The veiled lessons from the Zanu PF succession fiasco

The veiled  lessons from the Zanu PF succession fiasco

By Terence Chimhavi

House of chaos - Zanu PF headquarters.

They may have denied it more than a thousand times and still continue to do so; but the truth of the matter, now clear to most people including its staunchest and formerly-unblinking supporters, is that their collective failure to timeously attend to leadership succession is costing their party Zanu PF dearly. And by extension, because they are the ruling government, the country. It is no longer a point for argument that the Zanu PF succession wars are what is chiefly retarding economic recovery and national progress in Zimbabwe.

The current pre-occupation of course is squarely centred on who, between long-time front-runner VP Emmerson Mnangagwa or Grace Mugabe will take over the reins of head of state from their increasingly frail nonagenarian leader; which event, judging by the viciousness of the succession tussles, may not be very long from happening. This is of course coming after the brutal purging of another front-runner, former VP Joice Mujuru in late 2014. While the state-controlled media continues to down-play the extent of the effects of the intense factional fights in Zanu PF, it is the private media that seems to be setting the agenda – this through their reporting of the succession battles – where Grace Mugabe (backed by a group commonly referred to as Generation 40 or G-40 in short) and VP Emmerson Mnangagwa are increasingly seen in a tussle to succeed President Mugabe.

The import of my short piece though is not centred on who will eventually win the succession tussle in Zanu PF – that I content is that party’s business. Rather, I just thought I should point out three hidden lessons I have discerned, having enjoyed a spectator role in the hullabaloo that has been the factional fights in the party over leadership succession.

1. They are all mortals and not invincible

Former VP - fell by the way side.

The spectacular demise of former VP Mujuru and her allies, some of whom had occupied the top echelons of power for so long came as a surprise to many, especially among the ordinary folk. Here were previously untouchable citizens, whose mere mention of just their names could easily send chills down the spines of especially the rural folk. Some of these men and women, in their official capacities in both government and fronting Zanu PF as a party, are responsible for despicable crimes against the citizens, all in the name of defending their places at the feeding troughs of Zanu PF’s patronage system.

Didymus Mutasa - a mere man.

I found it very interesting to note that despite all the ‘robes’ they wore and the roles they played during their lengthy reigns of terror, in defence of Zanu PF, these are just ordinary men and women after all. Which villager in Headlands constituency and indeed Manicaland as a province could have ever imagined that Dydimus Mutasa could be reduced from his deity-like status to an ordinary man? Or who could have imagined that Nicholas Goche could be forced to attend a Zanu PF rally as an ordinary citizen, sharing the tent-less grounds away from the podium with the ordinary folk’, and taking turns to wipe rivulets of sweat with the ordinary citizens? It just then rings in your mind, as aptly put across in the old adage – fear not the owl’s horns, for they are just feathery ears. And indeed, it just affirmed that the ‘mighty robes’ they wore were borrowed.

 2. Zanu PF has no clear ideology – it is all about staying in power at whatever cost

I also found it worth noting, as a student of our national history, that over the years, it has not really been ideological direction or clarity that has driven Zanu PF and its stay in power since 1980. Rather, it has been all about defending their grip on state power and the privileges that come with its exercise. Despite the fact that Zanu PF assumed power in 1980 with a clear mandate of what the masses that supported the liberation struggle wanted to be addressed – chiefly, this revolved around the land question where redistribution was of paramount importance; the equitable distribution and use of national resources for the benefit of all citizens; and the right to self-determination, particularly through universal suffrage – the truth of the matter is that this mandate from the people has systematically been discarded, and a new ‘either you are with us or you do not benefit’ paradigm has been adopted, and is what to this day has largely sustained the ruling party and its grip on power.

Zanu PF ideology post1980 no longer clear.

It is now apparent that despite claims to the contrary Zanu PF never really cared about giving the land back to the landless black majority. Indeed, it was the apparent agitation from the masses and the threat posed by the newly formed opposition in 2000, which resulted in the knee-jerk reaction that gave us the fast-track land reform program. This will be confirmed through the hap-hazard manner and elitist allocation that did and continues to characterize the program. Even the talk of indigenization is not really about empowering the black masses but rather as we now know, is all about entrenching the patronage system through which the party continues to retain political power. Thus, we are now sure that Zanu PF has no real ideology that it stands for except that they seek to stay in power in eternal perpetuity. Tichingotonga, tichingotonga, tichingotonga.

3. Succession is only natural and must therefore be planned for.

The current tussle apparent in Zanu PF as they head for the Victoria Falls 2015 Annual People’s Conference – where an increasingly agitated G-40 or the ‘Young Turks’ in the party are beginning to openly show their own ambition for power in the face of spirited efforts by the old guard to safeguard top leadership of the party amongst the old members – has in my view worked to confirm two things. 

Firstly that the old guard in Zanu PF, especially at leadership level seem naïve to the fact that leadership is not exercised to eternity, but rather should be passed on from time to time, where the older folk pass on the leadership baton to the younger generation. The talk that a person with no liberation war credentials will never rule this country betrays a dangerous level of naivety that cannot be ignored. Only a fool will assure themselves that those who actively fought for the liberation of this country will always be there to exercise political power. That is a falacy.

G-40 - tired of waiting in the shadows.

