People want jobs, not faction fights, Msipa

via People want jobs, not faction fights, Msipa 27 August 2014

FORMER Midlands governor, Cephas Msipa has condemned the factional fighting currently rocking Zanu PF saying this was a betrayal of the mandate voters gave the ruling party in last year’s elections.

“I think what is happening or being reported in the media to be happening in Zanu PF is worrying,” the Zanu PF politburo member said earlier this week, adding the bickering would not help improve the country’s battered image.

“Under such circumstances it becomes difficult to attract direct foreign investors and aid. It creates the wrong perception about our country. Zanu PF is the face of government; it’s not just a party.”

Zanu PF has long been divided over the succession of President Robert Mugabe, the party’s 90-year-old leader whose insistence he will serve out his current five-year term and seek another mandate in 2018 has failed to stop the bickering.

The squabbling has deepened in the run-up to the party’s December elective congress, resulting in chaotic youth and women’s conferences with Mugabe angrily condemning top lieutenants for engaging in vote buying and holding nocturnal meetings aimed at strategizing for positions.

Deputy foreign affairs minister Chris Mutsvangwa also publicly attacked administration secretary Didymus Mutasa and, stunningly, questioned vice president Joice Mujuru’s liberation war record as well as her credentials for the presidency.

Msipa said the bickering was a betrayal of Zimbabweans who voted for Zanu PF in last year’s elections, ending a fractious power-sharing arrangement with the opposition MDC.

Voters wanted the Zanu PF-led government to address the country’s economic problems, instead of concentrating on faction fights over party positions.

“We are backtracking on what the electorate voted us for on 31 July last year. They did not vote us to fight each other,” said Msipa.

“Zimbabweans want employment creation, improved standard of living and economic empowerment. We need to deliver on the 31 July election manifesto for us to develop. We can only achieve that if we are united.”

Opposition parties have accused Zanu PF of concentrating on faction fights, ignoring the country’s worsening economic problems with unemployment independently estimated at 80 percent and the government’s ZimAsset programme failing to make an impact.

The faction fighting must stop, Msipa said.
“Factionalism divides. Whoever is behind it should stop,” he said.

“People from outside will be looking, they are asking, ‘what is happening and what next. One of the many things that Zanu PF stands for is unity, development and peace.

“We can’t talk of unity when there is factionalism which is an antithesis of everything that the party stands for.”

Meanwhile, the party has banned officials and members from speaking to the media in a bid stop fanning the divisions.

National chairman Simon Khaya Moyo announced the media restrictions on Wednesday.

“Zanu PF is not a media party and its operations cannot be conducted through the media,” he said.

“On this note, I must warn the party members at every level, not to use the media to abuse the First Lady’s name for whatever reason. The First Family must be respected at all times.”