The Sunday Mail
In this second instalment on factionalism and ZANU-PF, it is submitted that there has been deliberate and subtle implantation of factional politics into the Youth League; with the most brazen episodes occurring at the recently concluded 6th National Youth Conference. However, there also exists a conviction that the majority of Youth League members are unaware and oblivious of the infiltration.
I will start of by justifying why it is important to address the issue of factionalism prior to explaining the manner in which factionalism was implanted at the 6th National Youth Conference.
I will then highlight examples of how factionalism has manifested itself after the 6th National Youth Conference. Then I will conclude by contrasting the 6th National Youth Conference with the 4th and 5th National Youth Conferences of 2004 and 2009.
Why discuss factionalism in ZANU-PF?
After publication of the first instalment, I received feedback and counsel from a very senior Politburo member whom I consider a mentor and role model.
He cautioned that I, as a member of the ZANU-PF Politburo, should not be seen to be acknowledging the existence of factionalism.
He submitted that I could have couched my treatise around the concept of the necessary contradictions that form the bedrock of a vibrant and growing political organisation.
My experience of ZANU-PF is that when you get such advice, the person giving it has a lot of affection for you and wishes you to progress within the ranks of the party.
Another veteran of the liberation struggle – a retired general whom I have tremendous respect for – urged me to continue on the same path, arguing that the issue of factionalism needed to be addressed before it got out of hand.
He based his arguments on the fact that he witnessed and experienced rebellions during the liberation struggle. As one of those who had thwarted the reactionaries and arrested them, he submitted that vapanduki have a tendency of emerging as the party heads toward elective congresses.
I have had to reconcile these two differing views from people that I look up to for advice and guidance.
And the scales were tipped in favour of the continued publishing of my essay by reports in two different newspapers on Thursday September 18, 2014 claiming that factionalism within ZANU-PF youths in Harare Province had degenerated to arson.
It was reported that there was a fire at the home of Cde Makomeya, reported to be the youth chair for Mbuya Nehanda District in Highfield.
The incident is said to have occurred at around 1:30pm on the afternoon of Sunday September 14, 2014.
Soon after the fire at Cde Makomeya’s house, social media was abuzz with allegations of arson, including implicating the ZANU-PF Harare Province Youth chair, Cde Gomwe.
Such allegations of arson warrant seriousness and immediate attention. Should the allegation be true, it is absolutely necessary that order is restored before there is any further loss of property or harm to persons.
Should the fire have been accidental, it is equally important to communicate this fact so as to obviate unnecessary panic, or – worse still – an overreaction that could trigger a dangerous chain of “counter-actions”.
The manner in which the fire at Cde Makomeya’s house was reported in the mainstream and social media is an example of only one of several such incidences that are occurring on a daily basis within ZANU-PF and becoming the subject of online group chats.
In these online group discussions, at the very least, factionalism is seen as a central and normal part of such occurrences and the subsequent interactions.
At their worst, the factional discussions degenerate into verbal abuse and threats of violence, sometimes using language that is unprintable.
What makes these occurrences frightening is that these conversations are being conducted by young people who constitute the very future of the party.
It is, therefore, necessary that the issue of factionalism is ventilated so that we can save our young people from the self-destructive path of factional politics.
I am hoping that this essay will be analogous to a visit to the New Start Centre, which will enable ZANU-PF to identify the disease of factionalism that has infected its Youth League.
Once the presence of the virus of factionalism has been detected, the party will be better able to combat its deleterious effects.
This can be done by stimulating the appropriate requisite interrogation that will result in discourse aimed at building sufficient consensus and momentum towards uprooting the cancer of factionalism from the youth.
Infecting Youth League with Factionalism
There are submissions that there were deliberate and subtle attempts to implant factionalism into the Youth League at the 6thNational Youth Conference.
These efforts were perpetrated by some senior party officials who are not members of the Youth League. Furthermore, there is a view that the majority of the members of the Youth League are not aware of the infiltration.
