Unity Day statement by Dr Dumiso Dabengwa

Unity Day 2014: Critical point for reflection by progressives

Unity Day on 22 December 2014, next Monday, is an opportune time to remind the country that this day has been used by the ruling ZANU-PF to push its hegemony instead of promoting national cohesion and a sense of shared national values. Since formally resuming its independent existence in 2010, the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) has consistently attacked the cloak of unity worn by the ruling ZANU-PF even as this party undermined the potential of the Government of National Unity (GNU)and used the state machinery to restrict full enjoyment of freedom of assembly. Allocation of land, distribution of seed and farm inputs, and permits for public meetings are some of the most glaring areas in which communities, non-governmental organizations and political formations have experienced partisan use of state machinery.

A sword cuts both ways

This year will be remembered as one in which the beast feasted on its children, showing that its disdain for democracy was not reserved for the opposition but could be turned inward. ZANU-PF at its just-ended 6th National People's Congress savaged the country and party's Vice-President, Comrade Joyce Mujuru, and her presumed allies and supporters. The important point here is not any interest in the party's internal preferences but the brazen display of disrespect for basic rights and processes. Massive disenfranchisement of those seen as challengers of the central authority is a major concern beyond the ruling party. It is not clear at this juncture what those who experienced persecution and purging are going to do. It would however be surprising if such a large number of previously key political actors kept quiet about instruments of coercion between turned inward. We have not sought their collective views but we have it on reliable authority that people like Rugare Gumbo, Ambrose Mutinhiri and Ray Kaukonde are not going to take their fate lying down. Our unequivocal position is to urge them to stick to principle and to fight for democratic space so that events like Unity Day have meaning for all Zimbabweans both within the country and in their respective political formations.

It is shocking that three decades after independence the ruling party's congress departed from being "elective" to becoming "appointive", meaning that the already "guided democracy" that was in place for the choosing of the Vice-Presidents is now unequivocally vested in the hands of one person. It is no surprise that this unprecedented power was immediately exercised by President Mugabe to unilaterally pick the second and third in the state leadership (V.P.'s Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko). The orchestration of this power grab was skillfully managed by evil geniuses to focus on a vicious and malevolent denigration of the sitting V.P., Vice-President Mujuru. The unprincipled attack will always serve as a reminder of the importance of accountability in leadership and fair play in political competition. We note too that this denigration of internal enemies was accompanied by slurs on parts of the country, with Matebeleland castigated by the First Lady Mrs. Grace Mugabe for allegedly preferring to send its young people into migrant work in South Africa etc. for blankets and other trinkets instead of productive work inside the country. This insensitivity at the center of power is not just a slip of the tongue; it merely underlines how necessary a devolved system of government is, instead of centralized power that blames the marginalized for their situation. This is why, as we approach 2015, all progressive forces have to insist on the full implementation of the provisions for devolution of power that are enshrined in the new Constitution. These provisions are by no means sufficient to correct in the short term the heavy toll on marginalized areas like Matebeleland, but they lay the basis for provinces to have a say in access and control of resources and to shape priorities of government to tackle problems as they see and experience them locally.

The upheaval inside ZANU-PF has repercussions that are beginning to take shape, the most important of which is increased hero-worship and signs of the evolution of a dynastic Gushungo clan leadership. If that development was limited to the ruling party it would be of no interest to most of us. However, the visible and invisible hand of the First Lady in the making and unmaking of government leadership is something that needs to be decried. It is something that can erode whatever is left of collective leadership after a relentless trend of centralization, this time with the added disaster of an untried and untested family-based leadership. We are in engagement with some of those in ZANLA who have a longer view of where we have come from, where the liberation agenda was more important than individuals and their personal agendas. It is early days yet, but the thrust of this engagement is to explore how the broad aims of our struggle for freedom and people-centered government can be restored to be the point of departure instead of the shell of presumed family-centric glory. Unity of purpose in this regard should be the rallying cry for Unity Day in 2014.     

Current efforts to create a coalition of opposition parties

The experience of the 2013 harmonized elections convinced many in the opposition that the 2018 elections are better approached in a united front or coalition of parties committed to accountable government.  ZAPU was involved from the outset around April 2014 alongside the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn (MKD), and the newly-formed MDC-Renewal that broke away from MDC-T. Negotiations among the parties led to the completion in July 2014 of an agreement that represented common positions on most contentious issues. These include the principle of shared and rotational leadership, retention of the identities of the constituent parties under this Coalition of Democrats (CODE), and agreement to work out a method for selecting a slate of candidates so that the coalition parties would not compete against each other. The early Pan-Africanists used to say "United we stand, Divided we fall!"

ZAPU took the coalition document to its structures and membership, and in the New Year we shall get back to our CODE negotiating partners to chart the way forward. We have also been engaged for many months in the reshaping and strengthening of our party structures, and next month we plan to complete the re-composition of our provincial structures inside the country and in the Diaspora. Side by side with the ongoing work on provincial structures we have been working on elective conferences of the Zimbabwe African Women's Union (ZAWU) and the ZAPU Youth Front (ZYF). These elective conferences have to take place in the first quarter of the year, so that we have enough time left for the party Congress that will take place early in the second half of 2015.