The Sunday Mail
During this past fortnight, I have had several interactions with people who have lamented the fact that I had concluded my five-part essay on factionalism.
By Patrick Zhuwao
I have been under extreme pressure to continue writing on a weekly basis. This has been understandably so primarily because several efforts at promoting and encouraging discourse around the dangers of factionalism have been spurned by the factional big wigs who have continued with their nefarious activities.
As I walked out of Rudhaka Stadium on Friday 17th of October 2014 at the end of the First Lady Her Excellency Amai Dr Grace Mugabe’s rally, a very senior member of the ZANU-PF Youth League National Executive Committee asked me to explain what was going on.
Factionalism had penetrated this young person’s brain so much that they were politically confused despite being the holder of Bachelor of Science honours degree in Political Science as well as a Master of Science degree in International Relations.
Nonetheless, I will therefore oblige this learned comrade with analyses of the salient matters that have emerged from the rallies that have been addressed by the First Lady. The rallies raised a number of issues that people have always been whispering about. Whilst the five instalments of the first part of the treatise on factionalism in ZANU-PF have largely been descriptive, the next instalments will be more prescriptive in attempting to proffer solutions to factionalism.
However, in order to offer a prescription, there is need to go beyond mere description and venture into a diagnoses which will form the bedrock for prescription. Such a diagnoses requires that the epistemological approach transcends interpretivism and is influenced by a criticalistic epistemological approach that boarders on the feministic epistemology in search of truth and knowledge.
I believe that the search for the truth and knowledge of the Zimbabwean body politic is firmly tied to economic issues. Wherein comes the relationship between factionalism and corruption.
The nexus between economics and politics has provided the impetus that has driven the body politic in Zimbabwe for the past twenty-five years. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 precipitated a paradigm that was largely founded on Francis Fukuyama’s “End of History” thesis which he was to later abandon. This paradigm has informed the Washington Consensus which in turn has been used to further a neo-colonial agenda masquerading as neo-liberal and neo-conservative economic reforms.
The neo-colonial agenda initially found expression in the compliant stooge and puppet movements which have included the MDC formations in their various shades of nursery school colours and dubious civil society organizations. These were supported and underpinned by the so-called independent media which acted as propaganda departments as opposed to being purveyors of news, information and knowledge. The failure by these reactionary forces to further the neo-colonial agenda resulted in the development of a new strategy and approach by the regime change drivers.
This approach involved enticing ideologically inept, ethically compromised and morally bankrupt members of ZANU PF into a faction that would not only reverse the economic gains for ZANU PF, but would facilitate the neo-colonial agenda.
This is the “Gamatox” faction. Supporting this strategy has been the so-called independent media with their cacophony of self-contradictory, incomprehensible and illogical ranting. Nathaniel Manheru, a columnist in The Herald, has described the so-called independent media as “pseudo-critics reduced to half-formed vermin” who are “unrestrained by their forceful ignorance” and they “hold severe opinion on matters they hardly comprehend”.
The ineptitude of the so-called independent media in providing news that is devoid of prejudice has been a major national disservice to Zimbabwe. For a whole week, the nation was forced to focus on imagined, illusionary and delusional fireworks that were expected to be the highlight of the ZANU-PF Politburo meeting. What a damp squid it was. Decision makers and business leaders who expected to be informed by the media are confused and crying out for knowledge whilst the so-called independent media has, according to Nathaniel Manheru, become an “air rescue service for prostrated politicians”.
The First Lady’s last three provincial rallies represented a crescendo in her messages on factionalism. On Wednesday October 15th, Amai Dr Grace Mugabe used the slogan “Pasi neGamatox”. Then on the 16th and 17th, the First Lady lambasted the female leader of a faction for causing division and for being corrupt in remarks widely believed to be aimed at Vice President Mujuru. She also singled out ZANU-PF Mashonaland East Provincial Chairman Ray Kaukonde as being one of the key co-ordinators and funders of factionalism. This was the culmination of a series of admonitions from the First Lady on factionalism which had increasingly been more directed since she started her rallies.
The First Lady then took a six day break which allowed for delusional and hysterical ranting and ravings against her coded messages. When she came back onto the platform last Thursday (October 23rd), she decoded her messages and became explicit as she spoke with war veterans in Mazowe. The lady surely was not for turning. She displayed that she has the stuff that men are supposed to be made of! She tackled factionalism and corruption head on by addressing Vice President Mujuru as the perpetrator of the twin evils.
It is against this background that there is need to critically examine the cultural evolution and paradigm shift that is occurring within ZANU-PF.
This is not a ZANU-PF evolution that is spontaneously occurring on its own. It is social engineering that is being conducted by a senior social scientist and social innovator, Dr Grace Mugabe. There is no doubt that Dr Grace Mugabe’s children’s home in Mazowe is a social innovation of global proportions; it defies what has conventionally been accepted to be the model for an orphanage, offering instead a ground breaking conceptualisation to philanthropy.
