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NewsDay

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Nothing but political drama in 2015

Columnists
The year 2014 ended on an unexpected note, with the ouster of the former Vice-President Joice Mujuru and her accomplices. It is a year that saw the unthinkable happening.

The year 2014 ended on an unexpected note, with the ouster of the former Vice-President Joice Mujuru and her accomplices. It is a year that saw the unthinkable happening.

The Zanu PF liberation struggle DNA was thrown out of the ring, as if they were not heavy weights.

A new breed had taken over, controlling all veins and arteries of the ruling party, while ensuring that only the President is safe from the change machine.

Mujuru

A lot was expected of the Mujuru group, as this was the first time a senior Zanu PF member of Vice-President level was dismissed from both party and the government.

As we conclude the year 2015, the Mujuru group remains faceless, structure-less and in the backyard.

The group of the Generation 40 seems to have amassed more people than anyone else in the system.

If the notion that the most effective way to destroy Zanu PF is from inside is anything to go by, then 2016 is likely going to be a monumental year, as it seems so far that those who drive the agenda want a party that is clean of anyone with liberation war credentials. Ask War Veterans minister Christopher Mutsvangwa.

As these seismic political dynamics give a new shape to our politics, the opposition MDC parties — especially the one led by Morgan Tsvangirai — seemed to be on a political retreat the entire 2015. Nothing significant came out of them.

The internal Zanu PF succession drama has taken more center-stage and promised more change than the democratic change from the MDC.

If one was to do a brand rating, perhaps the MDC this year might have fallen from the top 10, overtaken by churches, Zanu PF infighting and the Chinese currency.

The bottom-line is in 2015, there was no clarity why any of the MDC parties and their nephews and cousins existed.

The parties themselves seem to be aware of this, which is why some have murmured marriage with the Mujuru backyard project to rescue their relevance. So 2015 was politically unproductive.

The sad reality in all this is that all opposition elements, both inside the ruling party and outside, have stopped sharpening their manifestos as they focused on the President’s age and his health.

It is a clear sign of how spineless our opposition is to challenge the current establishment. As a result, we have not moved economically and politically.

The industry keeps shrinking, investors remain scared and everyone in the country now knows a few good lines to praise poverty. The last sign of desperation is seen in the adoption of the Chinese currency.

The economy was kept in the parking lot the entire 2015, as succession occupied center-stage. Sadly, Patrick Chinamasa, the Finance minister, was not only a lonely man, but a lone voice that had to deal with bread and butter issues from an empty basket.

Perhaps this is the time Chinamasa learnt that using logic and reasoning when dealing with his own party was actually not necessary.

While Zimbabwe continues to dither, some countries in Africa continue to make progress. Ethiopia continued to be one of the fastest growing countries on the continent.

The launch a new railway transport system early this year and the Nile Dam project to support agriculture and power generation is ongoing.

Despite the political narrative coming out of Rwanda, President Paul Kagame must be credited not only for keeping the country together, but for pushing the country forward in terms of development. Rwanda is a far better country, development-wise, than it was two decades ago.

Kenya, as well, made some progress economically, with an expected growth rate of 5,4% in 2015, despite that the country is heavily crippled by corruption.

During the year, Kenya hosted the President of the United States, Barrack Obama, the Catholic Pope, Francis and the Tenth Ministerial World Trade Organisation conference.

If they can tame corruption, there is no reason why Kenya cannot be the regional leader for East Africa in the next half a decade. The country has a lot of potential.

Namibia, Mozambique and Tanzania have gone through smooth political transitions. Early this year, the former Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba handed over power to Hage Geingob, who is now the President of that country.

During the same year, Armando Guebuza of Mozambique passed the baton on to Filipe Nyusi, while in Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete did the same with John Magufuli.

In fact, most of our neighbouring countries have demonstrated that power can be handed over without causing so much drama like in our case.

In the absence of signs of major political changes, it is hard to foresee how 2016 will look like for Zimbabwe.

Politics and succession are the elephants in the house and nothing seems to be keen to move unless that is resolved.

I suppose 2016 is going to be a continuation of what transpired in 2015, with Mujuru and group in the backyard, the MDCs on holiday, new parties forming, while script from the G-40 masterminds continues to play out. Happy 2016!

lTapiwa Gomo is a development consultant based in Pretoria, South Africa