Opinion / Columnist
An explosive ZANU PF Conference being planned
08 Jul 2019 at 06:52hrs | Views
ZANU PF is the ruling party of Zimbabwe and he who has control of ZANU PF controls the country. The importance of ZANU PF was emphasized during the events of November 2017. The tussle for power was settled in and by ZANU PF. The party installed Emmerson Mnangagwa as President, had the party installed any other individual it would have been the end of the road for Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Conference is an important decision making body before congress. Conference can make changes to the party , and government policy. Conference can overturn politburo decisions among several other things. It is therefore important that conference is controlled and political maneuvering happens on the road to conference to ensure that one's desired outcome prevails with little or no challenges.
Political manoeuvering usually begins towards December, there are tactical challenges because if you move too soon your opponents will counter your moves and subsequently prevail. You move too late the domino effect of your moves might be too slow and ineffective for conference, hence the timing has to be right.
There are a few pointers to look out for on the road towards conference. These pointers help decipher truth from fiction, political agenda from national cause.
1. Media: The media is an important tool in the conference build up especially state media Herald , Sunday Mail and ZBC in particular. Politicians build narratives to help push their cause and add weight to a case presented in Politburo, Central Committee and pending conference's decision. At one point Didmus Mutasa had a nasty fall out with Ceasar Zvayi as the Gamatox - G40 factions waged war against each other and the Herald was an important mouth piece towards swaying national opinion.
Fast forward to 2019 as we head towards conference the youth league calls for a press conference and drops a bombshell singling out a few politburo members and influential party supporters and sponsors. This press conference gets the desired outcome and investigations are opened and people start talking of corruption in the echelons of ZANU PF power.
The Secretary for Administration who is secretary to the Presidium is named as corrupt and threatened to be locked out of office. Remember the Secretary for Administration basically plays the role of organiser and convener of conference. Disrupting his day to day work in the office is tantamount to sabotaging or hijacking conference.
The National Political Commissar will be busy ensuring that structures are in order and only those who represent the people with a mandate from district elections attend Congress. The secretary for finance will be busy ensuring that funds are in place while secretary for Administration handles all administrative issues around conference , the agenda and other business as mandated by the Politburo and central committee.
Tampering with the office of secretary for Administration towards a youth and women's conference which are a precursor to main wing conference smells of a planned internal rebellion.
2. Structures - these are a key players as he who controls structures controls the resolutions passed at conference. If you gain control of 7 provinces and the districts thereof you can easily win any vote or decision at conference as decisions are by majority rule. Conference can mandate the party and all its structures to institute proceedings for a vote of no confidence in parliament and it would have to be followed through. The deployment of Victor Matemadanda as new NPC at the beginning of the second half of the year speaks volumes to those paying attention. The 2019 national people's conference will be explosive and likely to be a game changer in Zimbabwean politics.
The moves being made and counter moves indicate that we are heading for an interesting clash of the titans.
3. Corruption - This is the magic card that can only be played by skilled tacticians. Throw corruption allegations against your opponent or their strongest ally. Use these allegations to keep them busy , Anti corruption investigators , police and party internal investigations will keep your opponent busy while you move mountains on the ground. Corruption allegations also ruin your opponent's image and causes them to be booed at or even barred from an important meeting such as conference. This is politics and everything is connected to everything. The appointment of little known Justice Matanda Moyo to chair ZACC is an important piece to the puzzle. The timing of her appointment and the leveling of allegations against political players soon after is not coincidence.
In the next installment I will seek to do a timeline of events from January 2019 and their importance particularly towards the 2019 Conference.
Nicholas Ncube is a researcher and blogger based in Ontario Canada
Conference is an important decision making body before congress. Conference can make changes to the party , and government policy. Conference can overturn politburo decisions among several other things. It is therefore important that conference is controlled and political maneuvering happens on the road to conference to ensure that one's desired outcome prevails with little or no challenges.
Political manoeuvering usually begins towards December, there are tactical challenges because if you move too soon your opponents will counter your moves and subsequently prevail. You move too late the domino effect of your moves might be too slow and ineffective for conference, hence the timing has to be right.
There are a few pointers to look out for on the road towards conference. These pointers help decipher truth from fiction, political agenda from national cause.
1. Media: The media is an important tool in the conference build up especially state media Herald , Sunday Mail and ZBC in particular. Politicians build narratives to help push their cause and add weight to a case presented in Politburo, Central Committee and pending conference's decision. At one point Didmus Mutasa had a nasty fall out with Ceasar Zvayi as the Gamatox - G40 factions waged war against each other and the Herald was an important mouth piece towards swaying national opinion.
Fast forward to 2019 as we head towards conference the youth league calls for a press conference and drops a bombshell singling out a few politburo members and influential party supporters and sponsors. This press conference gets the desired outcome and investigations are opened and people start talking of corruption in the echelons of ZANU PF power.
The Secretary for Administration who is secretary to the Presidium is named as corrupt and threatened to be locked out of office. Remember the Secretary for Administration basically plays the role of organiser and convener of conference. Disrupting his day to day work in the office is tantamount to sabotaging or hijacking conference.
Tampering with the office of secretary for Administration towards a youth and women's conference which are a precursor to main wing conference smells of a planned internal rebellion.
2. Structures - these are a key players as he who controls structures controls the resolutions passed at conference. If you gain control of 7 provinces and the districts thereof you can easily win any vote or decision at conference as decisions are by majority rule. Conference can mandate the party and all its structures to institute proceedings for a vote of no confidence in parliament and it would have to be followed through. The deployment of Victor Matemadanda as new NPC at the beginning of the second half of the year speaks volumes to those paying attention. The 2019 national people's conference will be explosive and likely to be a game changer in Zimbabwean politics.
The moves being made and counter moves indicate that we are heading for an interesting clash of the titans.
3. Corruption - This is the magic card that can only be played by skilled tacticians. Throw corruption allegations against your opponent or their strongest ally. Use these allegations to keep them busy , Anti corruption investigators , police and party internal investigations will keep your opponent busy while you move mountains on the ground. Corruption allegations also ruin your opponent's image and causes them to be booed at or even barred from an important meeting such as conference. This is politics and everything is connected to everything. The appointment of little known Justice Matanda Moyo to chair ZACC is an important piece to the puzzle. The timing of her appointment and the leveling of allegations against political players soon after is not coincidence.
In the next installment I will seek to do a timeline of events from January 2019 and their importance particularly towards the 2019 Conference.
Nicholas Ncube is a researcher and blogger based in Ontario Canada
Source - Nicholas Ncube
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