The Sunday Mail
Zanu-PF had hosted five congresses prior to the 2014 edition, and the sixth such gathering was bound to be different given the circumstances in the build-up.
With 12 000 people present, it was always going to be the biggest congress yet, and even more significance came from the fact that senior leaders accused of plotting to assassinate President Mugabe were to meet their Waterloo.
Harare Civic Grounds — aptly renamed Robert Mugabe Square — was the venue and President Mugabe was unanimously re-elected Zanu-PF leader, casting aside any doubts as to where the party’s centre of power resides.
Vice President Joice Mujuru did not attend, as did Cde Didymus Mutasa, the secretary for administration and alleged co-conspirator in the sinister plot to oust the First Secretary and President.
President Mugabe described the congress as an occasion to celebrate the ruling party’s resounding victory in last year’s elections, and there was no better way of doing it than by reaffirming the leader’s popularity as reflected in the way he swept the harmonised polls last year.
The excitement and anxiety in the build-up to the congress was palpable.
Local and foreign journalists swarmed Harare, no doubt reflecting the global interest in goings-on in Zanu-PF.
Everywhere in Harare, the vibe was all about the congress.
Barbershops, salons, pubs, workplaces and commuter omnibuses buzzed with talk of what would happen to VP Mujuru and her cohorts.
And when the congress finally came to town, it did not disappoint.
The ball got rolling on Tuesday with a Politburo meeting, which was followed by the Central Committee deliberations on Wednesday; and shifted a gear up on Thursday with President Mugabe’s official opening address.
Among the thousands present were both those who expressed loyalty to the President and those who would have just as soon stabbed him in the back.
There were murmurs against the conspirators who responded with bouts of visible anxiety, finding the hard reality too solidified to swallow, the atmosphere suddenly stifling.
They were not the only ones unsure of what was to come.
Even President Mugabe’s loyal backers were visibly tense as they wondered what would happen to the conspirators.
And being the reputed Statesman that he is, President Mugabe set the tone in his opening address, making it clear he would not shy from any issue, would have no sacred cows.
He quickly tackled the inevitable, deflating tension, and moving on to the core business of the congress — which was economic transformation.
Sulumani Chimbetu, riding the crest of a newly-released album, also set nerves at ease with his music; though the crowd did improvise brilliantly to contextualise the decisions that had to be made at this congress by twisting the words in hit song “Sean Timba” to declare: “Kana munhu anetsa Gushungo batai munhu.”
Sixty-seven-year-old Cde Lucia Marapira of Manicaland said: “Musangano wanga woparara, anhu angova mazvake mazvake. Kasi nhasi zvapedzwa necongress. Isu tirikufara zvikuru nekuti iko zvino nyika yofambira mberi.”
Zimbabwe Liberation War Collaborators’ Association national co-ordinator Cde Tendai Mangwiro said: “Party yavhunura. It is good that some recommendations made during the congress took note of the ordinary man’s plight.
“The disabled need food on their tables, the airtime vendor also want business opportunities and I am confident we will get there.”
And that appeared to sum it all.
The coup attempt was thwarted, and now the ruling party can once again focus on people’s everyday concerns.
