Mugabe outburst exposes hypocrisy

Obituaries
President Robert Mugabe on Friday complained about vote buying and the imposition of candidates in Zanu PF. A visibly angry Mugabe sought to blame some unnamed elements for destabilising the party. His rant confirmed that Zanu PF is now out of sync with its founding ideals that inspired the masses to fight against colonial dictatorship in the 1970s.

Its ranks are now infested with materialistic individuals who are concerned about creating wealth for themselves at the expense of the majority. These people also “steal elections” to safeguard their interests, Mugabe said.

While the President had a valid point, he seemed not to appreciate that the real crisis in Zanu PF is not the odd politburo member scheming to outdo rivals or the stone-throwing delinquent youths. The real problem concerns failure of leadership within the party.

Mugabe, who is the party’s First Secretary, is to blame for creating a culture that has bred the ills now threatening to sink Zanu PF. Faced with stiff opposition to his rule, it was Mugabe himself who set the standards for vote buying. Ahead of the 2008 elections, Mugabe doled out scotch carts, tractors, and combine harvesters and free inputs to the electorate. He also imposed candidates.

Years ago, he stopped the late Air Marshall Josiah Tungamirai from challenging the late Vice-President Simon Muzenda in Gutu South. Muzenda safeguarded Mugabe’s interests in the region and so he had to be protected.

More recently he blocked Phillip Chiyangwa from becoming the Zanu PF Mashonaland West provincial vice-chairman. Mugabe, a shrewd political schemer himself, has, in the past,  also embraced violence and election rigging to stop political rivals, including Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, from beating him at the polls.

That way he made it acceptable that elections in Zimbabwe could be “legitimately” won by hook and by crook, something that is now being emulated by his comrades. By keeping in government and protecting colleagues accused of corruptly acquiring wealth, Mugabe has encouraged looting, which is now a pervasive fact of life in Zimbabwe resulting in the individualism and materialism he now criticises as having brought instability to his party.

Quote of the week

 

“It is a case of old wine in new bottles; those old voices in Zanu PF finding more media with which to complement the ZBC and Zimpapers. There is no plurality.” PM Morgan Tsvangirai on the licensing of Zanu PF aligned broadcasters.