Mugabe will go down in history an iconic figure of principle

OUR past is rich in history; the sacred sacrifices made by the founding fathers of this nation alongside many sons and daughters who perished for our freedom can never be overlooked.

From the early days of the Samukange nationalism in the 1930s, moving on to the days of heroes like Benjamin Burombo, Samuel Parirenyatwa, Ndabaningi Sithole, Joshua Nkomo, Herbert Chitepo; all the way to the heroic era of Robert Mugabe; we have a proud national narrative for posterity, a rich history to cherish, and a strong foundation for the future of this country.

As a nation we must and we will learn to live above our errors, above our shortcomings, and above our weaknesses. Our strength and unity is in our success story, not in the downside of our journey. We are as proud as the Jewish nation, always cherishing our glory above our gloom.

Much as the last days of the presidency of Robert Mugabe were punctuated by dramatised episodes of questionable behaviour by those who surrounded him; the undeniable truth is that the person and character of Robert Mugabe will go down in history as that of an iconic figure of principle, resilience, independent nationalism, and passion for black empowerment across the continent of Africa.

In the same vein, the role of people like Ndabaningi Sithole as the founder of Zanu in 1963 cannot be eroded by the differences that saw the man's political downfall.

In nation-building the positive will always outweigh the negative. In politics we always hail downfall over successes. Politics is a mere means to an end. The end is nation building. There was always going to be a Mugabe way of leaving, and that way was never going to be the Nujoma way, the Kaunda way, the Mandela way, or the Machel way. We hoped it would be a way in honour of the revolution for which Mugabe stood firm in defence for all his life.

The revolution was firmly defended by his younger comrades, and Zanu-PF has been re-united, rejuvenated, and re-energised for the future of our beloved country.

It is now easier for ZANU-PF to protect into perpetuity the great name of Mugabe, without having to worry about protecting the legacy and survival of the party itself in the same vein. The Mugabe legacy is safe and sound. Our dramatic internal processes can only strengthen it, and will never weaken it.

Professor Jonathan Moyo had hatched a deadly plan that was designed to demise Zanu-PF in the name of protecting the legacy of Mugabe and his family. Never once did Moyo say anything about protecting the revolution itself.

He was never a subscriber right from the time of the liberation struggle. Just an intruder. He had managed to rally and frog-march thousands of youths and women within Zanu-PF behind the mantra that said the one and only way to get into the Zanu-PF Kingdom was through a chosen intermediary, whom Jonathan Moyo and his cronies said was none other than Mugabe's wife.

Just as much as Jesus said he was the way, the truth and the life, Jonathan Moyo through his "Munhu wese kunaAmai" slogan was telling party faithfuls that Grace Mugabe was the only begotten wife of President Mugabe, given and sacrificed as the messianic divine figure to ensure membership to eternity within Zanu-PF.

No doubt Jonathan Moyo did not admire the former first lady at all, did not think she was anything more than a pawn in his greater plan of bringing Zanu-PF down. In her, Moyo saw a pliant tool for the ultimate demise of the party he so much loathes.

It is hard to understand why Moyo and his cronies like Saviour Kasukuwere and Patrick Zhuwao actually thought they could hand over a Zanu-PF without war veterans and the ZDF to Grace Mugabe, after which they could easily snatch the same party away from the pliant and excited lady.

That was never going to be allowed to happen. Moyo and cronies were allowed to get exactly where the real owners of this party wanted them to be, and at the right time the scheme was blasted into smithereens on that fateful night of November 14.

The gun has always protected the politics of Zanu-PF, and this case was no different. The transitional set up we have in Zimbabwe now is in defence of the revolution, never in attack of Mugabe, or even the demised G40. I am positive the veteran iconic politician understands that Zanu-PF will now survive bigger and stronger after the fateful events that resulted in the dramatic end of his political career.

In reforming Zanu-PF we cannot depart from the ideological foundations of this great liberation movement. Zanu-PF is a nationalist party founded on the need to transform the lives of the masses for the better. It is not driven by a narrow agenda like labour for labour's sake; or liberalism for liberalism's sake. Zanu-PF is a party for the people across the social divides — labour, students, business, liberals, democrats, socialists, communists, capitalists and all other social identities that may affect the people of Zimbabwe from time to time.

Victor Matemadanda takes over the party's Commissariat department; and he has the daunting task of bringing the control of Zanu-PF back into the hands of the people. The trauma of a few individuals abusing power to run roughshod over all others has to be dealt with as the party rehabilitates its broken structures to once again revive the voice of the people.

Jonathan Moyo occupied this artificial place of assumed intelligence where he postured as the custodian of Zanu-PF survival strategy, and gullible people like Kasukuwere rallied around him in zealous ignorant worship. Sadly even the former first lady was bamboozled by the professor's colourful language and pretenses at sophistication. Surely geniuses must see guns coming.

