The problem was not Mugabe, but Zanu-PF

THE chaos and uncertainty that is rocking Zanu-PF after its chaotic district development coordinating committee elections held last December has left the party weak, fractured, divided and easy to be defeated by the opposition in 2023.

The fact that political heavy-weights lost to youngsters and "nonentities" means people are more than ready to ditch old and tired political horses, President Emmerson Mnangagwa included.

The threat of bhora musango which saw the late former President Robert Mugabe losing to the late MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai in 2008, is rearing its ugly head again.

I have no doubt that millions of voters from across the country, who feel cheated by Zanu-PF, are likely to vote for change as the ruling party has shown that it does not have the capacity to fulfil its 2018 electoral promises.

Soon after his inauguration, Mnangagwa presented himself as a reformist, but the arbitrary arrest of opposition activists and human rights defenders has exposed him for what he is.

It is only in a banana republic that someone is slapped with a 14-month jail sentence for whistling when serious matters such as that of Delish Nguwaya, whose company Drax International, was irregularly awarded COVID-19 supplies tender worth over US$60 million, which led to the sacking of former Health minister Obadiah Moyo, have virtually collapsed.

The new dispensation needs to shun unintended or purposive marginalisation and balance ethnic representation in all top structures of government.

This is an important area that needs to be looked into objectively.

So far, the matrix is not at all compelling. The threat of going back to the bush if Zanu-PF loses is no longer selling. People are tired of Zanu-PF incompetence.

The same applies to the votes for rice, T-shirts, caps, scarfs and even violence. People are just fed up. There is no better death, they say.

The November 2017 coup, which saw Mugabe dethroned, taught Zimbabweans a good lesson: Zanu-PF will always be Zanu-PF - it will never take the country to the Promised Land. While Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF are busy scheming how to wriggle out of the political quicksand they sunk themselves, the opposition must move swiftly and fill in the gap.

The opposition and other patriotic Zimbabweans must coalescence so that they consolidate their political turf and mobilise everyone to go and vote. With the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission having lifted the suspension of electoral activities, mass mobilisation of voters, especially youths should be accelerated.

The 2023 elections are around the corner. The November 2017 events have taught us that Mugabe was not the problem, but Zanu-PF is Zimbabwe's biggest problem and must be dealt with once and for all.

Now that motormouth Victor Matemadanda was shown the red card, he should not go into political oblivion alone. More must join him in political Siberia after the polls, but the process begins now The new dispensation is having its last supper.

All the promises it made after grabbing power from Mugabe came to zero. Expecting anything good from Zanu-PF is like believing that diesel can ooze from a rock in Chinhoyi.

There is no reason for any person to vote for a Zanu-PF candidate, Mnangagwa included. After almost three years in office and two years before polls, there is no money in banks, unemployment remains sky-high at 99%, hospitals are now death camps, lots of mega talk and mega deal documents, but no mega investments, all we have seen is mega looting.

In short, there is no more reason to give Zanu-PF any chance. It has failed. It cannot do anything good after 41 years of failure. It is now or never.