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Cde Saviour Kasukuwere and Professor Jonathan Moyo

Open, high-profile verbal wars escalated in Zanu-PF in recent weeks, a worrisome turn of events that we argue, has already affected the smooth running of the party and might have a similar impact on government business.

The belligerents are two distinct groups, one reportedly going by the name G-40 and the other said to be rallying behind Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

In the former, Politburo members, Cdes Saviour Kasukuwere and Patrick Zhuwao and Professor Jonathan Moyo are the most vocal while in the latter, another Politburo member and Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association chairman, Cde Chris Mutsvangwa and his secretary general, Cde Victor Matemadanda are on the other side.

The exchanges have been particularly nasty and personal between Prof Moyo and Cde Mutsvangwa.

Last week, Prof Moyo issued a statement attacking Cde Mutsvangwa as a “rogue” factionalist and “desperate successionist” plotter who allegedly stole women underwear during the war. The later has also attacked the former saying he was an “arrivist,” “Johnny-come-lately,” “war deserter,” who “stole radio from a relative” during the war and “must go for a DNA paternity test to prove his true parentage.”

As if the evidently hate speech is not unfortunate enough, the animosity might deteriorate into demonstrations by one faction against another, with a threat recently that war veterans will today bar Prof Moyo from attending a scheduled Politburo meeting at the party headquarters in Harare while he and company, as our sister paper, The Herald reported yesterday, is allegedly mobilising women and youths to the same place for a solidarity march for President Mugabe to mark the end of his African Union chairmanship late last month.

When rival demonstrators meet in one place, there is a risk of violence.

We get deeply concerned when such hostility occurs in a vanguard party like Zanu-PF which is also the governing party.

We, cap in hand, appeal for the factions to end their antagonism. It does not take the party anywhere. It does not take the government anywhere. It does not take Zimbabwe anywhere. It does nothing to deliver the promises that Zanu-PF made prior to the July 31, 2013 elections that yielded a solid mandate for the party. Zanu-PF won a two-thirds majority in that election to govern until the next poll in 2018.

Furthermore, the government has a five-year economic plan, ZimAsset that must be implemented. Late last year, President Mugabe enunciated the 10-point plan, an economic transformation agenda that complements ZimAsset. This, too, demands undivided attention of the party and government leaders to implement.

We recognise one centre of power in both party and government, President Mugabe. He was elected most resoundingly by 2,110,434 Zimbabweans in July 2013. He is the party candidate for the 2018 elections.

Apart from that, the country is gripped by its second successive drought that has rendered 2,4 million people hungry. Food must be immediately mobilised and distributed to the hungry masses. Our economy is still performing badly – many are unemployed, disposable incomes are shrinking and companies need government support to recover.

The warring cadres need not forget, too, that the country, specifically the party of liberation itself remains a target for annihilation by America and others in the West. That country made that position clear last week when, as all of us thought they might want to engage Zimbabwe, its Senate Committee on Foreign Relations wrote to their Secretary of Treasury to lobby the International Monetary Fund not to support Zimbabwe’s economic recovery efforts even if Harare clears its debt to the multi-lateral financial institution this year.

These are some of the challenges that the party and government must address, not for some to expend their energies fighting for positions and influence.

Addressing party supporters at the Harare International Airport on his return from the African Union Summit in Ethiopia at the end of last month President Mugabe criticised factionalism in the party.

“We must reject selfishness,” he said. “We should reject factionalism. — If we unite, women on this hand and the youths on the other hand, we will achieve our goals. Now if we start fighting, some are fighting here, some are insulting each other in the newspapers. There is no respect anymore, we just insult each other, even the leaders aren’t shown respect. What have we done? We don’t want that. We need unity in the country, province by province. Not to have a province which says we stand for this and our leaders are so and so. There are no leaders other than those we were given by the Central Committee. Leaders are chosen at the Congress, that’s where we drop those we don’t need.”

The message from the sole centre of power in party and government is clear – unity and mutual respect.

We totally agree with him.