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 6th 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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