The revolution for which Zanu-PF stands remains the same revolution for which our heroic freedom fighters fought for, but the narrative of where we are going has got to change.

The revolution cannot be protected outside its service to the people. The revolution has to transform the lives of the people. The reason our young people are now skeptical about the leadership of the older generation is simple. They have not seen or experienced any positive transformation associated with leadership from the people they look up to. This is not a mere generational power struggle where one generation has become impatient in waiting for their turn to lead the nation. This is about a betrayed generation trying to ensure its days on earth are not wasted in the anguish and pain of poverty.

Jonathan Moyo saw the opportunity in the disaffection in our youth and was determined to exploit it for the demise of Zanu-PF. He had a measure of temporary success. Now that his grand plan lies in ashes of shame and defeat, it is now incumbent upon Zanu-PF to ensure that never again will the power in the party be a monopoly of one man, never again will the people's power be stored in one center that is only accessed by a chosen few, never again will the collective strategy of the party be stored in the head of one single person.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is surely alive to the detriment of patronage. He has seen more than enough of this scourge over the years. Governance is no feeding trough for the executive; the party is no cash cow for office holders, and Parliament is not a mere pathway to a better livelihood.

The Mnangagwa Government must distinguish itself as a government of service to the people of Zimbabwe, as a hard-working and honest facilitator of business opportunity and investment; and as a reliable member of the family of nations.

Editor's note — Wafawarova returns to this page after engaging the Editorial team on matters of concern.

Zanu-PF must be the party through which talented and ambitious young men and women will rise and shine into the leadership of this great nation. It must be a party that identifies and nurtures political potential and talent. It must be a party that rewards merit and merit alone. The days of rising through the political rankings by bootlicking others and backstabbing others must be a thing of the past. Singing and sloganeering in praise of leaders as a way of seeking political office must never again be encouraged or rewarded.

The current budget has prioritised education, security and health; which is expected. The Finance Minister has also emphasised the need to live within our means, to save as much money as possible, to exercise maximum austerity. He has said investment laws will be adjusted to attract investors as demanded by international competition for modern day investment.

What we need now are visionary implementers of these policies. A visionary budget can only succeed after being implemented by a visionary workforce. We need a development driven executive with workers who understand that national development is the sole reason they are employed. There is need for clearly set tasks that are to be completed in a specified way within a specified period. Appraisals must be effective for every single public service worker, and where failure is evident consequences must be made public.

This government must bring back the work ethic that will earn our police force respect, trust and admiration from the public. This government must restore the dignity of the health worker and the integrity of the health profession.

This government must restore the nobility of the teaching profession. This government must bring back the good old memories of effective governance by our local councils and authorities. Our mines must once again be destinies of employment, so should be our manufacturing firms, so should be our estates and plantations.

This is not going to be easy at all. A massive orientation needs to take place. Laziness, ineptitude, selfishness, ignorance, corruption and insouciant behaviour must be dealt with once and for all if this government is going to revive this country to its deserved glory as the jewel of Africa.

We cannot demean the efforts of the impoverished masses as many try to survive and barely earn a living. However, this country will need to accept that open market place and street vending have never been pillars of any modern economy. These are mitigating measures carried out in response to a declined economy. These are economic measures that only expand in a declining economy, and will always dwindle with a growing economy.

We cannot have a whole government whose sole focus is to protect and create more street and open market vending. That is not the Zimbabwe that was envisaged by the thousands of young people who died in battles to free this country from colonial rule.

At the same time the problem of street vending is not an initiative driven by people who just want to vend for the sake of enjoying the practice. This is a practice caused by huge economic problems. The artificial cleansing of streets by chasing away vendors in and of itself will not help the country economically, or in any other way.

The street vendors were driven to the streets by poverty, and they can only be driven away from the same streets by prosperity.

Indeed there is need for short-term regulation of street vending so we stop lawlessness and the spread of diseases, but we can only do this in a context that will leave the vendor with an alternative.

The electioneering towards the next general election must not distract this government. The best way to win the 2018 election is simply to visibly transform the country's economy for the better. If we can start moving towards the 4.5 percent economic growth rate projected by the Finance Minister in his budget, there will be no need to go around buying votes by promising the electorate all sorts of freebies; as was the plan and habit of people like Patrick Zhuwao and Saviour Kasukuwere.

Zimbabwe should never ever have such unscrupulous politicians within it ranks. They are ruinous characters. I believe the chance given to this government by the people of Zimbabwe is a fresh mandate for Zanu-PF, a chance to show that the party has transformed itself, that the party has rediscovered its old successful self.

Any repeat of patronage tricks will be met with disdain. Jobs, jobs, jobs and jobs, as the President passionately said on his return from exile. Zimbabwe we are one and together we will overcome. It is homeland or death!

Reason Wafawarova is a political writer based in SYDNEY, Australia.