Zanu-PF ‘will not win another election’

Christopher Mahove |06 May 2016 | he Independent on Saturday

Harare – A retired army general in Zimbabwe on Thursday said the ruling Zanu-PF, led by 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe, was unelectable and would never win another plebiscite to govern the country.

Retired Brigadier General Agrippa Mutambara, who also served as Zimbabwe ambassador to three different countries over a 21-year span and was now a member of an opposition political party , said Zanu-PF had no future in the politics of the country, adding that opposition political parties should rally together to remove the liberation war movement from power.

He was speaking at a round-table discussion under the topic, “Emergence of new political outfits, new perspective or political ego”, held at the Media Centre in Harare.

“I sincerely believe that Zanu-PF will not win another election and I think they also know that the tables are turning and they are resorting to a well-known tactic that they have used in the past and succeeded. The tactic of using violence, using youths to unleash violence on people who don’t support Zanu-PF,” he said.

Mutambara, who said he voluntarily left the ruling party to join former vice-president, Joice Mujuru, who was unceremoniously kicked out of the party and formed her own outfit, Zimbabwe People First, said what happened at Rufaro Stadium when the Zimbabwe government tried to organise a workers’ day event that turned out to be a flop was an indication that the ruling party was unelectable.

“That was not an indication that (Vice-President Emmerson) Mnangagwa had failed, it was an indication that Zanu-PF was unelectable, not an individual because the Vice-President was appointed by the President. But if Zanu-PF itself thinks that he is unelectable, then it is a vote of no confidence in the President who actually appointed him,” he said.

The liberation war veteran said many people were turning away from Zanu-PF because it had strayed from the principles of the liberation struggle and was now trying to create one centre of power, saying that was not what the people fought for.

“If Zanu-PF enjoys support, why is it that they have to harass and force people to accept them? If Zanu-PF has got support, why is it that when just holding a provincial rally, they have to send buses across the country to shuttle people to come and attend a rally. It is a clear indication that Zanu-PF has lost support and they want to give an impression that they still enjoy support when they do not,” he said.

The ruling party, he said, was abusing and misusing state resources meant for the people of Zimbabwe and giving them to their supporters.

Mutambara, who himself held senior positions in the Zanu-PF government, said he had tendered his notice of retirement from government because he wanted to feel free to express himself about what was going on within the ruling party, saying the situation had become untenable.

“Zanu-PF has lost direction. Within Zanu-PF, I tried to communicate my apprehension of what I thought was going on but without success. Unlike many of my comrades, I was not dismissed from Zanu-PF. I took a personal decision that I could no longer continue to be Zanu-PF. If you look at the number of people that are being expelled and suspended, you find that the party has lost direction,” he said.