THIS year’s Independence Day — tomorrow — comes against the backdrop of a raging civil war in the ruling Zanu PF party.
There are many factors at play and all in tension.
When Zanu PF sneezes, the whole country catches a cold. Zanu PF has been so dominant and domineering. When it is in a crisis, this has a much worse effect on the whole nation.
They take their eyes off the ball and virtually everything comes to a standstill.
In the ensuing collateral damage, their is denial and withholding of service to the nation as those in the driving seat — the Weevils faction of Zanu PF — take blanket, sweeping ruthless measures against individuals — Gamatox faction – perceived as threats to their privileged and powerful positions. These people are as dirty as those they are pointing fingers at —if not dirtier.
The nation has been held hostage to this factionalism madness never mind the closing companies and job losses, never mind the potholed roads, never mind the descent of Harare into a vending jungle, never mind the endemic corruption, never mind the disappearance of journalist-cum-political activist Itai Dzamara–the list is long and growing.
Zanu PF stalwart and former politburo member Cephas Msipa was forthright in an interview last week, saying Zanu PF was economically clueless and had no capacity to turn around the free-falling economy “because of its divisive tendencies”.
Said Msipa: “It is sad that the politburo is spending so much time to oust cadres from the party. Even during my time in there (politburo), we spent so much time politicking and never dedicated much time to tackling economic and development issues,” Msipa said. “I look back and it’s a pity that we have never spent even a single night discussing how best we can turn around the economy. Our priorities are wrong.”
But let’s observe and esteem Independence Day tomorrow with all the due dignity and respect for the sacrifices made, but the time of celebration will certainly come. The repression and corruption can’t last forever. Something is building up. Something gotta give.
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Indeed, how can they in all seriousness say the unemployment rate is currently at 11%? It is logically invalid. It is inconsistent with the evidence on the ground. It does not cohere with what we know of the wider world. You can manipulate statistics to suit your political ends, but this has never worked in practice. Clearly, what’s at play here is vested interests and a political slant. It then is no wonder that those in Zanu PF on whom the axe has not fallen so far are in high self-preservation mode. What else can we make of this flurry of swearing undying loyalty as a means to prove one’s “innocence”? Such characters, in fact, further reinforce the people’s perception that they are incapable of acting without fear or favour.
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu’s statement last week distancing himself from fired former Vice-President Joice Mujuru smacks of that.
Wrote Ndlovu: “How could I as a former nationalist and revolutionary of the ANC in 1957 before Mujuru was born . . . founder and chief executive director of ZDECO Group of Colleges having educated a million students since independence? . . . I am still active in politics (through) party mobilisation to remove the last vestiges of opposition MDC-T formations.”
One, he got it wrong because Mujuru was born in 1955, not 1957. Two, is it of any significance that he entered politics before she was born? If so, how come one of his political contemporaries Dumiso Dabengwa seems at home with Mujuru? Three, what does his ZDECO role have to with the Mujuru issue? Four, is it for him, his party or the voters to “remove the last vestiges” of the MDC-T? Such a stance has the effect of undermining democracy and pluralism. It’s a crying shame.
Well, methinks Ndlovu doth protest too much. His insisting on never having anything to do with Gamatox could actually point in the opposite direction – like the biblical Peter categorically and emphatically denying ever being associated with Jesus when he had been cornered. Just a thought.
Nevertheless, we should not harp back to the past by romanticising the Rhodesian racist system which had to be removed because it was oppressive, exploitative and dignity-offending. Some whites – not all – in the system along with their black puppets committed unimaginable acts of cruelty and atrocities.
Neither should we romanticise the pervasive corruption and repression in Zimbabwe today. Diamond wealth is nowhere to be seen. Some political bigwigs roping in ignorant and misguided youths have mastered political thuggery. Police arrest expelled Zanu PF member Temba Mliswa on the dubious grounds of “disturbing” a Zanu PF meeting, the “investigating” officer conveniently disappears so that Mliswa is held longer in police custody, not to mention that Dzamara is still missing under a regime which boasts of having security apparatus second to none. There is nothing much, if at all, to celebrate except among those preoccupied with self-glorification.
Well, that has been the culture of the ruling elite. They put themselves first; it’s about self-preoccupation, egomania, navel-gazing, self-absorption, self-concern, self-regard, self-centredness, selfishness – you name it – that has nothing to do with the self-denial and self-sacrificial values of the struggle for Independence. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. But people need to be strong and stand up for what they believe in — which is exactly what Msipa is doing, not with rancour, but with respect. Not with crudeness, but with cool-headeness. Msipa said although Mujuru had been kicked out of Zanu PF, she and many others remained genuine national heroes.
“We can disagree on political and maybe economic issues, but that should not be used to distort our history. A hero yesterday will always remain a hero today,” Msipa said.
Such independence of thought and expression gives Independence Day true meaning.
