By Dr Masimba Mavaza|ZANU PF has been hijacked by ‘enemies of democracy’ there is this wisdom: “In life, you must be worried when an enemy celebrates with you. So, in this case we [are] worried that an opposition party is dictating to the party that the NPC must be attacked for the just ended primaries. We get very worried. It’s very scary. The opposition has made more noise about how chaotic ZANU PF primaries were, these are internal party primaries and why is the opposition interested. From their press statements they were soon to be supported by our own members who went to the private press to castigate the party and the NPC.

Of all the difficult things Change is very difficult to accept, the way primaries were held and campaigns were done was one of its kind. It needed the support of all but no, ZANU PF now has enemies within. There are those who are inside but not in it, those with us but not for us. The enemies within!

The public outcries the votes of no confidence on the NPC and some members are calculated to embarrass the new dispensation. of all the people the parties organs are the ones which are supposed to work together and give the dispensation a chance. Unfortunately people who claim to be members rush to the outside world to complain about a small mistake and bring the name of the party to disrepute. This is done to the pleasure of the cabal and those who are willing to see the party fail.

It is not a secret that people are saying the soldiers are not good leaders and as such the attack on the NPC is the attack on the army and the party at large. Even though it is known that the NPC does not unilateral decisions people find it easy to single him out for criticism. The reality is as he is the tete of the party if he is ridiculed the party is done. So those who cry the most are the ones hiding behind tears so that they can destroy the party.

But the Main, main, main culprit – the enemy within – is the system which allows, facilitates and encourages national division and decadence, a system which encourages megalomania and corruption, a system which invariably allows politicians to step out financially loaded while the nation suffers. The system that I see as the main stumbling block on our road to freedom, democracy and a proud, prosperous nation. We really should scrap this archaic system and organize our party management on a quality based democratic platform. We have cadres who are in the party for money and are out to blame those they think are against them. The war veterans have passed a vote of no confidence on the NPC but they have forgotten that they did not choose him. Again they had seconded comrade Matemadanda to be the NPC before comrade Rugeje was appointed at congress. This should make one ask why the vote of no confidence is it a hit back. if it is who is the target. We must not be foolish to think that Rugeje is the target.

The destabilisation gear is on. Many of the comrades within find it hard to accept the new dispensation and everything is being employed to break it. Comrade Rugeje becomes a victim and a candle in the wind.

Primary election is often constructed by candidates’ ability to manipulate and set in motion voters’ social ‘nervous system’ by means of juxtaposing two social groups – ‘ours’ and ‘theirs’ – against one another. In the current ZANU PF political arena, this means a socio-political ‘zero sum’ game between the new dispensation and the cabal within. both sides sought to activate cultural schemes based on a sense of local belonging and social identity, with the emotional discourse focused on identifying and excluding internal enemies (i.e. those who are not ‘us’ or belong to ‘our group.)

The way people are behaving in the party shows the most divisive tendency by some sectors in the party, in which they are accusing the NPC and his department but the entire party of being “the enemy within” and part of an “insurrection” against democracy. The party is being “hijacked” by the “enemies of democracy” the party is facing nothing less than “an insurrection and our party is not to be torn apart by an extension of the calculated chaos planned by the enemy within sponsored by those without.

“From the dark cloud falls an acid rain that eats into liberty,” People are taking advantage of the olive palm being extended and causing chaos. When the party is facing such crucial elections it does not need side tracking. This the time to come to the NPC and give him advise, his office is open to constructive criticism and not personal attacks.
“Yet the party in its present form, infiltrated by extremists, riven with factions, still stands upon the stage as the only party to govern the country. Factions are the measure of the shadow which has fallen across freedom since the new dispensation.

We’re past the point of shifting blame. Change was rarely an exercise in smooth sailing. The changes brought in the party in the way we choose candidates does not mean incompetency of the NPC but it is a sign of innovative way and a revolutionary change.

“The choice of Major General Rugeje rtd a man so signally alive in the virtues, abilities, knowledge and experience to be expected of an NPC was not a mistake. “The soft power of democracy is not what it was. It allows changes even if some oppose the change, but there are those who are bad losers; they would want to drag the party down with them because they are not prepared to accept change.

History clearly demonstrates that democracies need parties to organize and simplify the political world. But parties don’t make the fundamental problems of democratic control disappear; they just submerge them more or less successfully. When professional politicians are reasonably enlightened and skilful and the rules and political culture let them do their job, democracy will usually work pretty well.
Every system of government produces uneven results: There have been wise monarchs and feckless ones, capable benign dictators and incompetent ruthless ones, brilliant statesmen in democracies and people who owed their leadership positions to luck (the weakness of the alternatives) or merely inoffensiveness (the least unacceptable candidate). . . .

The strength of democracies is that because their leadership emerges from the will of the public as a whole, the system has a way of accommodating to them and very often, blunting their worst mistakes. Undemocratic systems have nowhere else to turn, and no established way of making the turn. So however flawed individual candidates may be, the self-correcting mechanisms built into democracy limit how much damage they can do.

if the leaders are not careful the party will be derailed into oblivion by those claiming to be the van guards of the party. One should ask why making noise now when the world is looking at us. Elections are this near.

ZANU PF needs to come together now than before. We need to present a united front. The last thing the Commissariat needs is unwarranted attacks. What we need now is the support and plan a success in the coming elections.

Every ZANU PF loving member must be powered by success. If we have issues to discuss lets win first then make the divisive noise once we are strong and in the driving seat.
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