EDITORIAL COMMENT: Politburo must invoke spirit of Team Zanu-PF

via EDITORIAL COMMENT: Politburo must invoke spirit of Team Zanu-PF | The Herald February 10, 2016

THE governing party Zanu-PF today holds a crucial Politburo meeting. Our hope and the hopes of many Zimbabweans are that this meeting will settle, at least for as long as is possible, some drama which has long ceased to be funny.

To most well-meaning Zimbabweans, the internal fighting between some cadres has been cause for embarrassment.

Only those with nefarious, regime change agendas find these squabbles interesting.

They are having a field day, beating their chests about how they have been vindicated about the ‘alleged’ implosion.

Having no more opposition party to support or cheer on, they can only find consolation in prayers for the demise of Zanu-PF.

We cannot help but empathise with those in the Zanu-PF leadership who shoulder the responsibility to rein in errant cadres; those who must pronounce final resolutions of this Politburo meeting.

It is an onerous task.

Often it is easier when the leadership has to wield the whip to bring into line disorderly youths.

But we have in the current situation Politburo members who are also Cabinet colleagues openly attacking each other in all sorts of unorthodox media.

We have the same Politburo members openly disregarding the pleas of the Party President to avoid using social media to wash dirty linen in public.

This is not the Zanu-PF we know. Its a Zanu-PF which has abandoned its rules, where some individuals feel bigger than the party and therefore indispensable.

They see themselves as the untouchables whose individual views must prevail against everybody else, and damn the consequences.

They have betrayed the trust and faith the President vested in them as men and women of honour.

They, instead, have behaved, not as appointees but as elected on personal merits. They should therefore not expect any sympathy from us.

Zimbabwe is facing a myriad challenges, including the yoke of sanctions imposed on the country for its courageous decision to repossess land stolen during a long nightmare of colonial rule.

That war to restore the dignity of black people in Zimbabwe is far from over.

But more importantly, there is the struggle to empower those people who have been settled on the farms with resources and skills.

That is where we expect Government ministers to exhibit their skills and collective resourcefulness.

This year the sadc region in general and Zimbabwe in particular face a debilitating drought. It is estimated that up to three million people might require food assistance. We expect our ministers to be seized with this matter. The least we can say is that the nation is disappointed.

Zanu-PF won the 2013 harmonised elections on the strength of its empowerment policies, the bedrock of Zim-Asset.

That policy document is crying for implementation. It calls for the collective effort of all Zimbabweans led by Government ministers. That leadership has been missing as senior party members fought to position themselves as future kings.

At the risk of repeating ourselves over this matter, Zanu-PF must put its house in order. It is time to assure the people that the party is concerned about their welfare and that it is doing something to mitigate the effects of the El Nino-induced drought.

It is time the governing party demonstrated that it deserves to be re-elected to consolidate its black economic empowerment policies anchored on the land reform programme.

The internal fights for positions and supremacy have gone on for far too long.

They should come to an end so that all party efforts are directed towards productive activities in the spirit of Team Zanu-PF.