INDICATIONS are that the ruling Zanu-PF party is considering wooing former president Robert Mugabe to re-join the revolutionary party.

Mugabe was ousted in a military coup in November 2017 that was preceded by a decade of deadly factional fights within Zanu-PF that saw a number of officials purged.

Already former Zanu-PF bigwigs Didymus Mutasa and Ambrose Mutinhiri have been readmitted by the ruling party after years in the political wilderness.

After his exit from Zanu-PF, Mutinhiri went on to become the leader of National Patriotic Front and contested in last year’s presidential elections in which he garnered only 4 107 votes, representing 0,1 percent of the ballots cast.

At the moment, Mugabe is of advanced age after celebrating his 95th birthday in February and struggles to walk without any assistance.

At that age, he should be left alone to rest while enjoying whatever time he is left with on this earth with his family.

While there is no harm in Zanu-PF reminiscing about the past, it needs to look ahead and prepare for the future. Instead of spending precious time in attempting to lure Mugabe into its ranks, the party should be preoccupied with recruiting more young people into its structures.

A considerable amount of time must also be spent in grooming the new recruits to be future leaders. Every Zimbabwean should be concerned with what is happening in Zanu-PF because it is the ruling party in power for the next four years.

Whether the party goes on to win the 2023 harmonised elections or not, there is no denying that it must work towards its renewal.

The world over, political parties are now allowing their young members to take up more influential positions and even leading.

However, this will not be possible when Zanu-PF keeps on recycling nonagenarians like Mugabe and Mutasa etc. Due to his high sense of entitlement, there is no way Mugabe would want to return to active politics as a mere card carrying member without any influential position.

This is a man who enjoyed 37 years in power and ruled with an iron fist; it was his way or nothing. Roping in back these stalwarts will only stifle the young people who should now be mentored to be future Zimbabwe leaders.

As such we need to see Zanu-PF giving leadership opportunities to the young Turks among their ranks.

Source – Daily News editorial