Holland says eclipsed by Zanu PF

via Holland says eclipsed by Zanu PF – New Zimbabwe 25/01/2015

MDC-Renewal Team leader Sekai Holland has said Zanu PF’s internal squabbles have “overshadowed” the opposition making it difficult for the parties to plan for the future.

In an interview with NewZimbabwe.com, Holland said President Mugabe’s fixation with petty party politics at the expense of national development has left “all of us in limbo”.

“Our national leaders should be concentrating their efforts on delivery and building on the peace initiatives set up under the government of national unity. But instead we are all transfixed by what is happening in the ruling party.

“Whatever we are doing now as a party is being overshadowed by this senseless infighting whose head or tail we cannot make,” said Holland.

She added that as a liberation war fighter she was perplexed by the indifference of Zimbabwean youths as “the country burns”.

“During the liberation struggle we did not have to be coaxed into joining the fight. We realised that Smith (Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian) would not give away power voluntarily and all of us fought in our own way to dislodge him. I do not see the energy now and the youth of this country do not need to be invited into the streets to fight for their rights,” Holland said.

However she said it was also necessary for those in political leadership to fight for the rights of the downtrodden.

“The Magna Carta (British Constitution) is 800 years this year and for it to be established two Kings were executed in a fight between the royal family and noblemen. It was a fight at the top for the establishment of the rights that the British society enjoys today. We also need the same from those in political leadership. Once the rights are established at the top they can trickle down to the weak in society,” the veteran politician said.

In the run-up to the December congress and immediately after, Zanu PF saw an unprecedented purge of senior officials including its now former vice president Joice Mujuru.

As a result the events of the past six months within the ruling party have shifted attention from the economic problems the country is facing to a continuing succession drama which has become almost a soap opera.

The Zanu PF internal fights have very nearly overshadowed every facet of life in the country.