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Stephen Mpofu, Perspective

WITH the iniquitous, Western Zanu-PF regime change agenda as punishment for land reform still in limbo, the period between now and the general election in 2023 is likely to be replete with ugly open and subtle vicissitudes — unless the ruling party demonstrates to all and sundry that it is not in power by default.

This coming week, the revolutionary party’s 18th Annual National People’s Congress will take place in Goromonzi and the rest of the provinces represented are not likely to agree a different presidential candidate from President Mnangagwa — a development that opposition political parties and their foreign backers will obviously not take with their hearts beating placidly and their lips sealed.

The political machinations locally and abroad against the ruling party and its government already widely known, the parties that yearn for the niceties of power will no doubt regard any unanimous Zanu-PF choice for Cde Mnangagwa as the party’s only candidate in the forthcoming general elections as a stumbling block in their bid for the highest political spot in the nation and will obviously resort to any and all tactics in their bid to form the next post-election government.

The confrontation that is likely to arise from the ruling party and opposition political groupings spoiling for the same lucrative but arduous rulership post could further inhibit economic revival, not to mention the realisation of a boon, which then suggests that the country may limp on into the future with little or no hope for complete economic recovery ad infitum with those still baying for Zanu-PF’s ouster from political glory applauding the economic stagnation as an opportunity for them to gain the upper hand in the contest for power.

The above therefore provides a big challenge for the party that broke the repressive colonial yoke and brought independence, freedom and self-determination by our black people to prove that the revolution that broke the camel’s back was not a fluke.

As a first step, Zanu-PF might wish to clean its own house with a rough brush that is not shy of corners encrusted with political filth.

This pen suggests, for instance, that any “high profile” government or political officials involved in corruption be caught, exposed for all to know them and then sent to face political gallows to provide finality to their anti-patriotic, anti-revolutionary dealings after the courts have obviously hit the culprits with bare-knuckle rather than with gloved hands to instill the fear of the law and of God in would be, similar economic saboteurs.

At the same time as the ruling party and its government continue to clean up tattered images on either side, the state should persist in its efforts to revive the country’s economy now virtually on a limp.

The current co-operation between the South African and Zimbabwean chambers of commerce to boost the economies of the sister countries is but one of many other economic revival initiatives in which Zimbabwe and other friendly nations should participate to improve the welfare of their citizens in a world where Big Brother countries like to see smaller nations living from hand to mouth in order to turn the latter into economic and political quislings.

The upshot of the above disclosure is that the ruling party and its government must deal with bread and butter issues as this newspaper stated a few days ago, so that come election day voters going to cast their ballots will post not sullen faces but smiles encoded with the knowledge and assurance that the wonderful work done by their ruling party will certainly continue into a brave new future to benefit generations to come.

What this also means is that government initiatives already underway to create employment or micro-financial economic opportunities for Cinderalla-ed members of the community, namely women and youth, are intensified to fill the bellies of our people and in that way light up and brighten their hopes for a brave new future in the offing for our nation.