President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday appointed army
generals to the Zanu PF politburo at the party’s special congress. The congress
came a month after a military intervention forced former president Robert
Mugabe out of power. The Standard Senior Reporter Xolisani Ncube (XN) caught up
with Zanu PF secretary for Legal Affairs, Paul Mangwana (PM) to discuss the
legality of the move by Mnangagwa to appoint serving generals and its
implications on the forthcoming general elections, among other issues. Below are
excerpts from the interview.
XN: A special Zanu PF central committee meeting on November
19 resolved to end the one centre of power which gave former president Robert
Mugabe sweeping powers. Did Friday’s congress adopt this resolution?
PM: We removed that, just that you did not hear it being
announced but the bottom line and crucial point is that it should not have even
been there in the first place. The issue of a one centre of power is a
promotion of dictatorship which generally I don’t subscribe to. Power is
derived from the people and exercised through the same way. Those people who
were pushing for one centre of power did not want democracy in Zanu PF.
XN: But we saw the president appointing his politburo and
said he would soon be appointing his deputies. The assumption is that in a
democracy, people would be elected into these positions by Zanu PF structures.
PM: He [the president] is constitutionally empowered to
appoint his management team which would help him deliver on his mandate. You
don’t expect him to deliver with a team that does not share his vision. He has
to appoint his management. Zanu PF structures elect members of the central
committee, which at law is the highest decision-making body between congresses
and it is from that pool that the president picks his appointments to make his
management team — the politburo. What was said yesterday [Friday] is that the
executive power of the party rests with the president and the central
committee.
XN: What about the issue of electing VPs as was the norm
before?
PM: No, it’s no longer there in practice and was not even
in the constitution. It was being practised illegally. If you were to allow the
president to appoint VPs for government, why not allow the same to happen at party
level? The fundamental thing here is that he appoints from the elected central
committee members and these people represent the Zanu PF membership.
XN: Mnangagwa spoke about free and fair elections but many
people are sceptical given the military element in the party and government.
How feasible is a free and fair election under such an arrangement?
PM: Very feasible my brother and we are going to achieve
it. People need not worry about violence or anything. We shall have free and
fair elections next year.
XN: We have seen generals getting key positions in the
party, a move that makes it appear as the militarisation of the party. Is Zanu
PF being militarised now?
PM: Being a soldier is employment and you are paid for that
but your political affiliation is a conscious decision which one makes based on
various reasons and aspirations. When one joins the military, it does not mean
they no longer have a political conscience. In America they had Collin Powell
as secretary for state, a former military person and people glorify that. When
it is done in Zimbabwe it’s an issue, come on guys, we have better things to
do. Besides, those guys are not life soldiers but are Zanu PF members who were
just in the military and they have decided to join civilian politics.
XN: Mnangagwa’s advisor, Chris Mutsvangwa told the
extraordinary congress that Zanu PF would use the army to campaign for them in
next year’s elections. What is that supposed to mean? Could that be the
explanation behind the appointment of senior military personnel in the party?
PM: I personally don’t subscribe to that notion of having
or using the military in the forthcoming elections. Zanu PF has the capacity to
win the elections without the military. We don’t have an opposition to talk
about in any case, so why use the military?
XN: But Mutsvangwa said it in broad daylight, everyone
heard it that next year, war veterans and the army will be together campaigning
for Zanu PF.
PM: I did not hear that part but in any case, it would be
unnecessary to use the army.
XN: You did not hear it or you are choosing to act as if
you did not hear what Mutsvangwa said? Anyway let’s move on…
PM: I am being honest. I did not hear that, and as I said,
we will win the election without the use of the army. We have the capacity to
campaign and win as Zanu PF through its civilian structures.
XN: The Zanu PF women’s league had resolved that one of the
VPs should be a woman and this resolution seemed to have gained support. Are we
still likely to see that happening? Was the resolution adopted by congress or
did it die with the former regime?
PM: I don’t want to talk about appointments of VPs but what
I know is we have made strides in uplifting women in the presidium. The
president has made strides which are welcome and would help grow the party. As
you are aware, one of the top party members is now a woman, we have a woman as
national chairperson of the party. The presidium is made up of the president,
his two deputies and the national chair and there we have a woman. I think this
is a positive move which will certainly bring stability and growth in the
party.
XN: The resolution was to have a VP who is a woman, not
just in the presidium.
PM: As I said, I can’t talk of appointments that have not
yet been made, but what is critical is that Zanu PF values the involvement of
women, hence we have Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri up there assisting the
president.
XN: Some people are saying Zanu PF is slowly sliding back
towards exclusion of the younger generation by giving key posts to army
personnel and war veterans without taking into account the issue of
“born-frees” or the future generations. Are you not destroying the party by
neglecting the future?
PM: I am not an old guard and I represent the future. Zanu
PF is integrating the past with the future, the past is talking to the future.
In short, we are taking history to the younger generation and not what was
happening where veterans were being sidelined. No one can live a tomorrow
without a history. You don’t talk of tomorrow without yesterday and that is
what we are doing.
XN: The president spoke about bygones being bygones and
opening of a new chapter, but we are seeing people being arrested daily with
some being charged for wearing caps inscribed ED. is this the new era which Zanu
PF is promising Zimbabweans?
PM: Criminals have to be arrested, that is non-negotiable.
We can’t have corrupt people in our communities just because we have said let
bygones be bygones, no. when someone puts on regalia of a party he does not
belong to, it is fraud my brother.
They want to cause confusion among our people and they must
be arrested. Imagine if I was to wear an MDC-T T-shirt, what would Morgan
Tsvangirai do? What message would I be trying to send to the outside world? I
think it is high time people accepted reality and stopped masquerading.
XN: We have seen a good number of people being arrested for
corruption by the new administration but many believe the arrested or those
targeted for arrests are those who opposed Cde Mnangagwa and those who
supported him remain free although they have corruption cases or are accused of
corruption. How does this happen?
PM: The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) is doing
its work and no one is going to be spared. This Zanu PF government will not
tolerate corruption. We don’t care who and what position you hold in life —
corruption will be dealt with. If you know anyone who is corrupt and is not
being arrested, go to Zacc and give them evidence to that effect, they will act
on it. We don’t want people who make allegations without evidence.
XN: What is your assessment of the extraordinary congress?
Did the party meet its expectations or was it just a talk show and speechifying
gala?
PM: This was the best congress so far held in the history
of Zanu PF. We came back rejuvenated with a clear vision of where we want to
go. We have destroyed negative perceptions that many had of Zanu PF and a new
narrative is being created. Everyone was happy and optimistic. Not only with
hope, but with a clear vision for a better Zimbabwe.
XN: Thank you Cde Mangwana and enjoy your weekend.
PM: Indeed, same to you. Kindly join us on this promising
journey to a new Zimbabwe. don’t be left behind or stay away from it. Standard
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