Zanu PF lost the Norton parliamentary seat to independent candidate Temba Mliswa. It is momentous and symbolic in many ways than one.
Opinion: Christopher Mutsvangwa
Under the leadership of political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, Zanu PF has been hijacked by a gang of incompetent, unthinking, stuck-up people. In fact, it might be just to rephrase my earlier statement — the faction ruling the roost, G40, lost the parliamentary seat in the name of Zanu PF.
Breaking records, breaking Zanu PF
In the entire history of Zimbabwe, spanning over 36 odd years or so, Zanu PF has never lost a by-election, ever.* A record that has always instilled a sense of pride, that the revolutionary movement was gifted in the realm of introspection and corrective action in the event of a second chance after loss.
Well, not anymore, and it’s not just that. Jonathan Moyo, who I comically refer to as Jonso, as he never seems to apply his mind to matter in the manner of a professor, described political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere as “The Greatest”.
The yardstick used to arrive at such an odd adjective of Kasukuwere was that he held an unparalleled record — he had never lost an election, ever. Well, not anymore. Norton conspired to make sure a personal record was broken, but more poignantly, a revolutionary record has been blemished.
Records, like history, like form in sport, are meant to inspire confidence. In football, teams build on past performances and history. It inspires their strategy, and boosts performance. Records, well, at least standing ones, have the capacity to give a mental edge over opponents. Consider them a performance enhancer — keyword performance.
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But records alone without strategy and necessary effort mean nothing. This is something repeatedly demonstrated across all spectrums of life.
G40 is making a new kind of history. An undesirable one, a repugnant one, a treacherous and self-consuming kind of history. Of course, records are meant to be broken, but not in this manner, and not in this direction.
Admiring history, but not learning from it
Those that revel in records, like Jonso, ought to be keen readers of history. Not recent history, but all history. A record is a piece of history. It is somewhat ironic then, that having admired history for so long as to revel in it as guarantor of success, they did not learn from it.
Perhaps history, like reputation has helped keep Zanu PF in the firm driving seat, but by having clueless professors and political commissars who think politics is a game of boxing, it is history that seems to have consigned them to the fate like that of another arrogant administration — the colonial government The 1896 killings of Norton signalled the start of the First Chimurenga. The freedom fight was born there. The recipe for national revival and independence was born there. Norton is a place where odds are defied, rulers are rejected. It is a place where people are for the people.
You would assume that this would be increasingly clear to G40? Nay, they insisted on donating the Norton seat to a prodigy turned protester.
Kasukuwere, Moyo fully to blame for the loss
Events have a capacity to make a fool of anyone. Sometimes those left looking misguided merit sympathy. These were circumstances few could reasonably have predicted. Their actions may not have been successful, but they were at least logical.
Then there are other occasions, when errors appear all too avoidable and when it is no surprise that decisions backfire.
To quote, Reason Wafawarova, “Parcelling out housing stands will not help win any election. The unelectable faction of Zanu PF has just learnt that voters will not tolerate the protection of thieves.
Let these losers know once and for all that they cannot run Zanu PF. This is a revolutionary party that belongs to war veterans and the masses, not an outfit of looters, thieves and deranged women.
The gay gangsters and their deranged women trio plotted to give away the Norton seat by kicking out Chris Mutsvangwa. Now they have donated the seat to someone who claims to have had a gay stint relationship with the Zanu PF Commissar — What a shame!”
Kasukuwere is not the greatest political commissar ever. A team that scores 20 goals playing alone in an empty field cannot be called heroes, or record holders. It is a form of self-stimulation to assume so.
Tyson is the devil’s gift, the black magic spell that will sink all those in the Zanu PF revolutionary party that embraced and promoted an evil agenda of unbridled avarice, maniacal kleptocracy and shameless attempt at power grab. He can now lick his wounds after the no-nonsense and plucky Norton electorate gave him the boot.
The Norton by-election is a game changer that dispenses with the Mahumbwe type depredations of the petty, parochial, corrupt and thieving G40 of Jonso, Kasukuwere, Patrick Zhuwao and Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko. Norton is a pointer to new political realignment that is pregnant, with new hopes to the lost lives of youths who suffer the daily grind of a robbed meaningful and worthwhile earthly sojourn.
PS: I would like to extend my hearty congratulations to Temba Mliswa, the winning candidate. He is courageous and persistent. He is chip of the block of the daring Soweto generation youths of 1970s. They confronted the racist and colonial Rhodesian army and in a short four-year time dispatched that regime to the dustbin of history. With such steadfast tenacity as Zimbabwe’s revolutionary ethos will always be in safe hands
Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa is the chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association and a former Cabinet minister in Zimbabwe. Article appears on Khuluma Afrika.
*Zanu PF has lost several by-elections contrary to Mutsvangwa’s assertions