Even as one analyses the manner in which The First Lady has structured her presentations during her rallies, one is left with no doubt that there is the hand of a deft and skilful politician at play. She has dished out doses of her messages, taken breaks for the messages to sink in and given room for idiots and nincompoops to let off their mouths without thinking. Each and every day, the First Lady has persistently chipped away at the political capital of these factional paper tigers to such an extent that not a single one of them has been able to do what they have been threatening to do under cover of being unnamed sources to the so-called independent press that are described by Alexander Pope as:
“Those half-learn’d witlings, num’rous in our isle,
As half-formed insects on the banks of Nile;
Unfinished things, one knows not what to call”
But the most amazing thing that Dr Grace Mugabe has done is to break the myth that there are sacred cows in ZANU PF. She has led an innovative, radical and courageous paradigm shift in the manner in which the performance discourse in ZANU-PF is conducted. Hitherto, ZANU-PF’s culture has always sought not to question leaders or to bring them to book under the pretence that questioning an appointee of
l To Page 8the President is tantamount to disrespecting the President. What hogwash! Due to this culture, some senior leaders had gotten away scot free with corruption, ineptitude and incompetence.
As we seek to assist those who still do not understand what is happening, there are several issues that need to be unpacked. Firstly, what has driven the slogan “Pasi neGamatox” to such heights? Secondly, why has the Honourable Vice President Mujuru not been seen to be actively involved in stopping the factionalism that is allegedly being perpetrated in her name? Thirdly, what has been the motivation that resulted in the requests for the First Lady to lead the Women’s League?
Fourthly, what has been the role of corruption in fanning factionalism especially after the media onslaught on corruption was stopped by the “Zvipfukuto Diversions”?
Fifthly, how did the so-called Mnangagwa faction react when it was caught out in 2004? And finally, how should ZANU-PF deal with the issue of multiple centres of power occasioned by the direct election of the President and First Secretary together with that of the two Vice Presidents and Second Secretaries and the National Chairman?
In this instalment I will briefly touch on the first and last items above. I will provide a brief exposition of the slogan “Pasi neGamatox”.
I will also take the opportunity of suggesting possible immediate measures to stem the tide of factionalism in this instalment. The measures will be to institutionalize a singular centre of power in the President and First Secretary of ZANU PF by only having that office directly elected with all the other members of the Politburo being appointed by the President and First Secretary.
What does “Pasi neGamatox” mean?
As I write this part, I am deflated by the need to once again refer to another unfortunate display of Comrade Rugare Gumbo’s amazing lack of consistency and abuse of his office as the Secretary for Information and Publicity by issuing his personal views as if they represented a collective position.
His proclivity to comment on issues without engaging the people concerned, let alone engaging his brain, has unfortunately led him on a collision course with some of us who have and will continue to use the slogan “Pasi neGamatox”.
There was massive reaction to Amai Dr Grace Mugabe’s use of that phrase with some simpletons and idiots seeking to reduce her to being a member of a faction. The content of her message throughout her rallies amply demonstrates that she is a true national leader and is totally above factionalism.
It appears that some people have misunderstood the slogan and have gone on to offer the lame and nonsensical submission that it is not an approved slogan. There is no such thing as an approved slogan. Furthermore, there have been numerous new and innovative slogans that have not been the subject of such dubious censorship.
The term “Gamatox” has evolved to be a de-facto brand of the so-called Mujuru faction.
The uttering of that slogan is in itself an expression against the factionalism that seeks to further the regime change agenda.
It is stupid, nonsensical, idiotic, imbecile and infantile to suggest that all those that do not subscribe to the Gamatox faction are members of any other faction. We will not pay allegiance to any other person or authority except the President and First Secretary of ZANU PF, His Excellency Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
There has been resistance to the Gamatox faction revolving around the abuse of the term Presidium and the abuse of the concept of seniority. This resistance has been further bolstered by the actions of overzealous dim-witted Gamatox faction members who have been responsible for strengthening resistance to their own faction through their own self destructive, injudicious and unintelligent attempted and failed use of violence, threats and coercion.
Furthermore, the use of the word “Gamatox” has been, in some way, an attempt to at least maintain just a bit of dignity and respect for the female faction leader referred to by the First Lady as the centre of factionalism. It is unimaginable, for those of us who do not subscribe to factions, to actually use the name of that faction leader to denounce their faction considering that she holds such a high office. Heavens forbid; I cannot bring myself to say, “Pasi nefaction yaMai So-And So”. There is also a mistaken belief that “Gamatox” refers to the individual known as Comrade Mutasa with some of his dim-witted and brainless praise singers seeking to elevate him to being the leader of the faction.
Despite having been credited with the coinage and contemporary usage of the term “Gamatox” in current political parlance, he is unfortunately inconsequential and not the object of the slogan. “Gamatox” refers to the faction and its palace coup characteristics, not a person.
