Polad leaders must hang their heads in shame

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s much vaunted Political Actors Dialogue (Polad), has been exposed for what it really is — a feeding trough for those connected to the centre of power — contrary to claims that it is a leadership platform to stabilise the country’s shaky political ship following the contested 2018 elections. A report in the latest edition of our sister paper, The Standard, aptly sums up it, that leaders of the 18 or so fringe political parties constituting Polad are in it for personal aggrandisement, if their recent outrageous demands made through Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs permanent secretary Virginia Mabhiza, are anything to go by. Surely they should be ashamed of themselves.

Mabhiza, who must have been caught flat-footed, never anticipated that the report would leak to the media, hence her incoherent response when contacted for comment.

“Who gave you that? You end up writing bad things yet things will be in good faith, but I cannot confirm what you are saying. Neither can I deny it,” that’s all she could say.

Besides the luxury of staying in five-star hotels and being pampered with allowances and fuel each time they are on Polad assignments, they will soon take delivery of commercial farms, diplomatic passports and top-of-the-range vehicles, all paid for by the taxpayer, if authorities accede to their latest demands being championed by Polad’s monitoring, implementation, learning and evaluation subcommittee.

In justifying their latest wish list, these “briefcase”party leaders most whom have little or no representation in Parliament and local authorities, argued that diplomatic passports and vehicles would help them to effectively discharge their duties.

What duties? Serving whose interests other than their godfather — the Presisdent?

On farms, they said: “Polad should engage in income-generating projects contributing to economic revival whereby issues touching on the welfare of Polad need to be expedited as they go a long way in making them not only sharing ideas, but adding to the economic growth in this country through utilising the farms, thereby setting an example to the nation on how agriculture, which is pivotal to the economic growth of the country, has to be done and while at the same time we need to increase on awareness and visibility.”

Really?

There is no doubt that their demands will be met given reports that government is already actively considering them. So after accepting these freebies, what will make them different from Zanu PF. Who under such a compromising position would have the guts to publicly chastise government leadership?

Probably this explains why MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa chose not to be part of the gravy train right from the word go, describing it as “a Zanu PF monologue”.

Polad is proving beyond doubt that it’s just there to massage Zanu PF elites’ egos, enrich political dimwits and hoodwink the international community so that it sees democracy at work in Zimbabwe.