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MOST Zimbabweans would kill to be a fly on the wall when the ruling Zanu-PF Politburo meets on Wednesday in the wake of the recent rollicking of some senior party officials by the First Lady Cde Grace Mugabe.
Taking no prisoners, the First Lady has been forthright during her recently concluded Meet the People rallies where she railed against factionalism and corruption — the twin evils tearing the vanguard party apart. The incoming Secretary of the Women’s League also pulled no punches as she berated senior cadres with unbridled ambitions of unseating President Mugabe slightly more than a year into his five-year term.

While some might have been taken aback by the candid nature of the First Lady’s acerbic attacks on certain party bigwigs no less the pointed criticism of  the Vice-President Cde Joice Mujuru herself, the writing has been on the wall for some time and it took the refreshingly honest view of the First Lady to rattle the factionalists in the party and shake them to their foundations.

Since 2004, the revolutionary party has been divided along factional lines with some senior officials secretly plotting their path to wrest power and their shenanigans have been at great cost to the party. Money has changed hands with structures decimated by factional fights and in 2008, the power-hungry leaders of one faction almost cost Zanu-PF dearly.

Their Bhora Musango campaign in which they urged party cadres to vote for Mavambo/Dawn/Kusile candidate Dr Simba Makoni in the presidential election resulted in a narrow victory for MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai precipitating a run-off. As revealed by the First Lady in one of her rallies, there was collusion between the leader of a faction in Zanu-PF and the opposition MDC with possible scenarios being bandied around on power sharing.

This faction was not eager to go into last year’s elections but had to be dragged kicking and screaming into campaigning for the party and its candidate Cde Mugabe. A pattern has thus emerged of a group that is willing to flout the party’s founding values and ethos in its quest for power and fortune.

Revelations of illicit deals, bribery and extortion levelled against the leader of this faction by the First Lady have been in the public domain for some time but no one was willing to point this out. It has taken the bravery of the First Lady to lay bare the extent of the rot within this group and the damage wrought on the nation of Zimbabwe. In her rallies, Cde Mugabe has sought to counsel this group and in some instances, invited members of this faction to make peace with other cadres and bury the hatchet.

Others like Cde Amos Midzi took the advice of the First Lady and made peace with their adversaries but some like Cde Ray Kaukonde appeared intent on perpetuating the divisions much to the chagrin of the First Lady who openly hauled him over the coals at the Marondera rally on Friday. Zanu-PF is the party of independence and its revolutionary spirit cannot be mortgaged to appease Western interests.

It cannot go to bed with the same imperialists it fought in a protracted armed struggle. Thus President Mugabe has steadfastly defended Zimbabwe’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He has not shirked from that path and yearns to bequeath an untainted legacy to future generations.

But the actions of some of his comrades appear at cross purposes with his vision. It is time the party introspected and embarked on a soul searching mission to rid itself of bad tendencies. Those that have been fingered by the First Lady as being corrupt and divisive elements should heed her wise counsel and stop their nefarious activities.

They should come clean, admit their mistakes and apologise to the President and party for dragging the good name of Zanu-PF in the mud. The party should emerge from this episode stronger and united than ever.