Zanu PF shies away from Mugabe endorsement

Comment & Analysis
BY NQABA MATSHAZI THE entertaining sideshow of provinces stampeding to endorse President Robert Mugabe (pictured right) as the candidate for the next election is a missing ingredient to the run up to the party’s conference set for December in Bulawayo.

In the past years, the provinces shouted themselves hoarse, as they each wanted to be the first and the loudest to declare Mugabe as the sole candidate for the elections.

A few years ago some provinces even had the audacity to demand that Mugabe be declared supreme leader of the party, but this year they have been conspicuous by their silence.

Only Umguza District has come out and endorsed Mugabe’s candidacy, but many say since Obert Mpofu, the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, is the legislator for that area, it was only expected.

Mpofu, who infamously referred to himself as Mugabe’s most obedient son would be expected to endorse the ageing leader.

Others claim that failure by provinces to endorse Mugabe was a replication of the 2008 scenario, where some prospective legislators were urging their supporters not to vote for the veteran leader and instead, figuratively, kick the ball into the bush rather than scoring.

But political analyst, Dumisani Nkomo said it was too early to start singing a dirge for Mugabe’s long political career, as the president could still pull out an ace that could lead him to certain victory.

“With Mugabe you never know,” he said. “You might think he is weak then he pulls a winning card.”

Nkomo said it was early days yet and since it was only October, some provinces could yet start backing Mugabe to contest the next polls.

“There might be a few more people who might emerge and start licking Mugabe’s boots, as they have done in the past,” he said.

The political analyst however said leaked US envoy cables, had revealed deep-seated divisions within the party and it was clear that the majority of Zanu PF members were against his continued leadership.

This sentiment was echoed by another political analyst, Effie Ncube, who reckoned that the cables had revealed that there was fatigue within Zanu PF due to Mugabe’s seemingly unending reign.

“There is fatigue within the party and most of them want someone else to lead Zanu PF except those who are benefitting from Mugabe’s largesse,” he said.

It is reported that several senior politicians have only escaped prosecution from corruption and other crimes thanks to Mugabe’s benevolence.

The president himself has repeatedly threatened to take action against corrupt officials, but is yet to see out that threat.

Ncube said the failure to endorse Mugabe, hardly six weeks ahead of the congress, showed that there were divisions and camps within the party and this could signify that the house that Mugabe built could be crumbling.

Ncube said Mugabe and his party were on the decline and the December conference was going to illustrate how much the party had collapsed.

The Zanu PF leader has hinted that the conference will sit like a congress, meaning that it will have to endorse or choose a leader to contest the next elections, which Mugabe and his party want to be held at their earliest convenience.

Since the release of hundreds of leaked American cables, Mugabe has been playing his cards close to his chest.

Most Zanu PF members who met with US diplomats showed their disdain for Mugabe and wanted an end to his rule. Mugabe is known for being harsh at people who question his rule, but he is yet to take action against party members that deviated from this strict code.