ZAPU's Historic 8th Congress

The Bulawayo province of ZAPU is gearing itself for the historic 8th ZAPU Congress. It is indeed historic in the sense that it is being held after numerous inhibitive hurdles that have been bedevilling the party as a whole.  As a party of the people, by the people and for the people, ZAPU has not been a favourable ground for donations from outside its membership. Its members have had to pay for everything from their own meagre resources despite the fact that the majority of the people of Zimbabwe hardly have any income! The whole country is reeling under a serious economic demise as a result of state sponsored corruption for decades, general political repression and the heinous politics of patronage within the ruling party.

It is difficult to expect struggling men and women from anywhere in Zimbabwe to find money to donate for a political party congress, and yet ZAPU supporters regardless of the difficulties they encounter every day are doing exactly that.  As expressed by Comrade Baron Tshuma, "I had to take some money for my children's food. This congress must never fail." It is a sacrifice.

Secondly the congress is historic in that it is a congress of a party of genocide survivors. These are indeed survivors physically and politically.  The party was meant to be politically exterminated because this is the party of direct victims and survivors of the Gukurahundi genocide beginning with its leader Doctor Dumiso Dabengwa. After close to a decade of an armed onslaught, torture, brutal murders, kidnapping of party members and all sorts of blackmail, lies, tribal motivated hatred, that the party can still come back and convince whatever number of people must be a miracle.

 Added to this is the forced submission to ZanuPF with all its anti the people policies in 1987. The people outside the bribery machinery of ZanuPF hate that party with all its links of any kind. ZAPU members who left ZanuPF in 2010 had already been terribly smeared by the murderous Robert  Mugabe led party. It is a mammoth task to convince the younger generation that the submission to ZanuPF by the late ZAPU  President Joshua Nkomo was  a desperate move to save lives and a refusal to be used by the real enemies of Zimbabwe as they were doing  with UNITA of Angola and Renamo of Mozambique at that time.  Comrade Mafukufuku, Joshua Nkomo, the commander in Chief of ZIPRA Forces was a rare African breed of an extremely high revolutionary consciousness gifted with a profound sense of patriotism!  

 ZAPU's Bulawayo Province goes to this historic congress in a hyper-political environment where the citizens live daily with the effects of clear economic rejection and marginalisation by the ruling party and its leadership.  Only earlier this week just all Bulawayo based security guards at Choppies a company belonging to Vice President Mphoko were dismissed summarily and replaced by a group from Harare. Just because the leadership of ZAPU is from Bulawayo it is labelled by even some opposition parties as a tribal party. Any attempt to argue and correct such blatant undemocratic behaviour by Mr. Mphoko's company is dismissed as tribalism.  The majority of the people are therefore denied the opportunity to see reason. On the other hand the people on the ground want a party that is sensitive to their situation. Ignoring their plight renders any party irrelevant.

With no massive resources to host large numbers or hire renowned musicians for luxury and fun during its congress, ZAPU takes pride in that it is for the people and with the people. This will be a people's congress indeed and the Bulawayo Province is playing its role with all the enthusiasm. There is a hive of activity at the party offices and there will be a roadshow at the week end.

By Mkhululi Zulu. (Bulawayo Province Secretary for Information & Publicity).