Unravelling the inconsistency in understanding Zanu PF structure

By Justine Mudyambanje

The war of liberation was an epoch that taught us how individuals occupy positions in an organisation’s structure. In the post-independence period of between 1980 and 2014 the party also practised the same system of individuals filling in positions in the party structure in their individual capacities. 

This system is practised and accepted worldwide as a phenomenon that ensures a structure has no parallel leadership.

It must be remembered that during the inclusive government MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai was accused of running a Kitchen Cabinet since he thought he had powers equal to that of President Robert Mugabe. It was against such feelings that Zanu PF rightly and publicly started to refer to Mugabe as the Head of State and government plus the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

Zanu PF correctly did and continues to do so as a means of making sure there is one centre of power and that centre of power is respected by every citizen by day and night, and in a non-selective manner.

The one centre of power in both Zanu PF and government is Mugabe. This power is never shared with anyone either by association or otherwise. When the President is either on leave or on a tour of duty outside the country, he continues to be the “one centre of power”.

Anyone acting in his capacity is doing so on his behalf. It means those working in acting capacities have no legal mandate to act as if there were the one centre of power. This is the sole reason why no Cabinet meetings in government and no politburo meetings in Zanu PF take place in the absence of the President as the “one centre of power”.

It must be remembered by all right-minded people that an organisation is a group of people who work together to achieve a common goal.

In order to most efficiently meet their goals they devise an organisational structure which defines how tasks are divided, grouped and coordinated. Organisational structure determines how the roles, power and responsibilities are assigned, controlled and coordinated.

The structure also highlights how information flows between the different levels of management. An organisational structure is a system used to define a hierarchy within an organisation; the organisation of which can be government, political party or a business entity.

Zanu PF as an organisation has a clear structure that must never be manipulated to accommodate certain individuals’ self interests.

In my view, the duty to address or announce party actions or activities must be left to the information department if the revolutionary party is to avoid confusing its multitudes of party cadres and supporters.

Any department that has a message or activity to be communicated to members of the party must necessarily be done through the information department. In my view, such synchronised communication system ensures sanity in an organisation and Zanu PF or even MDC formations cannot be exceptions.

An organisation can easily be destroyed by a single uncoordinated information sent to its organs or published in the media by departments whose duties are not to disseminate information.

Such a practice would prove to be costly to any organisation, whether it is a government, corporate entity or political party. Companies have had to invest heavily in damage control caused by a department which carelessly communicates business information to consumers.

The purpose of an information department is to protect the integrity and interests of the organisation. This is the sole reason why organisations have in their structures information and public relations departments staffed with skilled communication experts. Their job and function is to consult first with the principal of the organisation before making public statements.

If one looks at the demise of the MDC formations it can be concluded easily that it was caused by a free-for-all system of communication. When Zanu PF realised that Rugare Gumbo was no longer communicating information to protect the image, integrity and interests of the party they fired him.

As a communication officer of Zanu PF Gumbo had become a loose cannon that threatened the party from within hence it was prudent for Zanu PF to fire him together with the cabal he belonged to.

I as a citizen whose heart and soul belongs to Zanu PF, I wish to point out that certain individuals in Zanu PF think rubbishing each other publicly strengthens the party. If Zanu PF is not going to keep a check on such a practise then individuals will certainly, knowingly or unknowingly destroy it from within.

How can someone, a professor for that matter, use his Twitter account as a communication tool to attack colleagues whom he can face and criticise without resorting to use of social media?
How can Zanu PF allow such a highly-educated individual to use Twitter as a tool to openly tell the media how a headline should be structured? Is it the kind of education and intellect Zanu PF needs?

How can such an individual, who was once an information guru, attack the party spokesperson in the media and liken him (party spokesperson) to Rugare Gumbo? How can a senior party official denigrate fellow comrades in public, without having engaged the individual concerned on a one-on-one basis telling that comrade the dominos he/she would be doing?

Zanu PF as an organisation needs to clip wings of such ego-centric individuals who use public gatherings to denigrate other comrades.

People who claim to be revolutionaries should not be allowed to use public fora to recklessly denounce fellow comrades as they seek cheap popularity. The masses must not be taken for granted that every clap of their hands they would be enjoying every
outburst.

The party has structures such as the central committee and politburo which can be used to correct or lambast members viewed not to be towing the party line. Such a practice would definitely strengthen and grow the party.

The current practice of shouting and denigrating party members in public is an act of cowardice that threatens to destroy the party.

The integrity, image and interests of Zanu PF will definitely remain protected if an in-house system of correcting party members is religiously embraced.

It is the duty of the information department or any other person as assigned that duty by the head of the organisation to tell the public of action taken by the organisation on the errant comrade(s).
Zanu PF should avoid allowing every leader to go on stage and start preaching negatives about the party. The structure of Zanu PF was developed to establish how the party should operate and assist itself in obtaining its goals for the future.

If the leaders really respect one centre of power they must take heed of the President’s directive to shut up and stop the malice of washing the dirty linen in public.

Leaders should know that the party structure has at the topmost the President, then his two deputies followed by its departments and organs which are subordinate to the President and his deputies.

This was clearly demonstrated on the state of the nation address by the President rightly accompanied only by his two deputies. This is how it must naturally be and only those who are ego-centric feel otherwise.

One cannot tell others to be satisfied by their positions when that individual is in fact doing the opposite. If Zanu PF religiously respects the one centre of power and conducts its business religiously following the party structure, it should be able to overcome the current challenges that it is going through.

Justine Mudyambanje is a living legend of the liberation struggle whose Chimurenga name was Mabhunu Muchapera.