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President Mugabe

Zanu-PF leadership should heed President Mugabe’s call for unity within the party so that the leadership can concentrate on delivering on the promises made to the people. The ruling party makes up the Government so any discord within the party impacts negatively on Government operations.

Government Ministers should sing from the same hymn book and this starts from the party. It is the party which formulates policies which it then directs Government to implement hence the importance of the party leadership to have a shared vision. The party leadership is spending a lot of time at each other’s throats instead of concentrating on implementing programmes to improve the people’s livelihoods.

Addressing thousands of youths at Somhlolo Stadium, Lupane in Matabeleland North province on Friday, Cde Mugabe said senior Zanu-PF leaders should emulate the unity of purpose demonstrated by the Youth League which successfully organised the Million Man March last year and has so far organised four Presidential youth interface rallies which were all successful.

Cde Mugabe said on his deathbed, the late Vice President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo emphasised the need for the people to remain united and the party leadership should therefore respect and honour Dr Nkomo by uniting the people. The youth league was supposed to learn from the senior party members but now it is the seniors who should learn from the youths. It is however not too late for the party leadership to iron out their differences in order to move in one direction.

The party has various structures and platforms where these differences can be thrashed out and in the process strengthen the party. This name-calling which is providing fodder for the private media and the country’s detractors, should stop forthwith. There is general lack of discipline in the party and as such juniors within the party leadership are no longer respecting their seniors. The party is already preparing for next year’s general elections and this demands a united leadership.

The general membership of the party loses confidence in the party if leaders are fighting every day over what we strongly believe are issues which can be resolved amicably either at Central Committee or Politburo level. Washing dirty linen in public does not help the party at all and this business of leaking confidential information from the Politburo to the media should stop.

Those responsible should be identified and punished because the situation is fast getting out of hand. What we want to see is team Zanu-PF as we head towards the elections and not this selfish fighting. Zanu-PF has come up with a number of programmes meant to turnaround the economy and these programmes can only be implemented by Government Ministers working as a team.

This penchant to trash government programmes for self-aggrandisement is not acceptable because it takes us nowhere. It is time those guilty of sowing seeds of disunity within the party are dealt with decisively. We however want to make it clear that we are not against those engaging in constructive criticism of party and Government programmes. It is such constructive criticism that strengthens the party and Government.

Individuals entrusted with implementing party or Government programmes will strive to do their best knowing very well that there are individuals who will scrutinise and criticise their shortcomings.

We want to once again implore the party’s top leadership to bury their differences and take a leading role in uniting the people so that they focus on development.