The Sunday Mail
Lovemore Ranga Mataire
In “Two Thousand Seasons”, Ayi Kwei Armah poignantly questions: “What are we if we see nothing different beyond the present, hear nothing from the ages of our flowing, and in all our existence can utter no necessary preparation of the future?” While African literary luminaries like Chinua Achebe were quick to dismiss the book’s narrative style and thematic concerns as too lugubrious and simplistic in attempting to reconstruct an idealistic past, the significance of the book lies in Armah’s concern for Africans to reclaim stolen land and resources.
He asserts in the opening pages that black people “are not people of yesterday” and that they are “one people” and that the continent is “ours not through murder, nor theft. . .nor trickery. This has always been our land. Here we began.”
First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe’s resumption of “meet the people” rallies reminds one of Armah’s concerns in reconnecting with the “source”.
In the novel, Armah articulates the role of women and social equality, and calls for a new way of seeing things; different from the one battered, corrupted and altered by foreign influence.
While her adversaries were quick to negatively portray the resumption of the rallies as an anathema to the prescribed mode of political engagement, there is no denying the fact that the Zanu-PF’s Women’s League chairperson is a tenacious politician whose overriding message is the need for internal cohesion ahead of 2018 elections.
At a time when opposition political parties are in total disarray owing to endless leadership squabbles, the First Lady’s rallies are critical in highlighting to the masses that Zanu-PF is the only political party since lndependence with their interests at heart.
First, as the First Lady, Amai Mugabe is the mother of the nation whose love and compassion transcends all classes, ethnic or tribal differences.
It is within this context that her rallies must be viewed as connecting with the masses, particularly the ruralfolk who have remained the bedrock of the revolutionary party’s support base since its formation in 1963.
The recent Bikita West by-election is a typical example of Zanu-PF’s hegemonic support in rural areas.
Zanu-PF scored a massive 13 156 votes (77.9 percent) against 2 453 votes for Joice Mujuru’s Zimbabwe People First (14.5 percent), Innocent Muzvimbira (725 votes), Madock Chivasa of the NCA (343 votes) and Terence Makomborero of Progressive Democrats of Zimbabwe’s 132 votes.
Heya Shoko, an independent, got a paltry 76 votes.
Notwithstanding the fact that the ruralfolk are the ones who bore the brunt of the liberation war and are, therefore, ideally placed to appreciate the revolutionary party’s quest in correcting historical inequalities, Zanu-PF has also remained popular owing to the fact that it is structurally strong.
It is these strong structures that manifest through cells, branches and districts up to provincial level that have provided Zanu-PF such an unshakeable support base.
Zanu-PF, through its iconic revolutionary leader President Mugabe, has also over the years convinced the electorate that it is the only party capable of fulfilling the aspirations of the liberation struggle.
Successes are abundant in education, indigenising the judiciary, land redistribution, local governance systems and various other facets of the nation-state.
It is clear from the electorate’s view that voting for Zanu-PF will ensure the country’s wealth and its resources will not be bequeathed to neo-imperialist forces or to their poodles in the opposition.
So besides connecting with the party’s most loyal voters, the First Lady also identifies with the people’s daily struggles and her rallies are meant to be fact-finding missions to establish the extent of the problems and the possible remedies to alleviate or diminish their impact.
At any historical epoch, the national question has always been the quest for a livelihood, and the First Lady is conscious of the revolutionary party’s mandate in fulfilling that quest.
This is precisely the reason why she is distributing food and other material needs to the electorate at every rally.
She is also encouraging the electorate, particularly women, to participate in income-generating projects to provide a constant income for their families.
Amai Mugabe is well-known for her kind heart, which manifests through her philanthropic work as exemplified by the Amai Mugabe Children’s Home in Mazowe, which caters for orphaned or abandoned children.
Some of the children have now grown, and are leading successful lives as medical or legal practitioners.
It is probably her innate kind heart that invariably empowers her to connect with the people and get to understand their struggles.
Her concern for the underprivileged was also on display as she made an undertaking to support a child who got nine ‘A’s at Ordinary Level.
No one doubts that since her appointment as the Zanu-PF Women’s Affairs Secretary, Amai Mugabe has rejuvenated the league and women’s voices are holding sway within the party.
Women have been enthused to take an interest in the affairs of the party and the state.
Conscious of women’s numerical edge over men, it surely makes sense to have a leader of the caliber of Amai Mugabe whose mission is not only to harness that numerical advantage, but ensure it translates into votes so as to safeguard the continued hegemonic rule of Zanu-PF.
Amai Mugabe’s delivery is always refreshing and candid.
She has managed to demystify certain issues through the use of language that resonates with the ordinary masses. It is also not in doubt that the Women’s and Youth Leagues remain the pivotal pillars to take the party into the future.
Being at the helm of the Women’s League naturally mandates the First Lady to have a bird’s eye view assessment of the state of the party.
Essentially, the First Lady’s rallies are informed by the need to stamp out the rot that has set in because of the constant factional tussle for power.
Her message has been candidly consistent. She has consistently called party bigwigs to desist from dividing members through parochial interests that threaten to blight the revolutionary party’s pro-poor and pro-majority grounding.
Ahead of the 2018 elections, the overriding message from the First Lady is for members to desist from engaging in petty squabbles and rally behind President Mugabe.
