The Sunday Mail
Written By Patrick Zhuwao
The most disturbing effect of factionalism in Zanu-PF over the past year has been on the economy and business confidence.
During Zhuwao Institute’s engagements with economic players, concern has been raised that Zanu-PF politicians appear to be focusing on factional contestations, fights and issues as opposed to economic issues.
Several business leaders observed that during President Mugabe’s trip to China in late August 2014, most media coverage on senior Zanu-PF politicians focused on factional issues at the expense of the economic potential of what the President was doing in China.
In this five-part series, I unpack the issue of factions, and in this first instalment I provide an introduction and primer into the structure and anatomy of the beast known as a faction.
Part two relates to the concept of factionalism to the occurrences at the recently-held Sixth Zanu-PF Youth League Conference. In the third part, I submit that factionalism has evolved within Zanu-PF to a point where it can be viewed as a palace coup in the making.
The fourth part highlights the dangers of factionalism by recounting the emergence of the Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn division which reduced Zanu-PF’s 2005 constitutional majority to a minority in Parliament by 2008, resulting in the humiliating and disastrous inclusive Government.
I conclude by submitting that factionalism can be vanquished by consolidation of unity within the Zanu-PF family under President Mugabe.
On August 28, 2014, I posted the following on several of the WhatsApp discussion groups of which I am member.
Comrades, I submit a few definitions of the word “faction” as a guide to all of us since some of us openly boast of being members of a faction.
1. A small organised dissenting group within a larger one, especially in politics.
2. A group of persons forming a cohesive, usually contentious minority within a larger group.
3. A group within a larger group that has different ideas and opinions than the rest of the group.
Synonyms of faction include cabal, clique and coterie amongst others. Being a member of a faction means that you are departing from the majority.
The question to you is: On which areas are you dissenting with the majority?
One thing that the majority has in common is the supremacy of Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe as our undisputed leader of Zanu-PF, to whom we all owe total and undivided allegiance.
Unfortunately, I am convinced that the above explanation and exhortation is woefully inadequate considering the grave danger that factionalism poses to the Zimbabwean total liberation, independence and freedom project which has built up such momentum and energy towards delivering sustainable political and socio-economic empowerment as the basis for enhanced quality of life for all Zimbabweans.
In this first instalment, I provide an introduction and a primer to the structure and anatomy of this beast known as factionalism. This instalment is only a brief introduction that seeks to provide the base upon which rational and informed discourse around factionalism can be initiated.
I also describe factionalism as a beast primarily because factionalism is organic in nature and exhibits destructive and cannibalistic tendencies and behaviours.
I will start by providing various definitions of the term “faction” and unpack those definitions. I will then discuss the aims and objectives of factions and the bases upon which factions are premised, including personalities.
I will then explore the manner in which factions operate and how they abuse power bases to bolster their fortunes and operations and conclude by highlighting the dangers and negative consequences of factions.
Defining ‘‘faction’’
A faction has been defined as a group of individuals with a common political purpose.
The persons that make up a faction get together with a view to advancing their positions within the party so as to fulfil some purpose which may be a composite of several agendas and goals.
The agendas and goals may not necessarily be similar or even congruent. Superficially, the above definition appears innocuous enough to imply and suggest that factions may be harmless.
I am, therefore, inclined to opine that those who publicly admit to being members of factions subscribe to this definition under the misguided notion that factions are normal.
This may explain why one Zanu-PF provincial chair brazenly attempted to explain his way out of an embarrassing situation (at a Press conference of all places!) by claiming that his woes were due to him being in a different faction to that of his perceived nemesis.
It is, therefore, necessary to interrogate the definition of faction deeper. Before we do that, let us re-look at a few other definitions of faction which include the following:
A small organised dissenting group within a larger one, especially in politics;
A group of persons forming a cohesive, usually contentious minority within a larger group; and
A group within a larger group that has different ideas and opinions than the rest of the group.
Although the term “faction” is defined variously, there are three essential elements.
Firstly, a faction is a small grouping within a larger group. Secondly, a faction is organised and exhibits some form of cohesion. Finally, the views, ideas and opinions of a faction are contentious and dissenting from the larger grouping.
Essentially, a faction/clique/cabal/coterie is a deliberate and organised grouping which has detached itself from the larger majority and grouping with dissenting and different views. It is the dissension that is not only a cause for concern but becomes the catalyst for several destructive consequences.
A faction pursues self-interest at the expense of the common good.
This perspective is captured in part of the definition of faction within the Oxford English Dictionary which states: “… with opprobrious sense, conveying the imputation of selfish or mischievous ends or turbulent or unscrupulous methods.”
Similarly, James Madison defines a faction, in the tenth instalment of the Federalist Papers, as: “A number of citizens, whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.”
Abuse of power bases
In the case of Zanu-PF, factions have largely emerged around the political aim and purpose of securing political power through positioning specific individuals in leadership.
They are inherently about achieving individual personal ambition and aggrandisement. Ndezve munhu mumwe chete anenge achida kutonga.
Factions within Zanu-PF have, therefore, become a confluence of several individual personal ambitions and egos.
