Mugabe's unity initiatives should be embraced

The move taken by President Robert Gabriel Mugabe on Saturday 25 June 2016 in which he forgo his busy schedule and flew to the Lowveld in Chiredzi to unite the factional parties which were accelerated in the allocations of sugarcane plots there should be embraced by some ZANU PF supporters and members as that exercise could bring sanity into the ruling party. Factional wars have not been doing any good within the ruling party as people had to spend most of their time chasing positional advantages instead of fighting to revive the economic crisis which has befallen the country for close to two decades now

The issue of factional fights within the ruling revolutionary party ZANU PF has dampened the full implementation of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) at the time when the opposition political parties are mulling coalitions. ZANU PF should know that if opposition political parties come to a coalition that would sound dangerous to it hence unity among its members is needed sooner than later. The political situations in the country which has seen the formations of various political parties aiming to challenge the supremacy of ZANU PF in the 2018 harmonized elections compels the ruling party to call its house to be in order. There embrace factional wars but members of ZANU PF need to create a rejuvenated revolutionary party which will thump the opposition political parties in the 2018 harmonized elections either they would have formed coalitions or not.

So the move which the President took of flying to Chiredzi and having a meeting with all the ZANU PF leadership at the Triangle Country Club when he called for unity among them should be applauded as it was the milestone which would bring sanity and harmony within the party. ZANU PF should embrace that effort which the President did in bringing together the warring factional sides in Masvingo as a way of finding a common ground for the betterment of ZANU PF and the country.

People could be surprised why the President chose to go down to Chiredzi for such an exercise of uniting those in the factional wars there. It should be known that Chiredzi which follows under Masvingo Province has been also entangled into factional fights pitying the alleged team Lacoste and the so called G40 thereby destroying the spirit of togetherness in that sugarcane planting district. Such factional fights has led to the skewered allocations of sugarcane planting plots in the district with those aligned to top factional leadership in the province getting the bigger chunks of those plots leaving others crying foul.

It is a fact that Zimbabwe is experiencing some economic crisis which has seen some civil servants failing to get their salaries on their expected dates which they used to get in previous years. Such economic crises coupled with factional wars within the ruling party could drive the country into abyss thereby continuously causing the suffering of the ordinary people. So ZANU PF should be united so that it directs its effort in tackling the economic problems in the country as to come up with solutions not to spend its time on solving factional wars.

The fact that President Mugabe took up his time and went to Chiredzi to resolve such problems that could be viewed and appreciated as a good move which could bring sanity and unity to the ruling party. Once there is sanity and unity in the ruling party ZANU PF, then the leadership would become seized with ways of reviving the economic fortunes of the country thereby bringing hope to the unemployed youths who constitute the majority of some school leavers and university graduates. While it is necessary for the ZANU PF leadership to be currently seized with political issues bedevilling this revolutionary party but the same leadership should not forget that the economic front needs to be checked as well.

Some factional wars which started in ZANU PF way back  before the firing from both government and ZANU PF of the former Vice President Joyce Mujuru by President Mugabe as she planned to overthrow him, have now reached a boiling point with the party being divided now. The firing of former Vice President Mujuru from both the government and the ruling party could have brought sanity but as it stands factional wars still persist making members of the revolutionary party to spend most of their time witch-hunting each other on whom to be fired and whom to remain in the party thereby interrupting the smooth implementation of some government developmental programs. Such factional wars which have seen a lot of people getting some vote of no confidences followed by suspensions and sometimes dismissals from the party have not done any good to the party.

Now that the President has seen it fit to bring sanity in Masvingo should be well appreciated as this should be the beginning of more good things to come. The ZANU PF leadership should be aware that any squabbles that might be emanating from the ruling party could be taken as a welcome move by the opposition political parties as they are now using those factional wars in the ruling party as campaign tools to lure support from within ZANU PF. For that reasons the revolutionary party should now guard against being ambushed along those lines by the opposition parties but get united so that it remains in power as to make sure that the implementation of ZimAsset is not interrupted.

The social media has not been doing any good to the ruling party as a lot of some civil society organisations have been posting videos on all communication channels like Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and others denouncing anything perceived to be bad done by the government and ruling party ZANU PF. So ZANU PF should guard against that and make sure that its house is in order as a way of countering such maneuveres by those opposition groups which are bent on tirelessly attacking ZANU PF through the social media and other communication channels.

Hopefully the ZANU PF leadership would also take the effort started by President Mugabe of bringing unity to the party countrywide. All provinces if not districts need such efforts so that sanity is brought among ZANU PF members. From what the party is reeling under with factional wars being the order of the day, the opposition party could find themselves on the driving seat come 2018 harmonized elections if factional wars are not solved earlier than later. For that reason ZANU PF should bring sanity and unity in the party and do away with some factional wars as a way of making sure that the revolutionary party is rejuvenated again for more years to come if not eternity.

The electorate out there still have belief and confidence that ZANU PF is the party to support but the same electorate needs direction that would it continue voting for this tried and tested revolutionary party in the coming 2018 harmonized elections.

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John Mukumbo <mukumbojohn@yahoo.com