Moment of truth for Zimbabwe People First

12 Jun, 2016 - 00:06 0 Views
Moment of truth for Zimbabwe People First Dr Joice Mujuru

The Sunday News

Joice Mujuru

Joice Mujuru

Dumisani Sibanda, Sunday News Correspondent
POLITICAL parties that have been formed by former Zanu-PF members to try and dislodge their former political organisation have generally fallen by the wayside or failed to make any meaningful impact in their agenda.

Witness how Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn and Zapu party led by former Zanu-PF Politburo members, Dr Simba Makoni and Dr Dumiso Dabengwa have paled into political insignificance.

Now, three months since the formation of the Zimbabwe People First led by ex-Zanu-PF Second Secretary and former State Vice-President Dr Joice Mujuru there are already signs that the political outfit will take the same direction.

Dr Mujuru who has virtually been in political hibernation after announcing the launch of the party at a Press conference in Harare on 1 March this year is expected on Saturday to address a rally in Bulawayo as part of a series throughout the country.

The moment of truth has arrived and it does at a time the Zimbabwe People First party is in sixes and sevens and when Zanu-PF has just held a successful Million Man March on Africa Day in honour of its leader, President Mugabe and MDC-T has held its marches in Bulawayo and Harare which were however, less successful. It therefore remains to be seen if Dr Mujuru will draw a huge crowd of thousands and thousands of people.

But bear in mind that the title of the award winning novel Things Fall Apart by celebrated Nigerian author, the late Chinua Achebe, aptly describes the topsy-turvy situation in the Zimbabwe People First.

Before the party was launched or whatever that Press conference held at the five-star Meikles Hotel in Harare can be called, some sections of the local media were over the moon about the possible entry of Dr Mujuru into opposition politics. If it was sports news, it was as if there were rumours that football star Lionel Messi was moving from Barcelona to Real Madrid. Acres of space in newspapers in that section of the media were devoted to Dr Mujuru as they predicted a grand entrance of what was supposed to be a new queen of opposition politics who would give her former principal, President Mugabe, a run for his money.

From the manner in which they portrayed her the ordinary reader was probably surprised if this was the Runaida — her other name — they knew who still needed some hand holding by President Mugabe before thinking of filling the icon’s big boots — who was being talked about.

The wise among such readers and journalists even, correctly observed this was a fairy-tale which would remain that, a bed-time story for children in kindergarten about some event in cuckoo land. Zanu-PF is a movement led by a powerful political personality and founding father of a nation, so it would never be a stroll in the park for a political “littlun” to borrow a term from William Goldberg’s novel Lord of the Flies like Dr Mujuru when compared to President Mugabe in political stature.

There was so much media hype about her entry into opposition politics that even Mr Morgan Tsvangirai — who with the support of the British and Americans helped by internal fights in Zanu-PF better described as the bora kusango phenomena in 2008 almost upset the Zanu-PF applecart — was supposed to move over and make way for Dr Mujuru.

One would have thought 1 March, the day she announced the formation of the party would see her addressing a gathering of epic proportions at a venue like Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare’s Highfield Township where this country’s founding fathers the late Cde Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo and Cde Mugabe were separately received by tens of thousands of people in triumph to the country after the war of liberation.

Alas, it turned out it would just be a Press conference at a five star hotel, Meikles, in the Zimbabwean capital leaving many wondering if the choice of venue had some political significance. Was it an announcement or ritual marking that Dr Mujuru — a former liberation war combatant — was cutting ties completely with the revolutionary party, Zanu-PF as she now regretted having fought against colonialism and wanted to mark her entry into the world of re-colonisation. Meikles established itself in Zimbabwe during the colonial era.

Subsequent interviews Dr Mujuru had with foreign journalists exposed her for not just being barren of political ideas to torpedo a political titanic that Zanu-PF — being an amalgam of the country’s two liberation movements and their armies — PF-Zapu and Zipra and Zanu-PF and Zanla — is but no way near her former principal, President Mugabe, in terms of eloquence, that is clarity of thought and expression.