Prescription for Factionalism
Allow me to conclude be proffering an immediate and systemic solution to factionalism.
In my descriptions and diagnoses of factionalism, I have used the analogy of going to the New Start Centre as the basis for engaging in discourse around factionalism. But talk does not solve a problem.
The only thing that conversations do is to highlight the existence of a problem and the nature of that problem. Once a problem has been diagnosed, it must be treated.
Factionalism is a condition similar to HIV. Once it infects, it is not treatable. It requires such constant management that it does not develop into full-blown AIDS and ultimately consume its host. Factionalism, just like HIV, requires a cocktail of measures which include lifelong dosage of anti-retroviral therapy to reduce the viral load, behaviour change to eliminate the risk of reinfection and adherence to the treatment regime to obviate the danger of developing drug resistance. However, I will address such interventions at a later date.
In some cases, HIV may have grown within the body to a level where it has compromised the host’s immunity such that opportunistic infections similar to pneumonia, meningitis and tuberculosis can thrive.
Similarly, factionalism in ZANU PF had grown to such levels that opportunistic infections such as disloyalty, corruption and regime change have grown. It is therefore necessary to uproot those opportunistic infections so that the cocktail of measures is given a chance to work.
The major opportunistic infection that has ridden on the back of factionalism has been disloyalty to the President and First Secretary of ZANU PF, His Excellency Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe. It is incumbent upon all members of the Gamatox faction to demonstrate that they are loyal to President Mugabe. Such a demonstration must go beyond words only and be buttressed by solid actions.
I advise that the members of the Gamatox faction should spearhead the institutionalization of a singular centre of power by proposing and advocating for the amendment of the ZANU PF Constitution Article 7 Section 32(1). The amendment would call for the President and First Secretary to appoint the two Vice Presidents and Second Secretaries and the National Chairman in the same manner that all other members of the Politburo are appointed.
Surely, if one believes in the leadership of President Mugabe and supports President Mugabe, then one would not be overly concerned by such an amendment especially since it offers a solution to factionalism. Disagreeing with institutionalizing a singular centre of power is indicative of the desire to create multiple centres of power. These multiple centres of power would be in direct contradiction, conflict and opposition with the concept of reposing a singular centre of power in President Mugabe. If you are not with President Mugabe then you are against him.
I find it ridiculous that Comrade Rugare Gumbo is quoted once more in the People’s Voice of Friday 17-23 October 2014 seeking to muzzle debate on the amendment of the constitution. There are a few comrades who are opposed to the creation of a singular centre of power as proposed numerously by others including the First Lady. They are claiming that such a suggestion violates the ZANU PF constitution. However, these Gamatox comrades, together with almost all other members of ZANU PF, have not taken issue with the expansion of the ZANU PF Central Committee.
Such an expansion requires an amendment of that very same constitution. Amending the ZANU PF constitution to accommodate an expanded Central Committee requires making amendments to Article 7 Central Committee Section 32 which defines the Central Committee as the “principal organ of congress” and whom it shall consist of. Subsection 32(2) will need to be amended. Coincidentally, amending the ZANU PF Constitution to allow for the President and First Secretary to appoint the two Vice Presidents and Second Secretaries and the National Chairman in conformance to the Unity Accord requires an amendment to Subsection 32(1).
It is nonsensical and disingenuous to argue against the amendment of Section 32(1) whilst accepting that the Central Committee should be expanded in the same Article 7 and the same Section 32 albeit in Subsection 32(2). It smacks of rank hypocrisy and outright duplicity that can only be the hallmarks of self-contradictory buffoons.
Now is the time for those of us who support Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe whole heartedly to stand up and be counted. Let us all support the systemic destruction of factionalism by advocating for the institutionalization of a singular centre of power through amending the ZANU PF constitution to enable the President and First Secretary to appoint ALL members of the politburo who include but are not limited to the two Vice Presidents and Second Secretaries and the National Chairman.
Those who do not subscribe to this position are poison; they are “Gamatox”.
Apart from which, provinces will propose resolutions on various issues one of which include the State of the Party. It is logical that provinces will seek to eliminate the multiplicity of centres of power and thus seek to have the constitution amended. The proposals will be discussed during committee stage at Congress and resolutions submitted to plenary. The ZANU PF Constitution will be thus amended prior to the election of ZANU PF’s National Leaders who will be led by Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe. Pamberi neZANU PF. Pamberi navaMugabe chete chete. Pasi neGamatox. Icho.
About the writer
Honourable Patrick Zhuwao is the Chairman of Zhuwao Institute which is an economics, development and research think tank that focuses on integrating socio-political dimensions into business and economic decision making, particularly strategic planning. Zhuwao is the holder of a BSc honours degree in Computer Systems Engineering and an MBA degree in Information Technology Management (City University, London). He also holds BSc honours and MSc degrees in Economics (University of Zimbabwe), as well as a Master of Management (with distinction) degree in Public and Development Management (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg).
