via ‘Unity Accord losing meaning’ – DailyNews Live 22 December 2014 by Mugove Tafirenyika
HARARE – Former and current Zanu PF stalwarts say the Unity Accord signed between President Robert Mugabe and the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo in 1987 has lost significance owing to the debilitating political polarisation within the party.
Since the signing of the accord, government has set aside December 22 as the day to celebrate the coming together of Zanu PF and PF Zapu to signal the end of hostilities between the two parties that saw the needless massacre of an estimated 20 000 innocent civilians in Matabeleland and the Midlands in the early 1980s.
Zapu was forced to enter into a unity agreement with Zanu PF after these brutal murders that were widely blamed on the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade which operated in the regions under the guise of hunting “dissidents”.
Former Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo told the Daily News yesterday that the ruling party had destroyed the essence of unity by pursuing politics of exclusion.
Gumbo said the country was now seriously divided to the extent that Zanu PF was now finding it difficult to determine the political and electoral processes in Matabeleland.
In addition, he said, the majority of the leaders representing Zapu in Zanu PF did not come from the people as they were appointees rather than elected officials.
“There is no more unity to talk about and nothing to celebrate especially when all what it (Unity Accord) stood for has been lost, after we have lost the idea of one man one vote, democracy and all that we fought for.
“How do you justify the so-called Unity Accord?” asked Gumbo.
He added that the majority of former Zapu cadres had become fed up and joined the opposition MDC which he said was now dictating the electoral processes in the region.
“Zanu PF will have to find an innovative way otherwise Unity Day no longer carries that same significance to the people as it used to have. How do you unite people by purging them?
“How do you say you are united when it is the MDC determining the electoral processes in Matabeleland? It shows there is no unity,” he said.
Politburo member, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, said more or the same thing in an interview with the State media at the weekend.
Ndlovu admitted that tribal exclusion had become the hallmark of Zanu PF politics and that discussing the issue would open a Pandora’s Box.
He called on those in the party’s top echelons to walk the talk on unity as he accused them of speaking about it with forked tongues.
“If you neglect people on the basis that they are former Zapu then those people won’t feel emotionally attached to unity.
“I am also urging people to cherish unity and also highlight that some are not sincere about unity.
“They just talk by word of mouth but do nothing to show they are serious about it. How can one be an advocate for unity when as a Cabinet minister you appoint all the directors in your ministry from your tribe and neglect people from other regions,” Ndlovu said.
Former Zipra intelligence supremo, Dumiso Dabengwa, has since broken away from Zanu PF and revived Zapu, citing unfulfilled promises and insincerity about unity on the part of Zanu leaders in Zanu PF.
The opposition MDC has also, since its formation in 1999, taken advantage of the disgruntlement of people in Matabeleland to win the majority of votes in the region in successive elections.
COMMENTS
I cannot see what this hubbub is about. What do we know? When Joshua Nkomo was alive and actively fit in the vice Presidents role Mugabe was trying to keep well behaved. Matabeleland was surviving but only just. The moment Nkomo passed away the so called unity accord passed away. Dabengwa and co tried to keep it alive but failed because there was no longer anyone to check Mugabe.The late Msika came in and he tried to condemn the chaotic land invasions. This did not last long because Mugabe went on record to support the lawlessness. Suddenly Msika had to also change his stance. The Ndebele people seeing that the party had now been swallowed by Mugabe and most of those in that group were no longer interested in looking after their interests latched on to the only other sensible option available.After Msika passed enter the late John Nkomo who had always been liked by Mugabe so he posed no threat to Mugabe’s projects. The unity accord died with Nkomo. When Mugabe finally turned on his own a new unity took place without an accord. The tribes with unity of purpose. When Mugabe saw this he increased his rigging capabilities. THE UNITY ACCORD DIED WITH JOSHUA NKOMO.
The unity accord lost meaning a long time ago. Zimbabwe is not a one-party state and therefore a merger or unity pact between two political parties is just that and nothing more. It should not be elevated to national level to the point of having a holiday declared for it.
Joshua Nkomo became the face of the unity accord and made it look relevant although he knew that he could never think of rising beyond being VP. With him passing on and the country’s political scene changing so much the unity accord is now irrelevant.
All it does now is remind us of how ruthless Mugabe and Mnangagwa were during Gukurahundi where they send a whole battalion to fight a small contingent of rebels and ended up ruthlessly killing ordinary villagers for perceived support of dissidents.
Also if you take a Zapu member who was 18 in 1987, that member is now 45 and so when they say former Zapu members they are talking about people with a minimum age of 45, a very small demographic indeed.
I also think that if the merger had been successful we shouldn’t still be hearing about former Zapu etc, they should just be one party by now.
There never was unity.It was Mugabe’s way of entrenching himself as the dictator he is for without any credible opposition he created a de facto one party state. One thing that is not said is dissidents were created by Mugabe and though ex-Zipra were not sponsored or commanded by Zapu.They were a disgruntled disjointed group of ex-Zipra running away from persecution and execution in ZNA integration camps. Interestingly they got their ammunition and weapons supply from the 5brigade soldiers they killed. Had this dissident era been Zapu sponsored the country would have gone into full scale civil war as all Zipra would have become involved.
5brigade suffered heavy loses in both men and equipment at the hands of a mere +/-120men. This was really embarrassing which is why in anger they went on a killing spree of innocent defenceless people. This also was the reason Mugabe arm twisted Nkomo to sign the Unity accord even with disapproval from majority Zapu members and ex-Zipra cadres who were waiting for orders from high command to take arms from ZNA camps and fight the Zanu monster.
There never was unity between Zanu and Zapu but an arrangement to end Mugabe being embarassed by 120 guys killing his Korean trained army unit and Nkomo’s desire to end senseless killing of innocent people. The killings of 5brigade by the dissidents could easily have led to arms being turned against Mugabe by his loyalists.
So there never was unity.