The ManicaPost
Collen Mharadzano Post Correspondent—
Recent assertions and insinuations by the media where the revolutionary party, Zanu-PF, Zimbabwe’s ruling party is caricatured as a political entity in limbo and/ in perpetual chaos due to feuding elements both within and without makes sad reading for the nation.This writer has always posited that a united Zanu-PF is the panacea needed to inject momentum into the developmental strides which had hitherto defined the nation’ trajectory. Yes, my comprehension of the conflict phenomenon unveils a positive slant to this intricate field. The notion of conflict within national scope should never be partially viewed on the basis of negativity only rather it has some positives outcomes.
The genre of conflict becomes untenable only when it teeters on the brinks of destruction. When diametrically opposed views, which in most cases ordinarily constitute the said conflict, are harnessed harmoniously, development in its multi-faceted ways is bound to be realised.
Is it not therefore a healthy assumption that all that is depicted by the both the private and public media as intercine conflict in Zanu-PF is only but the genesis of bonding which will result in a formidable party whose impact will incredibly motion the national developmental wheels to insurmountable heights.
Zanu-PF is a unique institution which defied the expectations of many especially its hardcore adversaries who have always longed for its demise. Some inquisitive mind would ask what uniqueness?
The revolutionary party is unique in that it is home to diversified membership which expectantly demands its voice in their political, economic and social arena. It is this loyalty to the party, Zanu-PF from a wide arena of the citizenry, rich or poor that distinguishes it from its political opponents from within and without.
The party has an oasis of institutional memory as epitomised by the surviving veterans of the liberation struggle who remain a fortress in safeguarding the ethos and values of our democracy which was not attained on a silver platter but rather a protracted warfare which robbed the nation of some of its finest sons and daughters.
The veterans of the liberation struggle are harbingers of national solidity as they will always be visionaries and the guiding light of the nation. It can only invite the wrath of the nation’s forbearers to have a divided war veterans association.
This week’s reports where the leaders of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association found common ground with their parent ministry which ultimately signals a wave of sync with the party is harbinger of good tides for the nation. The revolutionary party, Zanu-PF is richer with a united ZNLWVA, a potent election mobilisation machinery which has withstood the vagaries of time.
A united ZNLWVA working in unison with its consanguine life partner Zanu-PF inject despondency in the nation’s detractors who have always found willing tools in some Judas Iscariots who are in our midst. Certainly, news of a united Zanu-PF ahead of the 2018 elections naturally send shivers into the spine of an already fragile and fracticious opposition which lacks policy and ideological clarity.
The task ahead for the revolutionary party is to immediately revitalise and rejuvenate its mobilisation machinery spearheaded by all its wings. The party’s strength is its grounding in the masses thus paying an attentive ear to their wishes and aspirations, already the people have been given seeds for this year’s cropping. This is what the people want, their party delivering on their needs.
The party can also take a leaf from progressive organisations from elsewhere in the world, organisations which have transformed the world arena by being the source of their governments’ mighty in the economic field. The Communist Party of China is one such gigantic organisation whose strategic and policy direction and clarity has made China the new economic phenomena of the world. The CPC has transformed China to the political and economic giant it is today.
The Chinese repulse on any form of corruption, so do Zimbabweans. The party has to stamp its feet to rid any corrupt elements amidst it and the nation at large.
This weekend, the revolutionary party will be electing its Central Committee members as the party gears for its annual Conference which will be held in Masvingo.
It is critical that cadres of great repute and revolutionary grounding are elected to these crucial posts. It is these cadres who will be seized with the party’s policy matters outside Congress, which therefore implants greater responsibility upon the Electoral College to ensure that cadres of sound ideological grounding and intellectual standing are elected to steer this onerous responsibility.
Like any huge family of the magnitude of Zanu-PF, conflicts are inevitable hence it is only the manner in which they are resolved which history will judge the revolution with. Zanu-PF is the people’s party, which has always been in the trenches eternally identifying with the aspirations of the masses. This bond with the populace should therefore be jealously safeguarded hence guaranteeing the revolution perpetual eternity with a massive victory in the 2018 elections.
Collen Mharadzano is a political writer based in Nyanga, Zimbabwe. He can be contacted on [email protected].
