It would seem as though I am obsessed with the party. Yet, if you have lived your life in Zimbabwe since Zanu (PF) took power, you will understand how that party has pervaded our lives.
So, I beg the reader’s indulgence as I try to unpack its suicidal and contradictory, if not self-defeating, insistence on a hurried general poll. As I have pointed in the past, President Robert Mugabe publicly declared election dates on five separate occasions since 2010. But none have seen the light of day.
Last December, for instance, the party resolved at its annual conference that it wanted the harmonised polls held by March this year, a date as untenable as earlier ones, and certainly not more feasible than the June 29 that Mugabe and his party are touting at the moment with the verve of a mad drummer who does not when people stop dancing.
At the onset, let me clear a possible untidiness. It is a fallacy to refer to Zanu (PF) as though it were a homogenous formation. That party is as unitary as is our current Government of National Unity, if you see what I mean! There is a largely progressive faction, forgive it its own spots, and there is the exact opposite, comprising mainly a militant, die-hard coterie that you would safely blame for most of the trouble we have endured.
The relatively sober faction, I dare say, is made up of people who many have slotted in the so-called Mujuru camp, with one or two extras. The other camp, you have guessed, is the hard core that has always been pushing for all the wrong things in this country. This grouping goes beyond the hard-line politicians ordinarily huddling in the Mnangagwa faction. It consists also of the securocrats, kleptomaniacs and opportunists who do not necessarily love Emmerson Mnangagwa or Patrick Chinamasa.
The only thing that unites the two complex groups is their amazing tendency to find solace in history rather the present and future. They are also united by their belief that the only person who can guarantee their survival is Robert Mugabe, hence the Old Man is always smiling all the way to the bank as the groups grovel at him to ensure their preservation.
So, when I mention Zanu (PF), I am referring to the second group, the one made up of hardliners who can easily go to sleep after chopping off the hands of a grandmother whose only sin is bearing a child with a non-Zanu (PF) way of thinking.
This is the grouping that has always wanted to fast track post-2008 elections, and for a good number of bad reasons. Never mind the fact that Mugabe has been making the public pronouncements. That is illusory because, he has no choice but to play along with the hardliners.
He is walking a tight rope – forced to do whatever he can to ensure he does not fall off, especially in his twilight lap. The hard core is full of clever spinners who have somehow managed to make him say what they believe and want.
I am firmly convinced that the hard core has, all these years, been busy weaving a rigging system that it thought would ensure an easy victory for Zanu (PF) and themselves. Thus, the longer we go without elections, the more exposed that system becomes.
Of course, a cooked voter’s roll is part of the machinery, but there should clearly be others that are visible to the ordinary eye. But, the longer it takes, the riskier their game becomes. I am not sure if Mugabe knows this, but, as a politician who wants to retain power, there are slim chances of him dismantling the evil machine willingly.
The hardliners know very well that their fortunes hinge on Mugabe’s presence, and, as other analysts have already pointed out, they want to make hay while the Old Man is still agile enough to rally the party. Because most of the people in this group lack grassroots popularity, a disintegrated Zanu (PF) would be their surest nemesis because it would expose them. This group would not survive a minute longer if Mugabe were to get out of the picture in one way or another.
Yet there could be another reason. Obviously, an election victory will not come on a silver platter for the larger Zanu (PF), less still for the hardline Zanu (PF).
There would therefore be no sane reason why some people from within would want to rush a level election. It could therefore be possible that the hard core is just putting up a façade and testing the ground. – For feedback, please write to majonitt@gmail.com
Post published in: Opinions & Analysis