By Mugove Tafirenyika and Fungi Kwaramba
President Robert Mugabe’s rattled ruling party, Zanu PF, has lined up two crucial meetings in Harare today and on Friday, to try and plot counter-strategies against growing civil unrest in the country, as Zimbabwe’s economy continues to die.
So bad has the political and security situation in the country become that stretched police have since invoked the repressive Public Order and Security Act (Posa) to ban all demonstrations and other protest action in Harare — a much-criticised move that opposition parties and pro-democracy groups are challenging in court.
Zanu PF insiders who spoke to the Daily News yesterday said the party’s politburo meeting today would focus almost exclusively on the escalating protests in the country, as well as the former liberation movement’s seemingly unstoppable factional and succession wars.
“Given what is obtaining in the country, the politburo will deliberate on how as a party we must react because the situation is really getting out of hand, and we could soon reach a point of no return if this goes unchecked.
“The starting point will most likely be the initiative that the youths have taken to ensure that no property is vandalised, as well as how we can help the police to contain rowdy protesters,” one of insiders said.
Mugabe, the only leader that Zimbabweans have known since the country gained independence from Britain in April 1980, is facing the biggest challenge to his long rule which his critics say has been catastrophic.
Analysts also say the government’s growing reliance on police to crush dissent, as well as Mugabe’s attacks on the judiciary last weekend betray the ruling party’s panic in the face of growing civil unrest.
University of Zimbabwe lecturer and politics expert, Eldred Masunungure, told the Daily News yesterday that he was not confident that Zanu PF would use its two meetings this week to brainstorm “winning ideas” to mitigate the country’s deepening rot.
“Instead, the party is likely to concentrate on coming up with more repressive and draconian measures to deal with protesters. The emphasis will be on how to curb the protests not how to deal with their causes.
“Yet, if they dealt with the root cause they would be more likely to come up with viable and enduring solutions for the country.
“Sadly, that will not be the case with these meetings (politburo meeting today and central committee on Friday),” he said.
Fed up Zimbabweans have over the past few weeks been holding regular protests, with desperate authorities invoked Statutory Instrument 101A last week, that bans demonstrations in central Harare.
At the same time, Mugabe has been feeling the heat on two fronts. Opposition parties, which were once fractured by ideological differences, have seized the current mood to close ranks and ramp up the pressure on the nonagenarian — while the ruling party’s deadly infighting, over Mugabe’s unresolved succession, is getting hotter by the day.
Stretched police even went to the extent of defying a court order last week, going on to bludgeon thousands of protesters who had gathered under the auspices of the National Election Reform Agenda (Nera) to protest outstanding electoral reforms ahead of the country’s eagerly-anticipated 2018 national elections.
The heavily armed riot police — backed by armoured trucks and water cannons — indiscriminately fired volleys of teargas at all and sundry, battering and chasing around groups of determined opposition supporters to the shock of Zimbabweans.
And addressing Zanu PF youths on Saturday, Mugabe threatened judges for granting court orders to protesters, suggesting that the Bench was being negligent in allowing the demonstrations to go ahead.
“Of course, we can’t allow them (the opposition) to continue with these violent demonstrations unimpeded. Enough is enough,” Mugabe thundered.
That attack on the judiciary evoked bad memories from 2001 when the government purged white judges from the Bench, including the then chief justice Anthony Gubbay, for ruling against Zimbabwe’s chaotic land reform programme.
Yesterday, opposition parties also said there was “nothing tangible to expect” from Zanu PF’s meetings because the ruling party was “clueless on how to respond to the current economic crisis”.
“The bottom line is that Mugabe and his regime are no longer fit for purpose, and we will find a way. They should simply step down to allow Zimbabwe to move forward and develop its national economy as well as eradicate rampant poverty and penury that is presently afflicting more than 90 percent of the population,” MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu said.
As if to confirm that nothing beneficial to the ordinary people would come out of today’s politburo meeting, a miffed Zanu PF insider said: “The only news of note will be Gushungo (Mugabe) affirming his appointment of Kudzanai Chipanga as the substantive youth secretary to replace (Pupurai) Togarepi”.
“Several pending disciplinary cases, especially those of (former Mashonaland East chairperson Joel Biggie) Matiza, (Kizito) Chivamba (Midlands) and (Ezra) Chadzamira may also be concluded tomorrow (today) because they have been made to wait for too long now.
“The meeting will also discuss the issue of the upcoming conference, and come up with a date and definite venue to allow organisers ample time to arrange the logistics because at the moment all that is known is that it will be held in Masvingo in December and nothing else,” the Zanu PF bigwig added.
Ruling party secretary for administration, Ignatius Chombo, told sycophantic State media yesterday that the politburo was going to deal with “all issues affecting the country” as well as the deadly factionalism ravaging the former liberation movement.
Since the economy began experiencing serious turbulence, including witnessing banks running out of cash, this has put the government under growing pressure as angry Zimbabweans have mounted seemingly unending demonstrations.
In July, riots also broke out in the border town of Beitbridge when angry traders protested against the government’s ill-advised decision to ban the importation of basic consumer goods.
More than 70 people were arrested in the aftermath of those riots which destroyed property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, including the burning of a warehouse belonging to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.
The riots later spread to Harare where police once again used force to break a demonstration called by commuter omnibus drivers and touts to protest too many police roadblocks on the roads which they said had become extortionate. Daily News
