By Felex Share
ZANU-PF secretary for science and technology Professor Jonathan Moyo has a long and documented history of disloyalty to President Mugabe and Zanu-PF and should stop lecturing people on obedience, political analysts said yesterday.
Observers also said Prof Moyo could not claim to champion the legacy of the liberation struggle given his checkered history as reports indicate that he was studying in the comfort of imperialist America as true sons and daughters were being maimed and massacred by the brutal Smith regime.
The analysts’ remarks were triggered by Prof Moyo’s comments in the private media where he attacked Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Constantino Chiwenga in Bulawayo on Friday.
In defiance of President Mugabe’s counsel on Zanu-PF cadres attacking each other in the media, Prof Moyo said VP Mnangagwa was taking his close association with the President as basis for entitlement.
Prof Moyo claimed to be loyal to the President, adding that he was among those preoccupied with “the national question of unity and inclusivity”.
He said while addressing journalists in Bulawayo: “In the last two months, it is always Moyo and (Saviour) Kasukuwere (Zanu-PF national commissar)”.
“Two is a duo and three is a trio, not a faction. A faction is many people. G40 will never become a faction, whether you have said it or not. Whenever there are successionists, you must ask yourself who is the rest. Who are the other people? Usually what a successionist wants is not to get power through an election. They want to be given [power]. The opposite of a successionist is a loyalist.”
Analysts, however, scoffed at Prof Moyo saying he was the least qualified person to talk about loyalty as his past was full of documented treachery.
Mr Goodwine Mureriwa said Prof Moyo was a “sequential political flip-flopper” who lacked consistence and principles.
“The controversy around Prof Moyo is traceable even to the times in the 80s, 90s,” he said.
“He simply lacks consistency and principle that is why when he decided to stand as an independent candidate in Tsholotsho he was saying Zanu-PF was a sunset party, led by an old and stagnant clique and surprisingly that Zanu-PF was under the leadership of President Mugabe. He even said that President Mugabe in 2008 will lose to a donkey. At the moment, he is propping up factionalism, which is not in the interest of the party.”
Mr Mureriwa said if Prof Moyo was loyal as he claimed, he would not be seen trashing presidential appointments in public let alone defying Politburo decisions.
“He is facing corruption charges and now wants to divert attention from the real issues, trying to undermine those who have been appointed by the same leader he is claiming to protect. When things are alright for him, he seems to take one direction when things are against him he does the opposite. When you are a politician, you need to be principled and have an ideological path that you should always follow. By attacking VP Mnangagwa, he is undermining even the President himself.”
He added: “The guy simply lacks maturity, loyalty and discipline. The leadership of Zanu-PF should be aware of juniors in the party who because of ambitions are causing divisions.”
Another political analyst Mr Tendai Toto said Prof Moyo was living to his word, “destroying Zanu-PF from within” and no amount of dust-kicking would exonerate him.
“His actions don’t show any loyalty,” he said.
“If he is attacking other party members that element of destabilisation from within comes into effect. As a senior member of Zanu-PF and an intellect, he must believe in constructive dialogue within the parameters set by the code of conduct of Zanu-PF. This whole idea of taking issues into the public domain, tweeting exposes the party fractures and friction which he seems to be enjoying. The party should just deal with him once and for all. Summing up pointers amongst others are that Prof Moyo can be identified as having a suspicious identity and personality self designed to accompany Zanu-PF to its demise.”
He added: “On one hand he professes and confesses loyalty to President Mugabe and Zanu-PF, but if he continues to denounce senior party members on social media, defy a directive by Zanu-PF against social media attacks, he is demonstrably disloyal to the Zanu-PF party structures and protocol.”
Political scientist Mr Maxwell Saungweme said Prof Moyo had no moral ground to talk about loyalty.
He said: “If loyalty has its true meaning, after reading all Moyo’s books and articles against (President) Mugabe then even an illiterate person will understand that he is not loyal to Zanu-PF or the President. It’s foolproof that one cannot defy his principles and standpoint for political expediency and then be said to be loyal to that which his values and principles are against.”
Prof Moyo has also continued with his hyper tweeting on his Twitter Page and last week used the platform to trash the one centre of power principle which empowers President Mugabe to appoint his deputies and Politburo members.
He labelled the one centre of power principle in Zanu-PF, which was ushered in by amendments to Section 32 of the revolutionary party’s constitution, “a mistake.”
South African based analyst Mr Tinashe Tiki said the fact that Prof Moyo acknowledged that Cdes Saviour Kasukuwere, Patrick Zhuwao and himself were pursuing the so called “loyalist agenda” meant that their faction replaced the one led by Dr Joice Mujuru.
“Surely the trio or the duo is leading a faction. They can account for their members. When it comes to Cde Mnangangwa, he just mentioned one name. So according to their analysis, it’s them who are leading a faction with many people. As for Cde Mnangagwa, he (Prof Moyo) failed to give names, he just mentioned Cde Mnangagwa,” he said. Chronicle
