Zanu-PF battles and the role of media

The media has played a pivotal role in deepening the consequences of factionalism. The adopted model of addressing the predicament, with noticeable favoritism, carries a similar malice as the actual act of factionalism itself. As a result of the media's deficiency, the battle has become a confrontation of high political science and a bulging gathering increasingly becoming frustrated by the day. And so, the effects of the predicament have been too devastating in a short interval of time.

Events have been unfolding in the last few weeks. The sudden appearance of Amai Grace Mugabe on the political arena has been the major highlight of the recent political voyage. The suspension of numerous long-serving members of the party has also been surprising. But the first lady's direct confrontation with factionalism deserves enormous recognition. Consequently, she has attracted both high praise and deep condemnation from various facets of the political dispensation.Alas, there have been mixed reactions regarding the recent suspension and expulsion of long-serving members.

Anyway, the events of the last few weeks deserve a thorough deliberation on. To begin with, two factions are believed to be in existence and the recent suspensions appear to be a subsequent attempt to curb the problem. But, while the recent suspensions have been particularly shocking, they have been celebrated elsewhere. But that has not been the problem. The problem has been that the media has reported factionalism inaccurately. Confronted with an opportunity to propagate national information without fear or favour, various elements of the media have been shocking in their bias.

So, the ultimate complication with factionalism has not been its divisive nature but the manner in which the party leadership has handled it and also how the media reported it. It appears there has not been sufficient objectivity in the mediation of the loathsome evil, and the media has contributed immensely to that preventable disaster. Rather than condemning all and sundry with equal abhorrence and without favour, and reporting news in the true spirit of journalism, the penalties have been largely one-sided and resulting in the literal prejudice of others. The consequence is pointing towards unwarrantable leniency on some suspects committing a similar offense thus effectively failing to tackle the problem quantitatively. Through those arbitration disparities which have revealed an alliance of common purposes and the disjoining of conflicting ones, both the media and the ruling party's headship have widened the predicament.

With particular reference to the newspaper and some online websites, the deliberate prejudice in their publication of news pertaining to factionalism has become noticeable. For example we have read about serious fabrications about particular individuals leading to their ultimate demise and nothing much about their contenders.

And yet, the exposure of any criminal activity is commendable. The only trouble is the selective application of that operation convoyed by its timing. The implication being that, those who have survived the scrutiny of newspapers and judgment of despots, are either complete saints or gracious personalities. Which they are not, needless to say.

In the end, the imbalanced propagation of news and stories pertaining to factionalism has told a tale that part of our media enterprises are focused nly upon profit maximization. Whilst it is understandable for business ventures to have an interest in profit maximization, the role of the newspaper particularly, is to propagate national news in an unrestricted, objective and trustworthy manner.

But then, the crucifixion of particular individuals cannot be justified even during their season of misfortune. Firstly, it remains mere speculation, and without substantial evidence that particular members have conducted themselves in a manner deserving extreme punishment. Secondly, assuming the speculation is true, it is hardly a criminal offense for anyone to aspire for higher office because it is permitted by the constitution. And thirdly, the revelation of one's aspiration for high office cannot constitute an instantaneous endeavor to disregard current corridors of authority. Rather, it is an expression of fre-will which an autonomous movement should encourage for the sake of meeting the basic principles of democracy.

In any case, a clash of opinion is not always a bad thing. Sometimes it provides solutions best suited to a dynamic contemporary. Therefore, it is imperative to embrace dissimilarity and appreciate its benefits.

Zanu-PF is not without its admirable virtues. Amongst its features, it has the advantage of an established leader whose proficiency has been tried and tested. Although the factionalism facade has not had the opportunity of a rational consideration, it is still early days. For all we know, sanity might prevail in the camp again.

But the recent squabbles have had numerous other devastating consequences too. As the economy plunges in anguish, those appointed to control the tide have not done enough to reduce its effects. The focus has been on internal disputes and not much on relevant assignments. Suffice to say, the ruling party should accept the blame for a sluggish performance thus far and the media should abide by the guidelines of its code of ethics.