The deliberate infestation of factionalism was premised on what some believe was an engineered logistical nightmare at the Youth Conference.
It is common cause that there was no food to feed delegates.
It must be borne in mind that the 40 young people nominated to become members of the incoming National Youth Executive were chosen via largely democratic processes, bar a few isolated incidences.
As the incoming national leadership of the youth, they had an obligation to ensure delegates from their respective areas were well accommodated and fed during. Under normal circumstances, the party would have put in place sufficient logistical arrangements – including transport, food, accommodation and regalia. This did not happen.
Some delegates had to make their own way to conference or rely on benefactors.
Those delegates that managed to make it to the conference arrived to find no meal arrangements had been made. Delegates were hungry and despondent.
Unfortunately, as young people, most of the candidates were not sufficiently resourced to cater for delegates individually.
It was at this point that some senior leaders from the main wing came “to the rescue” of the youth but went on to prey on the hardships delegates were experiencing. Delegates would be provided with transport and food on a selective basis, with regalia being sold and therefore becoming a tool for enticement.
The delegates were thus conditioned by this selective treatment such that they became receptive to the requirements and dictates of their benefactors.
In the process of “assisting” the youths, the main wing leaders gave direction in accordance with the age old-adage that “he who pays the piper calls the tune”.
As a result, some of the incoming members of the National Executive of the Youth League feel obligated towards their perceived benefactors.
Furthermore, as they were being officially elected at the conference, they were sold the dummy that the positions that they got were a result of the supposed benevolence of senior leaders from the main wing.
ZANU PF now has Youth League officials who are beholden to factional kingpins.
It is being argued that the occurrences at the conference were specifically designed and engineered to compromise the Youth League and force its members into being factional.
Unfortunately, the factionalisation of the Youth League has disastrous consequences for the party.
To be able to maintain factional cohesion, sometimes non-existent factional contestations and strife are created and generated so that faction members are in a constant state of alert and readiness to fight factional battles.
Whilst factional kingpins may believe they are in charge, it has been observed sometimes that junior faction member create crises designed to attract and keep the attentions of these kingpins. Some of these crises include contrived betrayals by members of the same faction, and using factional cover for personal benefit.
Manifesting of Factionalism in ZANU-PF Youth
I will highlight the dangers of factionalising the Youth League by recounting two examples from Harare. The first appears to be a harmless reference online, whilst the second involves loss of property in a fire.
In the first example, reference is made to – in particular – Cde Jim Kunaka, the former Chair of the ZANU-PF Harare Provincial Youth League Executive.
There is a belief that Cde Jim Kunaka has a bright political trajectory which places him as a future member of the ZANU-PF Central Committee.
Cde Kunaka’s predecessors include Cde Karoro, Cde Kuchekwa and Cde Nyaruwata, who all chaired the youth in Harare and became Central Committee members.
Cde Kunaka has described himself as a “factional chairman” on a public online platform. This was during an exchange of views in a discussion that conducted on the “Team ZANU-PF Live 1” online discussion group operating on a WhatsApp technology platform on 1st September 2014.
A transcript is provided:
Cde De-La Duwa: Gomwe is our current and sitting chair of our H ProvYuth
Kunaka Jim: VaSavanhu, VaMidzi, Havana kwavanoenda
Motope: Gomwe is our provincial youth chairman in Harare
Kunaka Jim: Kkkkkkkk
Cde De-La Duwa: Who is Kunaka
Kunaka Jim: He is a factional chairman
The second example relates to the fire that occurred at Cde Makomeya’s home in Highfield on September 14.
Cde Makomeya reportedly believes that the fire was an arson attack precipitated by factionalism. She seems supported in her belief by some senior members of the Harare leadership.
