Zanu PF meets in Esigodini in Matabeleland South Province this week for its annual people’s conference amid a worsening economic crisis which has in recent weeks been highlighted by shortages of fuel, medical drugs and a doctors’ strike.
The former liberation movement’s conclave couldn’t have come at a better time for ordinary Zimbabweans who have endured hardships for a long time and are eager to see how it will tackle the economic crisis.
A lot was promised at Zanu PF gatherings, such as congresses and annual conferences, during the ill-fated tenure of former president Robert Mugabe, but in the end very little was delivered.
The 2018 annual people’s conference is the first to be addressed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa since he replaced Mugabe as the party’s new leader in November 2017.
Of course Mnangagwa presided over what was supposed to have been an extraordinary congress before Mugabe’s fall but which was reduced to an ordinary congress when he assumed the reins last year.
In the eight months that Mnangagwa led the country in preparation for July 30 national elections, the Zanu PF leader presided over an economy that was stressed but stable, unlike its current state which has created angst and disappointment among suffering Zimbabweans.
Mnangagwa has promised to break with the past and chart a new path.
This was bolstered by his decision to dump the old guard which had become a fixture in Mugabe’s governments.
We all thought the Cabinet would kick on from there onwards but things have not worked according to the public’s expectation.
The economy is headed south and at the moment it appears both Mnangagwa and Zanu PF — judging by the focus on endorsing the president as the 2023 ruling party’s choice for office — have decided to put politics ahead of the sickly economy.
How Zanu PF sorts out its internal issues should really not affect how the country is run especially considering that Mnangagwa has consistently tried to project himself as different from Mugabe.
Under Mugabe, government business would stop, the economy was not an issue — whenever Zanu PF was dealing with its business — whether it was interface rallies or people’s conferences.
That’s why it is a bit disconcerting that Zanu PF would find energy to think of its candidate for 2023 when it has just won an election and its leader is four months into his five-year-term.
That’s not the way to build confidence especially when the economy is in dire straits. DailyNews
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