Retired Army Major Savious Kudzai Mbudzi — who was recently re-admitted into Zanu PF— yesterday said the majority of members in the Zanu PF politburo were too old to continue holding on to their positions in the party.
Mbudzi said the old generation should now pave way for younger leaders for Zanu PF to remain relevant to the electorate.
The controversial politician said 80% of officials in President Robert Mugabe’s politburo should step down. He said this (retiring) was now the trend in international politics where younger politicians had now taken over leadership positions.
“Look at the ages of world leaders now. In China, the leader is about 56, in Russia, he is about 46, in Britain he is around that age and in the United States, he is about 49 years of age,” Mbudzi said. President Mugabe is 87 and is likely to seek another five- year term of office come election time.
“This is the trend we must copy without being sarcastic over the mentioning of names, lest I will be caught on the wrong foot as targeting individuals.”
He said the younger generation of Zanu PF cadres such as him should now be given a chance to take over leadership.
“Look, I am 49, the same age as (US President Barack) Obama, quite ideologically astute, versatile and educated as well, but I still hold no position in the party,” he said.
Mbudzi said if Zanu PF failed to renew itself, it risked being irrelevant on Zimbabwe’s political landscape.
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“I believe in the principle that the incumbents in my party’s politburo must accede to the inevitable reality that the replacement of the old by new is a universal uninterrupted process quite independent of anybody’s will,” he said.
“It is my belief that at least 80 percent of our politburo should be replaced by young Turks. I don’t and will never mention names because I am talking about a principle and a system.
“Moreover, those who are old know themselves and they don’t need to be reminded by me and I do not see any indiscipline in this.”
He said after serving for many years as a “loyal” member of Zanu PF, time was now ripe for him and others of his generation to be rewarded.
He said it was unheard of for elderly and physically weak to want to punish their juniors when they offered to carry out duties that required a lot of energy while they rest.
Those leaders who have occupied positions for too long would be like “catatonic schizophrenics” if they did not expect to be told to step down and give others a chance. He said there was nothing wrong for anyone in Zanu PF to aspire to hold top posts.
Mbudzi was recently re-admitted into Zanu PF after having left the party to join Simba Makoni’s MKD political project. Mbudzi was quoted in a Masvingo weekly paper as saying President Mugabe — who has been betrayed by his close lieutenants as revealed by whistleblower WikiLeaks website — should retire and pave way for young blood to contest in the next elections, under a Zanu PF ticket.