However, one never finds any ideological bases for the faction apart from a desire to position a particular person in power.
Political parties should be structured in a democratic and representative manner.
This, therefore, means factions focus primarily on securing sufficient support to be able to influence the outcome of elective processes that determine the representatives of members. Consequently, factions seek to secure sufficient numbers to be able to determine those that lead and represent.
Within Zanu-PF, effort is expended towards determining people who make up the structures at district level and above with very little attention to the lower structures of the branch and cell/village.
Primarily, this is because district executives form the electoral colleges for provincial and national elections.
Factions are typically binding. This means members of a faction are expected to act in a similar manner and are not expected to have views that are divergent from their fellow faction members. This commonality of thought and action ensures adherence with the pre-ordained stance of the faction.
Factions, therefore, develop structures for ensuring adherence which include both inducements and sanctions.
In Zanu-PF, factions will often decide on who should be elected to certain key posts.
During the recent sixth National Youth League Conference, senior leaders of the main wing descended on the elective conference to the extent of camping at the venue.
It is no surprise that money was used as an inducement.
Soon after the Youth League Conference, the provincial chairs of the Youth League in Mashonaland West and Harare were issued with prohibition orders and disciplinary charges. Both have argued that the sanctions were driven by their refusal to participate in factional politics.
A significant factor in the operation of an organised faction is the ability of the faction to be in control of a power base.
This power base could typically be control over key functions such as administration, membership management (commissariat in Zanu-PF parlance), funding, logistics, and disciplinary proceedings, amongst others.
In some cases, the power base may be external to the party but involved in some way with the organisation. Such a power base could include a high-level executive or management committee, or an office in the presidency such as chief of staff.
In the case of Zanu-PF, it has been argued in some quarters that the disciplinary proceedings that resulted in the deposition of the chairs of Bulawayo, Manicaland and Masvingo prior to the provincial elections of 2013 are indicative of the use of a power base to impose sanctions on those perceived to be inimical to factional plans.
Over and above using a power base as an enforcer (mandimba ndimba), the power base serves other key functions. These include using the power base as a centre around which a faction recruits. The power base is often used as the organising centre for factional activities and events.
The ability of influencing appointment and the power to deploy party cadres is used to bribe and induce party members to become factional members.
Conversely, party members who choose not to be members of a faction that controls such a power base will be overlooked for appointment and deployment.
The power base can act to advance the careers of selected members of the faction by facilitating their personal development.
Enabling selected faction members to gain skills increases their effectiveness and clout and, thus, further strengthens the power base.
Individuals who do not belong to a faction may be subject to intense personal vendettas where their comrades go about sabotaging their careers. All this serves to maintain cohesion within the faction and promotes homogeneity.
Negative consequences
of factions
Some of the persons attributed to the development of the American constitution, namely Madison, Hamilton and Washington, explicitly warned against the dangers of factionalism. They were of the view that factions were divisive to the extent that they could ultimately dismantle the government.
In the case of Zanu-PF, factions strengthened soon after the 2005 elections when the party won a two-thirds constitutional majority. Within 36 months, factions had effectively dismantled the Zanu-PF Government such that the country had to endure five years of a disastrous inclusive Government.
Factional strife and conflict have a tendency of becoming so intense and public that the party tends to suffer from perceptions of disunity. Such perceptions of disunity eventually turn to be self-fulfilling where factional members seek to act and think differently from the rest of the party.
This forms the origins and basis for policy discord and inconsistency which affects business confidence and operations.
Factional conflict and strife can escalate to levels that may cause fissures in the organisation that, in turn, cause raptures. Such raptures can lead to the party failing to operate effectively such that it is in danger of breaking up.
A climate of intense factional conflict can also motivate individuals to focus on attacking their factional enemies rather than furthering the broader organisation.
In 2008, factionalism within Zanu-PF led to the emergence of Simba Makoni as one of the Presidential contestants.
As could be seen from the emergence of the Mavambo group, factional operations are usually conducted in secret and with minimal public scrutiny.
This cloak of secrecy unfortunately leads to widespread incidences of unethical behaviour.
Such behaviour includes the vote-buying that was widespread during the sixth Zanu-PF Youth Conference. There are also widespread allegations of membership fraud within the party.
Other examples of unethical behaviour include ballot-stuffing and intimidation.
Some observers have suggested that the level of disorganisation experienced at the Youth Conference was engineered. This view is supported by the fact that the National Women’s Conference that was held a few days later was run efficiently — by the same organisers.
In future instalments, I will relate the concept of factionalism to the occurrences at the sixth Zanu-PF Youth League Conference and submit that factionalism has evolved to a point where it can be viewed as a palace coup in the making.
I will also expand on the dangers of factionalism with specific reference to the Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn betrayals, and I will conclude by proposing the destruction of factionalism by consolidating unity under President Mugabe only.
VaMugabe chete chete. Icho.
Patrick Zhuwao is chair of 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. He holds a BSc (Honours) in Computer Systems Engineering and an MBA degree in Information Technology Management. 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.