Apart from having to contend with the paradox of saying that Zanu-PF is a bad political party that has destroyed the country when she has known no job outside the party in her entire life, she has had to contend with the problem of trying to organise the party which has stuck out like a sore thumb.

The few rallies that have been held by Zimbabwe People First have been woefully attended by a few people to the extent that some think it’s almost like she is leading a small disorganised burial society. A few disappointed by the dismal performance and lack of organisation of opposition parties had jumped into ZPF hoping at last here was a political party that could upstage Zanu-PF but they have been disappointed. Some feel they are not welcome in the party as they are being sidelined on appointments for leadership positions.

The reason for feeling this way is that there are some bigwigs that believe the core of the leadership of ZPF should be made of Gamatox — that is former Zanu-PF members expelled for reportedly supporting Dr Mujuru then in the revolutionary party in her alleged efforts to stage a “palace coup” within Zanu-PF.

The problem led to Dr Mujuru ordering meetings to encourage “inclusivity” recently which however, failed to take off because of “logistical problems”. Thus the tendency in Zimbabwe People First has been for those appointed to leadership positions to try and surround themselves with people from their former party resulting in conflict from the other members who feel excluded.

This situation has led to parallel structures cropping up within the party. In Bulawayo for instance it is common cause that Mr Tapiwa Moyo fired from Zanu-PF youth wing for being a Gamatox front for one group while another is led by Ms Esnath Bulayani a former member of the Professor Welshman Ncube led MDC.

Ms Bulayani — who lost dismally in the last general elections when she contested in Bulawayo South was appointed by Dr Mujuru to be the coordinator for Bulawayo Province but Mr Moyo’s followers have vowed to ignore her and only take orders from their “leader”.

Another case in point is Matabeleland South where Dr Mujuru appointed Mr Leonard Mathuthu — a former Zanu-PF member as coordinator but there are some members who feel the position should be held by a former member of the Welshman Ncube led MDC, Mr Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo and are therefore resisting the leadership of Mr Mathuthu.

At national level, former Presidential Affairs Minister, who was also Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration, Mr Didymus Mutasa is reported to be fronting a group called Chirenje which wants ex-Zanu-PF members to form the core of the organisation. Mr Mutasa is reportedly also not happy with being sidelined by Dr Mujuru and wants a senior position in the party. He recently told Sunday News that he was “aware” of the allegations that he was leading Chirenje but dismissed the whole thing as “nonsense”.

But the goings on in the party has emboldened the assertion of the factionalism within the party. On Friday, a story carried by The Herald newspaper on the factionalism in Zimbabwe People First was quite revealing of the war in that political home.

Responding to questions from, The Herald, ZPF’s deputy spokesperson, Retired Lieutenant Colonel Kudzai Mbudzi said Dr Mujuru would not be forced to “anoint” Mr Mutasa and launched a brick bat on him for wanting power at such an “advanced age”. Mr Mutasa is about 80 years old while Dr Mujuru is 61.

“About forming a political party, I am not sure, but if VaMutasa and colleagues honestly believe they have a political market and are therefore a strong brand outside Zimbabwe People First, they should not be ashamed to market it. If VaMutasa then wants to form a party so that he quickly elevates his pleasurable personal ego to higher political platforms he thus aspires to achieve in life, so let it be. We will simply say to them welcome to the real world of boys and men. But I don’t think VaMutasa will thus be unwisely guided to see it viable to form a political party purportedly for the future of Zimbabwe at such an advanced age in his life. If he wanted to do so, he could have done it much earlier in life when he still was more energetic to drive such a vision,” Rtd Lt Col Mbudzi is quoted as having said, revealing the depth of the problems in the party.

Zimbabwe People First has been plagued by infighting so much that even processes like the sale of membership cards of the political organisation had to be stopped. In April, it was announced that Dr Mujuru would go on a whirlwind tour of the country addressing rallies but this had to be shelved because of the problems in the party. She is only now scheduled to start the tour on Saturday with Bulawayo being her first port of call. It will be a litmus paper test of Dr Mujuru’s popularity if the rally indeed goes ahead given the problems in the Bulawayo Province. It’s a game of numbers.

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