Opinion / Columnist
NPF: Much Ado about nothing
18 May 2018 at 09:26hrs | Views
The emergence of the New Patriotic Front (NPF) led by Ex-Zanu PF Provincial Minister, Rtd Brigadier General, Ambrose Mutinhiri seems to cast a spell of de ja vu in the Zimbabwean political landscape.
The party which boasts membership comprising of expelled Zanu PF members and claims to have the backing of other serving Zanu PF members sympathetic to the G40 faction seem to be following the route set by the now defunct Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) that later gave birth to the Dr Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru led National People's Party (NPP).
In its infancy, the ZPF project had the full backing of expelled ZANU PF senior members in the likes of, Rugare Gumbo and Didymus Mutasa who even went to the extent of claiming that ZANU PF would soon be toppled by ZPF.
The NPF is a carbon copy of the ZPF, and have embarked on a campaign to discredit and denigrate the Zanu PF leadership ahead of this year's harmonised elections, forgetting that the party they wish to discredit, they were part and parcel for time immemorial.
I remember the frenzy that characterised the initial stages of ZPF, with that party's leadership denying its existence, I can only guess with the intention to catch Zanu PF off-guard, a trend I see recurring in the NPF.
The ZPF or the People's Project as it was called, embarked on a massive propaganda campaign, claiming sympathisers and followers from the ruling party as well as members from opposition ranks, building it out to be a force to reckon in Zimbabwean politics.
The NPF is following a similar route, with Prof Moyo and Zhuwao spearheading the negative cyber-campaign against the country's new leadership.
The ZPF project, despite the supposed excitement that characterised its formation, succumbed to power hungry mongers and is suffered the similar fate experienced by all offshoot parties from ZANU PF, political oblivion.
Cracks within the NPF have already surfaced with its membership questioning the appointment of Mutinhiri as its leader without consultations from other members while other members perceived to be aligned to the party are scrambling to be re-admitted to the Zanu PF party.
Now latest reports circulating allege that Saviour Kasukuwere is coming back to take the reins at NPF and purgings are expected starting with that party's spokesperson, Jealousy Mawarire as he is suspected of being sympathetic to Mutinhiri.
Even the founding fathers of NPF, Professor Jonathan Moyo and Patrick Zhuwawo seem to be at each other's throats pertaining to the way forward within the NPF.
At the end of the day, the furore around the formation of the NPF is not new to the Zimbabwean political landscape and the outcome is predictable at best, 'much ado about nothing.'
The party which boasts membership comprising of expelled Zanu PF members and claims to have the backing of other serving Zanu PF members sympathetic to the G40 faction seem to be following the route set by the now defunct Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) that later gave birth to the Dr Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru led National People's Party (NPP).
In its infancy, the ZPF project had the full backing of expelled ZANU PF senior members in the likes of, Rugare Gumbo and Didymus Mutasa who even went to the extent of claiming that ZANU PF would soon be toppled by ZPF.
The NPF is a carbon copy of the ZPF, and have embarked on a campaign to discredit and denigrate the Zanu PF leadership ahead of this year's harmonised elections, forgetting that the party they wish to discredit, they were part and parcel for time immemorial.
I remember the frenzy that characterised the initial stages of ZPF, with that party's leadership denying its existence, I can only guess with the intention to catch Zanu PF off-guard, a trend I see recurring in the NPF.
The NPF is following a similar route, with Prof Moyo and Zhuwao spearheading the negative cyber-campaign against the country's new leadership.
The ZPF project, despite the supposed excitement that characterised its formation, succumbed to power hungry mongers and is suffered the similar fate experienced by all offshoot parties from ZANU PF, political oblivion.
Cracks within the NPF have already surfaced with its membership questioning the appointment of Mutinhiri as its leader without consultations from other members while other members perceived to be aligned to the party are scrambling to be re-admitted to the Zanu PF party.
Now latest reports circulating allege that Saviour Kasukuwere is coming back to take the reins at NPF and purgings are expected starting with that party's spokesperson, Jealousy Mawarire as he is suspected of being sympathetic to Mutinhiri.
Even the founding fathers of NPF, Professor Jonathan Moyo and Patrick Zhuwawo seem to be at each other's throats pertaining to the way forward within the NPF.
At the end of the day, the furore around the formation of the NPF is not new to the Zimbabwean political landscape and the outcome is predictable at best, 'much ado about nothing.'
Source - Claver Nyuki
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