Speaking to TellZim News on condition of anonymity for fear
of victimization, some Members of Parliament (MPs) said they were living in
constant fear as the party heavyweights were pushing for their ouster, and the
problem started when Zanu PF almost lost to opposition Citizens Coalition for
Change (CCC) when they voted for the Public Voluntary Organisation (PVO) bill
in parliament.
“Tiri panguva yakaoma (we are in difficult times); the
problem started when we voted for the PVO bill in parliament and Zanu almost
lost to opposition. It was later realized that most of the young MPs from the
party had just logged in and went out.
“We are now being accused of resisting the push for
President to have another term as well as lacking party ideology. There biggest
fear is, if the opposition MPs move motion to impeach the President, they think
we will support that,” said one youthful MP.
Another Zanu PF legislator, who claims to be a war veteran,
confirmed that the young MPs were betraying the party.
“They have no ideology; they are dealers so what they do
is, they come to Parliament and sign the register and after that they get in
town to run their errands. We almost lost to CCC legislators when we voted for
the PVO bill. Something needs to be done or else the party is in serious
problem,” he said.
However, the Zanu PF chief whip Pupurai Togarepi who is
also the MP for Gutu South downplayed the factional fights in the ruling party
saying the Zanu PF had trust in its legislators.
“All our MPs are cadres of the party who were deployed to
represent Zanu PF in parliament because of their loyalty and consistency. All
our MPs have gone through several ideological orientation through the Chitepo
School of Ideology which makes them very sound and grounded. The leadership is
happy with the performance of the young MPs. I urge you to ignore the nonsense
coming from uninformed sources,” said Togarepi.
Eight provinces had since endorsed Mnangagwa to extend his
term beyond 2028, though the President indicated that he will step down at the
end of his second term. The call for a third term from Mnangagwa’s supporters
has deeply divided Zanu PF, with those resisting the extension allegedly being
targeted to be chopped off.
However, the succession fights started barely a year after
the elections and this has negatively affected development in the country, with
the economy showing no signs of growth and stability.
Media lecturer and political analyst Dr Wellington Gadzikwa
said the succession disputes existing within the ruling party could mean no
development for the country for the next four years.
“The nature of our election which is after every five years
derail development in that politicians only do something in the first two years
and only come back to the electorate seeking reelection hence anti-development.
Now that there are succession disputes in Zanu PF we are less likely to see
anything meaningful (in terms of development) during this term unlike in the
President’s first term.
“This term is likely going to be filled by third term
politics and this is further made worse by the lack of a true opposition in the
country. There is a lot of uncertainties in the country,” said Dr Gadzikwa.
University of Zimbabwe Lecturer Professor Eldred
Masunungure weighed in and said the ruling party was likely to engage in power
games foregoing development and said factionalism was imminent which he said
was bad for national development.
“The sad reality is that the infatuation with power at the
apex of the ruling party is something that goes back to the founding of the
party and succession-induced gladiation for power is one of the hallmarks of
the organisation. Power, and gaining or retaining it supersedes everything else
including national development; that is, development plays second fiddle to
power games. It is indeed weird but not unprecedented for Zanu PF to start
playing these power games soon after the last election and not necessarily
towards the next election,” said Prof Masunungure.
“Another tragic consequence of these games of power is that
they will be fought along factional lines not only in the party but also in the
state. State structures will be infected by the factionalism virus leading to
dysfunctionality or compromised performance in terms of delivery of national
policies and programmes. This will be likely so for the next four years thus
paralyzing policy formation and implementation. State employees, especially at
the top level will be pigeon-holed into factional camps and this will poison
their working relationships. In short succession-fed factionalism is bad for
national development,” Prof Masunungure added. TellZimNews
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