The Sunday News
ZANU-PF Politburo member Professor Jonathan Moyo has dismissed as political fallacy allegations that Generation 40 (G40) is a political faction within the revolutionary party angling itself in the succession matrix.
Addressing journalists at the Bulawayo Press Club on Friday evening, Prof Moyo said G40 was not a faction but a purely demographic issue that seeks to describe the generation from where the political future of the country is expected to derive its shape.
He said it was laughable that if one was to ask those that call G40 a political faction within Zanu-PF who the members of the faction were they would say: “Professor Moyo, Kasukuwere (Saviour) and Zhuwao (Patrick).”
Prof Moyo further quizzed: “How can a political faction have three people?”
He said the myth that G40 was a political faction within Zanu-PF tussling to succeed President Mugabe with the alleged Lacoste faction was a product of successionists’ political imagination that has no place in modern day politics.
Prof Moyo, who is the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development and Tsholotsho North legislator said when he coined the term G40, in an article, he was far from making it a political faction.
He said the term was simply a generational term that spoke to the demographic structure and the essentiality of the age group 18 years to 40 years in determining the election outcome and the direction of the country’s politics.
Prof Moyo said it was absurd and “absolutely stupid” for anyone serious in politics to ignore the generation which comprises the 18 to 40 age group as it was an integral part of the voting constituency and the country’s demographic structure in general.
“G40 is a term that I introduced not to mean a political party faction as has been interpreted and reported. I introduced the term as a political scientist. In fact that is the vocation I am most comfortable with. I introduced it not under any political pressure from anyone. It is a generational term and it’s purely demographic. And if anyone does not look at it that way then they are stupid.
“Demographic issues ought to speak for themselves. It is a term that I arrived at after analysing the demographic structure and it showed that the elections are going to be decided by the G40,” said Prof Moyo.
He added that political factions were not an easy thing to form as they needed a lot of time.
“A political faction is not something that one can wake up one day and say I now have a faction. It’s not that easy. It needs a lot of time to form one, it’s a process. It is not surprising that those who are calling G40 a faction are the real factionalists.”
He said he was happy that there was a connection between President Mugabe and the youths, adding that the business of demonising the President should be condemned in the strongest terms because it was an affront to the legacy of the founding leader and the Republic.
“The connection between the President and the youths is very important because it is a legacy issue. It’s unfortunate that we have people who are dull and want to extend that to other people. Our media has not been helping the situation either. We have seen the media aligning themselves to political parties and individuals who dish out whisky,” said Prof Moyo.
Prof Moyo said Zanu-PF was the only coherent and cohesive party in Zimbabwe that was not looking at joining hands with any other party and called on all other party members to rally behind President Mugabe as he was the leader who won the elections.
He said efforts to malign him were supposed to be exposed and condemned, adding that not rallying behind the President was not only bad but dangerous for the country.
“Zanu-PF is the only coherent and cohesive party in Zimbabwe. No political party is as strong as Zanu-PF and that explains why we are not seeking to join hands with any other party. It is only when you are weak that you seek to consolidate your weakness by joining hands with others. We have a serious political commissar who has not lost any by-election in the land. We are a grounded party,” said Prof Moyo.
Prof Moyo said the party was ready to deliver its promise as espoused in the election manifesto that won the elections in 2013 adding that implementing development was delayed by the constrained policy space due to internal dynamics in the party as well as the recent disturbances that have been supported by the West.
“There has not been enough policy space for the Government to implement its pledges to the electorate. There has not been the necessary constructive space but that the Government was able to come up with the Zim Asset economic blueprint within 30 days is something that shows how serious the Government is in terms of delivering its pledges,” he said.
However, he said the party was geared to deliver on its election promises and a lot of work had been done in various spheres of life. Prof Moyo said housing, Small to Medium Enterprises, agriculture and innovations in science and technology were expected to create the promised jobs and boost the economy.
