for Administration, this is what I expect. There ought to be content and this is the content. Then we are going to have everybody divided into nine units and they will discuss all these matters for eight hours. Including our political position.

They are going to discuss the state of the Party. Tell us anything you wish to say. From it, you make a resolution. Food and security and nutrition, how well are we doing? Elections, factions and so on, how well are we doing?

Openly tell us where we have gone wrong. That is what I look forward to. To learn what the people are saying, what are their concerns and aspirations? How do we satisfy them? When I come back, I then set my agenda to address exactly those measures.

That is how I create an agenda. It has to have a way. You can't dream things. Each time we met as a politburo or central committee, there are two aspects which are always there. Chinamasa discusses ZimAsset, where are we?

Why do I do that? Because that is the key, that ZimAsset. It's automatic, in fact permanent. But also we are a political party, we need to listen to people's wishes and aspirations.

Then the Commissariat, what is happening in the Party? Those are the two that never change. Every meeting they know. This is what comes up and when it comes we ask how is it going.

An agenda looks like this, opening remarks, apologies, minutes, matters arising, update reports; ZimAsset, agriculture, Made what's happening? Then how ready are we, and as the year ends do we still have any disciplinary cases? Then, Kasukuwere where do we stand? How are things? How did we lose in Norton? Are we winning in the next constituency and so on?

This is where I get the content for the meeting. So I really am quite confident personally, that we are moving in the right direction. You don't just turn your head to every whistle.

You listen to what the President has said. That is the line. He said be united so that you win the elections, be careful with social media, you don't know who exactly you are talking to and don't abuse it by trying to score personal goal here and there. That is advice that he is giving.

Don't be anxious to aspire for a position. Work on the position that you have been given. The public will see that you know it, you deserve it and they will vote you in to it again. If you go to campaign for a post, why are you campaigning for a post? Because you think they don't believe you can do it.

Whatever you are given be happy and do it right. Do it just right and things will move slowly, nicely and in harmony. So I am quite content that we are moving well. There will always be issues discussed but the main focus of the Party is under control and we are doing well.

We are looking forward to showing the two vice presidents on Saturday, in Masvingo what preparations on the physical side we have done. This is so that when we meet on Tuesday for politburo, they are able to confirm to the President that we think we are ready.

I also want to assure you that this time around, that for every delegate, there are 10 000 caps, 10 000 bandanas, 10 000 t-shirts. There are 5 000 wrappers for the women, everyone has a bag to put their documents. There is a bag of goodies that they will get from the First Lady.

There 56 cows, from Mashonaland West seven came, there are many bags of maize that came through, donated by the people who have land and have been successful in growing. This is a major change.

We receive donations of cabbages and eggs. Not by white people. Every province also donated $50 000 from their members despite the difficulties.

I really think the spirit that is now around the Party is positive. It is this spirit that the President wants. Because he wants this camaraderie it becomes instruction to me in terms of how to run and manage this animal that we call Zanu-PF in order to win elections in 2018.

As we come out of the conference next Saturday evening, I expect all of us to be charged, anxious and raring to go. As we do that we have got to have certain things done. We have to make sure those who need to register have been registered, make sure cells, branches and districts are in order, make sure all our people have the relevant documents to vote.

Come 2018 we are just waiting for the year come and get it done. We are going to do it in such a manner that it will threaten and intimidate all the other little parties created yesterday. Our degree of preparedness and our programmes relegate them to the backwaters of national politics.

So this is where we are and the spirit we want when we come out of the Masvingo conference next week.