The Sunday News
Richard R. Mahomva
WE live in the era of partisan polarisation. Polarity is healthy if it defines the true essence of democracy. It gives a fair opportunity for ideas to compete.
In our case, the competition of ideas and the acceptance of realities which are stubborn to flex remains far from occupying the centre of the public discourse.
This has been seen in the manner academic credence is measured on the extent one vilifies the ruling Party. Avid followers of literature in humanities and social-sciences will agree with me that anti-establishment postures have assumed prominence in the academia.
Much has been invested to castigate the nationalist anchored terms of economic empowerment by Zanu-PF.
Many of our “established” academics earned their prominence through marshalling human-rights and property rights anti-narratives.
This is why the engagement and re-engagement trajectory being initiated by the Mnangagwa administration is facing epistemic rejection by the metropolitan populace of civil society activists and anti-establishment cyber stormers.
This is the constituency which demanded political reforms before the Second-Republic was born.
These same comrades still insist that there are no political reforms in Zimbabwe. They continue to criminalise Zanu-PF for the pitfalls of yesterday.
They choose to ignore the self-regeneration of Zanu-PF since November 2017 and how a new wave of democracy has ushered into the country’s political-culture since then.
The anti-establishment crusade continues to disregard the outcome of the 2018 Harmonised Elections on the pretext of selective memory which shatters the reality of the open campaign space which was enjoyed by all political parties.
There is no doubt that the Zanu-PF of yesterday had its own inadequacies, even today’s Zanu-PF has its own pitfalls depending on how and where one views the Party. However, it is hypocritical not to appreciate the new national agenda being fronted by Zanu-PF.
This is true when one considers the open political stakeholders being initiated through the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad).
For the first time, Zimbabwean political parties are uniting beyond the life-cycle of the election.
This reflects a reinvention of our politics towards inclusion and the building of a common destiny for our people.
This position follows the perennial nation-building recommendation by our civil-society and academia. Ironically, Polad is being criticised in the same circles because a particular political party is not part of the Polad framework.
There is no better clarity than this to the condition of the capture of our academics and civil-society.
Another contradiction is noted through the new monetary policy debate. The issue of currency reforms was among the many reasons for the public outcry over the de-dollarisation.
After the re-introduction of the Zim-Dollar we still have other sectors of our polity who still demand that the economy should be dollarised at the expense of the common man, woman and child.
These characters do not see into the positive side of things, their sole focus is on the possibilities of the failure of this policy. A failure in this monetary policy reform is seen to some as an ingredient to Zanu-PF’s rejection by the masses.
Tendai Biti has taken a prominent position in defending the dollarisation of the economy.
This goes on to prove that the propensity for the dollarisation of the economy is more partisan than it is inclined on producing solutions for sustainable economic development in Zimbabwe.
His concern and that of his party is to see Zanu-PF failing so that it becomes easy to dissuade the people from uniting in bringing development.
The whole idea is to propagate the failure of Zanu-PF to erase the reality of merits which accompany Government reforms.
This calls for the need to understand that Zanu-PF carries the mandate derived from the greater constituency of voters. Consequently, in the interest of democracy Zimbabweans need to unite in their differences to support the party in power.
This is the Party with the legitimacy to produce policies which cater for every Zimbabwean. Besides its ballot conferred monopoly to govern, it is imperative to note that Zanu-PF has opened its door for dialogue and integration of differences through the Polad framework.
This means that we are all united to the nation-building agenda of the Party in power to find a common ground of what unites us.
Today we are united by the need to solve the impending shortage of fuel, the scarcity of medical drugs in our hospitals, wanton price hikes and many other economic challenges.
We need to find common solutions for common problems by supporting those mandated to stir the wave of reform.
Antagonising the positive of our time under the leadership of President Mnangagwa is not enough to drive us to a path of reform which Zimbabwe needs.
In fact, it is allowed to hate him, but it is profane to disrespect the mandate he carries to build a better Zimbabwe.
This is what he owes all of us and we owe the policies he is initiating the greatest of our support and input.
We should be all active stakeholders to the Zimbabwe we want, regardless of the hate we carry for one another’s political leanings.
We need to appreciate that Zanu-PF is at the centre of shaping the stature of our political economy between now and 2023.
Until then we need to come out of our linear comfort zones and carry the build to build attitude than to destroy.
We are all charged with the assignment to unite than to dismember — to mould than to dismantle.
As such, it costs nothing at all to join the toil of those in the plantation from which the fruit to heal the land will be harvested. We must all be Zanu, Simple!
The leadership Zanu-PF must provide
Zanu-PF is charged with the mandate to consolidate its strength to remain relevant and push for high levels of reform. All its structures must remain vigilant and pursue diligence to ensure that Zanu-PF wins the 2023 election.
To remain in power its mobilisation traction must be felt in other constituencies.
Zanu-PF must dispatch its correct commissariat to bring victory in 2023.
It must be noted that Zanu-PF as a party has a mandate to serve at the mercy of the enduring national values which are prescribed and pronounced by the Party-line.
In following all its internal and external goals, cognisance to the Party-line must remain firm to its cardinal features of advancing national unity, peace and development.
All frontiers of Zanu-PF must grow out of the perils which disunite the Party against the enemies of the revolution and the common struggles of our people.
Zanu-PF has a torrid experience to prove its case and cause ahead of Vision 2030 and retaining its mandate in 2023.
All wings of the Party must have their energy channelled towards the reconstruction of dismembered values and re-tooling of nationalist consciousness for the benefit of future generations.
