‘Enough of the public fighting’

ZANU-PF leaders should resolve their differences within prescribed party frameworks as public spats cause more harm than good, President Mugabe has said.

He hit out at top officials who share internal party information with potentially hostile characters, describing the practice as as a “shame”.

At the ZANU-PF Youth League National Assembly in Harare yesterday, President Mugabe said it was pointless to involve the private media in internal party matters.

“. . . if there are problems, let’s discuss them, and discuss them not for the benefit of NewsDay or Daily News, or the outside world kuti vawane zvekutaura, about ourselves or because iwe unekanyaya, unoda kunyadzisa vaungafunge kuti ava ndovandinosungirwa kunyadzisa. Ko, ukavanyadzisa today, ivo vanoda kukunyadzisawo mangwana.

“And you should learn politics, good politics. And kuno kumusorowo, we should give that lesson, that our differences are discussed in-house.

“They are ours; they don’t belong to the outside and kutukana kunze it’s a shame, a shame even to our legends nekuti our party was not built on that basis.

“It’s a party ine discipline, a party which has learnt that if we are divided then we become the food of vultures outside. The enemies will thrive and feed on us.

◆ We should never do that.”

President Mugabe said Zanu-PF’s internal systems were robust enough to handle any situation. “It doesn’t matter how offended you feel. Bring your matter here, your offence here, we will discuss it. And we find a solution within the party. That’s it.” Zanu-PF’s First Secretary said the same unity that contributed to victory in the liberation struggle was the same unity of purpose still needed today, saying “we are all children of Zimbabwe”.

President Mugabe said he had even warned United States President Mr Donald Trump against spreading disunity.

“That’s what I was telling Trump kuti isu, you must learn to talk our language. It’s the language of unity, it’s the language of peace, the language of dialogue, the language of co-operation and the language of togetherness. That’s how I put it. Ndozvinosimudzira kubatana. The nations of the world must learn from us in Southern Africa, I said, but kana waakutaura zvechidhimoni izvo, kuti vamwe ndinovatsvaira muno munyika, aiwa, we will not accept it.”