Zanu-PF should be bigger than the individual

THE state of the opposition is well known in Zimbabwe. They are a confused lot, but that is their problem, except to the extent that they are denying the electorate a vibrant, home-grown opposition to keep the ruling Zanu-PF with a keen eye on the ball.

That said, the elections are not far off the horizon. Zanu-PF has already done what often turns out to be a most fractious phase of any political party — the primary elections. They are, we can say confidently, water under the bridge.

It has also launched a powerful manifesto which the opposition has tried to deride and disparage. But that tells you Zanu-PF is the game in town. The opposition is having sleepless nights trying to poke holes in the document.

For Zanu-PF, implementation of that document will be critical for national development. Thankfully, it is consistent with President Mnangagwa’s policy thrust since he took over the reins — policonomics. There is need for appropriate weighting between politics and the economy.

He has said the economy comes first, with politics there to help decide which areas to prioritise.

For Zanu-PF to be able to implement its policies, it must win resoundingly the next elections. We have no doubt many Zimbabweans are keen to see a continuation of the promising reforms the new administration has initiated. There is need for continuity.

We have said what will most distinguish the new dispensation from the Robert Mugabe era is more action than talk, more specifically, more economics than politics. The phase of combative political rhetoric is done. Focus should now be on development and making as many friends as possible.

While the harmonised elections are not far away, the road is tricky and Zanu-PF needs to move with speed to deal with a few disgruntled comrades who appear to have missed the transition. It bids the party rediscover the oneness of intent and voice of 2013. Bhora mberi, ibhola phambili.

In our view, the new approach to candidate selection has reinvigorated the party. It has excited interest across generations. It has opened doors to anybody and everybody who wants to try their hand in politics. It has removed a redundant and sometimes stultifying entitlement on the basis of participation in the liberation struggle.

The liberation war is fully acknowledged and appreciated. It is, however, important for war veterans to appreciate that they are now an endangered species. It is in their best interest to ensure that they leave their legacy in safe and capable hands. Now is the time to mix with the youth in politics, with their children, to inculcate in them the correct values.

The risk is to make them feel excluded, which leads to alienation from the affairs of their country. That presents fertile fodder for an opportunistic opposition pushing a foreign political agenda to harvest the youth vote, then to change the course of history, to distort and destroy the noble legacy we so cherish from our liberation history.

It is a heritage we must preserve and what better way to do so than to advise the inheritors of that legacy at work when you still have influence!

What we are saying in short is that the new candidate selection approach put the party ahead of the individual. To that extent, there are no winners and losers per se. It is a matter of getting a chance to serve both the party and the nation. Next time those who lost this time might also get a chance.

The important thing is that Zanu-PF should always emerge the biggest winner in any intraparty processes.

So far there have been unfortunate voices of dissidence, dissonance and discord from senior members of the party. While they are in the new dispensation and their contributions are greatly appreciated, it is unfortunate that mentally they have remained in the past where things were done the old “Zanu-PF way” where the individual mattered more than the people. Those laggards must be made to see the light, the change, the silent, but gusty revolution taking place in Zanu-PF where everyone must now work for the party, not the other way round, which tended to foster corruption.

This is the simple message the commissariat department must take to the people. Zanu-PF must win the elections and comrades will be rewarded according to their labour towards that goal. That way we build a new Zimbabwe.