via May the real Mujuru please stand up? – NewsDay November 3, 2015
The past 10 months have been characterised by an expectation that axed Vice-President Joice Mujuru was on the verge of forming a party to challenge Zanu PF.
Once in a while the Mujuru camp has heightened expectations of launching a political party by releasing ambiguous statements, some seen as policy statements or manifestos.
But as soon as those are released, Mujuru retreats into her hermit-like existence, where Zimbabweans are left guessing as to what her next move will be.
Mujuru gained bucketloads of sympathy when she was fired, despite questions about her track record. The more she keeps Zimbabweans guessing, the more she is likely to lose that goodwill.
Her lieutenants, Rugare Gumbo and Didymus Mutasa, have done their part in keeping the People First project in the limelight, but now Mujuru has to stand up or forever squander the goodwill she has.
Zimbabweans are quickly reminded of former Finance minister Simba Makoni, who when he quit Zanu PF, claimed there were many within the ruling party who backed his Mavambo project, but elections came and went and only a handful came out to back him.
In spite of getting a respectable 8% in the 2008 election, Makoni and Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn never scaled the heights many thought they would and it would not be remiss to describe them as a fringe political party.
Others like Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo and his Zanu PF colleague Daniel Shumba have flirted with the idea of forming political parties, but nothing came out of that and the longer Mujuru does not announce hers, the more disquiet grows.
There are some who still question her sincerity in forming a party and believe she is a Zanu PF project. Sadly her silence feeds into such theories.
Questions also arise why Mujuru and her comrades seem recklessly determined to form a coalition to contest the 2018 elections when they have not yet launched their own party.
We believe now is the time for Mujuru to get up and announce where she stands, otherwise many are feeling disillusioned with her and think they are being led up the garden path.
While we do not believe the nation’s focus should be on the 2018 elections, it is becoming increasingly inevitable, as the forthcoming polls are beginning to dominate public discourse and political parties planning for them.
In this regard, the opposition should start working on putting its house in order and prepare to fight Zanu PF.
A stronger opposition, regardless of the winner at the next polls, is very important for our country’s democracy and efforts to strengthen them should be encouraged.
However, the state of the opposition is not being helped by Mujuru’s “will-she-won’t-she” stance and the sooner she takes a stand the better.
No doubt, Mujuru’s formal entry into opposition politics will shake up the political scene, but on the flipside, her dillydallying may also be damaging.
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