According to the Daily News of September 18, 2014, some of the Harare Province ZANU-PF leadership, including Cde Savanhu (Politburo member), Cde Midzi (Provincial Chair), Cde Matambanadzo (Provincial Women’s League Chair) and Cde Kunaka (self-styled factional chair), were convinced that there were “people who wanted to test and tempt” Cde Makomeya.
Should Cde Makomeya’s belief in arson premised on factionalism be true, then this incident represents an extremely dangerous escalation of the factional strife and contestation.
One cannot even dare imagine the incidents likely to occur in future should the scourge of factionalism not be addressed.
One hopes that the fire was accidental and not a deliberate act of arson.
Should the fire have been accidental, then it becomes necessary that the leadership of Harare Province focuses on communicating this. After having already pronounced themselves on their belief that the fire was an arson attack, it would be incumbent on the leadership to calm the situation.
How previous conferences have been run
I will conclude by recounting my experiences of the 4th and 5th National Youth Conferences of 2005 and 2009.
As the then ZANU-PF National Director for Youth, I was responsible for ensuring the administrative and technical back-up for preparation and management of these conferences; with the assistance, guidance and direction of the then National Director for ZANU-PF, Ambassador Frederick Shava.
Both of those conferences were run and managed by committees of the Youth League made up of members of the National Executive under the leadership of the Secretary for Youth Affairs, Cde AbsolomSikhosana.
In contrast, the 6th National Youth Conference’s preparation and management committees comprised senior people, most of whom were not members of the Youth League. Could it be possible that these seniors deliberately sabotaged the 6th National Youth Conference to create an opportunity to appear as if they were rescuing events?
Although the 4th and 5th National People’s conferences were elective conferences, the make-up of the National Executive Committee was arrived at through consultation amongst the youth themselves.
The Youth League brooked no interference whatsoever from the main wing. I recall that during the 4th National Conference of 2004, the senior leadership of Masvingo Province attempted to foist a certain high ranking official to become a member of the National Executive.
He was met with such fierce resistance that he fainted at the University of Zimbabwe venue and had to be taken away in an ambulance.
Whilst individuals could have ambitions for certain posts, the matters were discussed by the Youth League only, and agreements were reached.
An example was the late Cde Jabulani Mangena who had served magnificently as member of the Provincial Executives of six provinces during his term as a member of the Youth League.
There were some who felt Cde Mangena should have become Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs in 2004. By consensus, an agreement was reached that the post in question would be passed onto Midlands Province in 2009.
When the time came to pass the position over to Midlands in 2009, there was total agreement within the Youth League to do this.
I recall Cde Kasukuwere and I being accosted by a senior main wing official who held the nonsensical view that the Youth League should have accept influence by petty and parochial factional considerations.
The Youth League in 2004 and in 2009 refused to be dictated to. How is it that the Youth League could not resist such machinations in 2014?
The events of the 6th National Youth League conference point to a deliberate, structured and organised effort to unduly influence proceedings. The 6th National Youth Conference was availed inadequate resources to the extent that delegates had to rely on non-Youth League “benefactors” for their food and upkeep.
Senior factional kingpins from the main wing were on hand at the conference venue ostensibly to cater for the welfare of delegates, whereas their actual mission was to ensure compliance with their dictates.
To what end has factionalism been implanted in the ZANU-PF Youth League?
There is a submission that this infestation is part of a programme seeking to take over control of key party structures. But taking control of those key structures from whom?
The key structures of the party should be under the control of the President and First Secretary, His Excellency Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
Is this not a palace coup in the making?
The next instalment will answer that question and related ones. Icho!
Cde Patrick Zhuwao is the Chair of the Zhuwao Institute, an economics, development and research think tank that focuses on integrating socio-political dimensions into business and economic decision-making, particularly strategic planning. Cde Zhuwao is the holder of a BSc (Honours) in Computer Systems Engineering and an MBA in Information Technology Management (City University, London). He also holds BSc (Honours) and MSc degrees in Economics from the University of Zimbabwe, as well as a Master of Management (with Distinction) degree in Public and Development Management from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