Secondly, that despite blind conformity and allegiance to an untenable system, there are a significant number of people in Zanu PF, at both leadership and ordinary member levels, who are level-headed enough to note that things have gone wrong with regards succession in the party. And despite a heavy and iron hand to keep all dissension in check, plots and counter-plots are the order of the day, as individuals and groups scheme day and night to address a problem they publicly deny exists – that of the succession conundrum. How the succession debacle eventually pans out remains to be seen, but we may have already become witnesses to the end of days of this former liberation movement.

And slowly but surely, the succession chickens are coming home to roost.

The writer writes here in his personal capacity and can be contacted on tchimhavi@gmail.com 

For Zanu PF, the chickens are coming home to roost

By Terence Chimhavi

Shake-shake building: Zanu PF Headquarters

For a long time now, a lot has been said and written about factionalism in Zanu PF in relation to the contentious but inevitable issue of succession. In the past, all the speculation, insinuations and realities to emerge in this on-going saga have been flatly denied by the ruling party, being branded a figment of the media’s very fertile imagination. However, I argue here that despite this denial, the truth is finally unravelling in a manner the former liberation movement is clearly grappling to deal with.

The year 2014 will go down in history as a year like no other in the country’s contemporary political affairs. The talking point was of course the 6^th Zanu PF congress held at the end of the year. The congress came with it upheavals of seismic proportions especially in as far as the legal and organic nature and structure of the party is concerned. I will not here delve into the purges pre- and post-congress, which to today, continue to throw a dark shadow of uncertainty over where the leadership of the former liberation movement is taking this country to.

Both angling to succeed President Mugabe

One thing though that came out loud and clear from the congress is the fact that factionalism is well alive in Zanu PF. More so, it is evidently clear that the basis of the factionalism is the succession issue – precisely defined within the context of who will take over the reins of the party (and country) when President Mugabe eventually calls it a day in office, voluntarily or through natural means. The latter here is more likely. 2014 also finally came with it confirmation to the existence of two distinct factions – one rooting for Emmerson Mnangagwa and the other for the vanquished (at least for now) Joyce Mujuru.

What is also clearly an off-shoot of these factional wars is the dismal performance of the current government, especially in as far as rescuing the precarious state of the national economy is concerned. The majority of time post the July 2013 elections has been spent more by ruling party officials from the various factions, jostling to position themselves strategically in a post-Mugabe era. Though they deny it publicly, for obvious reasons, everyone in Zanu PF is well aware of the untenable position of being in a party led by a 91-year old. They know they have given their leader God-like powers, through complicit and implicit myopias. And true to the letter and spirit of these powers, President Mugabe has and continues to use them ruthlessly, whenever he feels his powers are threatened, and also as a way of keeping ‘his’ factions against each other, and consequently in check.

Post-Mugabe era positioning driving factionalism

However, the bulk of the misery seems to go back to the leader himself. It is becoming clearer by the day that President Mugabe now sees as his only viable way out, the quest to fulfill his long-held ambition to being the life president of this country. This seems the only sure way he can guarantee that he goes to his grave without having to be held to account for what he has brought Zimbabwe to in his long tenure as president. To achieve this, he has had to do away with any real or perceived threat to his rule. And this has come at great personal cost to him. And typical to the position he finds himself in, the factions angling to succeed him have also used him against each other at different times and to varying degrees of success. In 2004, it was the Mujuru faction that got their way, using the President. Fast-forward ten years later, it’s Mnangagwa and crew who have emerged on top. However, am sure as an ardent student of, and active participant in the making of the history of his party, the current VP is well aware that the ground upon which he treads is very fluid.

As President Mugabe delivered his State of the Nation address on 25 August, 2015, very few expected anything solid to come from it. His 10-point plan is as before, far removed from reality. Even the Russians and the Chinese, touted by Zanu PF as our saviours and all-weather friends, seem to have no faith in the state of affairs within the ruling party. And is primarily why the MOUs signed in anticipation of the so-called mega deals, remain just that – pieces of paper. 

Zanu PF lacks a clear organizational succession plan.

The failure by Zanu PF to have a clear succession plan and the uncertainty it has given into, both within the party and transcending to government, is what today stalls any movement to progress for the country. The level of uncertainty surrounding how the succession conundrum will end is what is holding any sane investor back, both from the east and the west. This, coupled with the rampant corruption within the realm of the far-reaching patronage network that sustains the system, is what is driving our national economy to the doldrums. It comes to a point where those high up in Zanu PF are faced with two choices: reformation and genuinely remedying the economy, or concentrate on keeping power at all costs while burying you head in the sand – of course they are pushed towards the latter.

Zanu PF running a comatose economy

And clearly both the members of Zanu PF as a party and their life president have no-one to blame for this situation, which unfortunately has spawned a blanket catastrophe in the name of a malfunctioning economy, which in the end is hurting the citizens. And though they find themselves in a situation where avenues for recourse are legally barricaded and any pro-action ruthlessly crushed, the citizens can only sit and wait, well aware of the authors of their misery. And any legacy as a true pan-African father and leader that President Mugabe could have laid claim to has slowly been eroded by his misgivings, stemming from his failure, deliberate or otherwise, to steer a sound succession path for his ruling party. They may rule yes, but clearly the art of governing and marshaling a functioning economy has eluded Zanu PF and this is what they will be remembered for, as a collective.

And truthfully, the precarious state of affairs in Zanu PF as a party and their subsequent failure to manage a functional economy is confirmation to the fact that slowly but surely, the succession chickens are coming home to roost.

The writer writes here in his own capacity and can be contacted at tchimhavi@gmail.com