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Amai Mugabe addresses a rally recently

Reason Wafawarova On Thursday
THERE is no doubt that the handiness of factional unity is essential in the internal politics of Zanu-PF today, and we have seen seasoned politicians joining hands with entryists in what observers have interpreted as succession politics — all inspired by President Mugabe’s age. Whether or not this is unity through nobility of purpose and intent is what this essay is going

to explore.

The current struggle in the revolution that Zanu-PF purports to lead is merely a continuation of the struggle we waged when we took arms to liberate the country from the menace of the colonial yoke, and the greatest betrayal to this struggle is a recurrence of the inhumanity and insensitivities of the brutish colonial era.

What is needed now is for everyone in his own field or capacity to take the best of care in doing their best, with the collective knowledge that at every stage we are pushing the best of us forward. This is the only way we as a nation can surpass ourselves and can surpass other nations — the only way we can overcome “our little troubles,” as Bob Marley would sing in his song “Zimbabwe”.

No failure can come our way if we adhere to these principles, but as a people we ought to know how to advance from one step to the next. We have to reconnoiter the ground and remove all obstacles one after the other, most of which are obstacles of our own making; much as we are fond of blaming those obstacles we view as originating from external forces, especially the effect of Western-imposed illegal sanctions.

Entryism into an established organisation like Zanu-PF naturally calls for loyalty, and it irrevocably requires the pursuit of jealously guarded and protected goals and objectives. The thought that any entryist can emerge and reroute the course of a party like Zanu-PF is unhelpfully simplistic, if not outright astigmatic.

What an entryist can do is seek to place the aims and objectives of an established organisation in the larger context of his or her own ideological goals, or perhaps their own interests.
As we saw with Professor Jonathan Moyo’s entry onto the political scene in 2000, an entryist into a political party can do his genuine best for that party to gain power, but will persuade that party to use its power for the sake of a profound idea.

Many will recall how Prof Moyo relentlessly persuaded Zanu-PF to pursue so vigorously the ideological line of sovereignty, and how our flourishing dance-hall musicians immensely benefited from the 75 percent local content for our radio stations he introduced as the responsible line Minister. On his current return to Cabinet, the Minister has been widely credited with the crafting of Zim-Asset, the government economic blueprint designed to address the dire economic situation in the country.

With the entry of First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe into mainstream Zanu-PF politics there are lessons that can be drawn. I say mainstream because I believe that she has always been a political animal by virtue of her central belonging to the First Family, and of course by the dint of proximate association with the holder of the highest political office in the land. In this context she can hardly be regarded as a novice.

An entryist project requires an external director to provide strategy and to set theoretical objectives. This is normally the role of advisors and think tanks. In the case of the First Lady, it appears like her godmother is Oppah Muchinguri, the lady who offered her current post in Zanu-PF to Amai Mugabe.

While the declared intent of Muchinguri and her colleagues are the wider objectives of outmanoeuvring factional rivals within Zanu-PF, the entryist herself has the mandate to achieve practical objectives without compromising the loyalty and associated responsibilities that come with assuming a leadership role in Zanu-PF.

With her 25 year close proximity to her husband Amai Mugabe must by now be aware that for a few to influence many they either have to be highly skilled manipulators, or genuinely superior advisors. She has already sounded warning shots that she is not one to be manipulated, and hopefully she will manage in her political career to rely on genuinely superior advisors.

In order to thwart the demon of manipulation it is preferable that only the intelligent and knowledgeable must choose the path of entryism. What has been happening in Zanu-PF for sometime is the manipulation of an unthinking and unsuspecting leadership by selfish and self-serving advisors.

It takes a superior leader to recognise a superior advisor. Foolish leaders are often attracted to foolish advisors, just like manipulators prefer to choose idiot leaders whom they can manipulate.

The principle of unity through nobility of purpose is essential for a party like Zanu-PF. If one will add value, that person must of necessity have the nobility of mind and character not possessed by all others. One such character is patience, and an appreciation that entryism in itself is no guarantee for immediate results.

Leadership is about those of small stature using their nobility of mind and character to have a big impact on all others. Leadership is about the ability to perceive a need and proceed to do something about that need.

Often we misunderstand leadership as the impressive title or the assigned leadership position.
Leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It comes from influence, and influence cannot be mandated. It is earned.
A title only buys one limited time, during which one can either positively influence all others, or perniciously undermine themselves.

One myth about leadership is the misguided view that says to lead and to manage is one and the same thing. While management is about maintaining systems and processes, leadership is about influencing people to follow.

Sometimes the best manager is no more than a little boy waiting to see where the dog on the leash wants to go, so that he can take the dog in that direction. To say the boy is leading the dog is the epitome of prevarication.

A leader must of necessity create positive change, not the hullabaloo on this reactionary change our opposition politicians often fantasise about. Managers simply maintain direction, but they cannot change it. Well, systems and processes have limits, and that is why visionary leadership is needed if new systems and processes are to be achieved. We are stuck with not so skilled managers masquerading as political leaders across the Zimbabwean political divide.

There is no doubt that both Zanu-PF and the country need a new direction, and in order for that new direction to be explored there is need for new influence, and only an effective leader can command that kind of influence. It is not awarded, it is not appointed, and it is not even a product of an election. A vote can only ratify it; it cannot create it.

We are a people smitten by the myth of the politician. We often assume that politicians are leaders by definition, and of course that is not always the case. Essentially politicians are skilled at seeing opportunities and going after them, just like entrepreneurs. By their very nature politicians are expert opportunists.

They see your needs and they understand so well how to take advantage of your misfortune in order to produce for themselves a profit, be it financially, socially or egoistically. Not all politicians are good with people, and certainly not all of them can influence people for positive change.

As Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is power,” but we must be careful of the myth of knowledge. Those of us who believe power to be the essence of leadership might naturally assume that those who possess knowledge and intelligence are therefore leaders, and this explains the gross Zimbabwean misconception that says academic titles are in and of themselves meritorious enough to legitimise or authenticate leadership.

Neither IQ nor education necessarily equates to leadership, otherwise we would not have brilliant research scientists and philosophers with no ability even to lead themselves; and there are countless of these in universities across the world.

Those who aspire for the position of presidency simply for the sake of the position itself must be reminded that you cannot be a leader with no people intentionally following you, and people will not follow you if you do not command the required influence warranting a following.

Zimbabwe we are one and together we will overcome. It is homeland or death!

Reason Wafawarova is a political writer based in SYDNEY, Australia.