EDITORIAL COMMENT: Zanu-PF conference must deal with divisions within the party

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President Mugabe leads Zanu-PF to its 16th Annual National People’s Conference in Masvingo tomorrow.  

At least 6 700 ruling party members are expected to attend the event that ends on Saturday. In addition to the party’s local structures, its branches in South Africa and Britain will attend as well. The theme for this year is “Moving with Zim-Asset in Peace and Unity.”

The conference comes in the context of continuing economic challenges. Businesses are struggling to survive. Many are downsizing and closing shop.  Working conditions for a majority of the people remain poor. Many are still losing jobs as employers desperately try to cut costs to stay afloat. The cash shortage is continuing since it started around March with depositors’ queues a permanent feature at banking halls nationwide.

We have had some positive news from the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries which reported recently that industrial capacity utilisation has increased by 13 percent this year to 47,4 percent. In response to the shortage of bank notes, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe recently introduced bond notes under a $200 million facility from Afreximbank.

The economic challenges are causing severe social implications, particularly for the ordinary people in the country who are struggling for bare basics.

The conference also comes as the country grapples with a drought, probably the severest we have seen in 35 years. As many as 4,1 million people are in need of food aid and up to 25 000 cattle have died due to thirst and lack of pasture in the southern provinces.

In addition, the party conference also comes amid considerable differences in the party with cadres segmenting themselves into two major factions.
These are substantial challenges that the party is facing therefore we demand much work to address them.

The economic difficulties are being attended to.  We are pleased with the work that the party and its government are putting in to address the cash shortage, improve industrial capacity utilisation, attract investment and improve the ease of doing business.

One of the most forward-looking policies that the Government has put in place is promulgating Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 in June that puts import restrictions on more than 40 products that are locally produced. It is largely on the basis of this policy intervention that industrial capacity utilisation has shot up. It will be on that basis as well that industry will continue on the recovery path, with Finance and Economic Development Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, disclosing while presenting the 2017 national budget on Thursday last week that more goods would be put on the import restriction list. Yes we know that import controls are not sustainable in the long term without investment in new modern and more efficient machinery, without foreign direct investment and without working infrastructure. However, at this stage of our national development, local industry needs that protection.

We are also happy that the food shortage being faced is being addressed through government resources, foreign donations and the local private sector. Also we are confident that the Meteorological Services Department prediction of a favourable rainy season will materialise. The first few days of the wet season is encouraging, promising a good harvest in the end.

But we are unhappy with the fighting in the ruling party along factional lines. It is clear that the fight is motivated by succession, which   we find very objectionable and sinister. We have President Mugabe still in office and the party has already picked him as its candidate for elections in two years’ time. Our question to the jockeying cadres is who do they want to succeed when the President is still in office and is actually odds-on favourite to be retained in the 2018 elections?

We demand discipline in the party and unity, particularly at the top where all the plotting is being done. They must close ranks and face the common enemy — the economy which hasn’t been doing well for 16 years.

Dr Ignatius Chombo, the party secretary for administration told our sister paper The Sunday Mail:

“We are guided by the exhortations made by President Mugabe to deliver the wishes and aspirations of the people. So the major focus of the conference will be the issues that concern the people every day. The word on most people’s lips is the economy, so we will sit down and address that issue and come up with solutions to fix the economy in 2017. As the Secretary for Administration of the party, I have deliberately set the agenda to ensure that there is special emphasis on the economy.”

It certainly must be the economy, not jockeying for a position when the incumbent is still in his place and discharging his mandate as expected.

Also, the theme for this year says it all.

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