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Bernard Bwoni Correspondent
THE murky and turbulent waters of factional politics within the ruling party have now calmed with an outcome that represents an epic ideological victory that is going to shape the country. The events of the recent few months have been a sure test for the ruling party that posed a genuine threat against what really defines the ruling party and the ethos of the liberation struggle which had the potential for an unprecedented ideological implosion.

Zimbabwe is still a very young nation and, as such, prone to developmental weaknesses and opportunities for growth. The internal and external threats, the inter-party and intra-party challenges had the potential to cause a cataclysmic ideological unravelling but that has now been and is still being addressed.

Some wayward individuals within the ruling party’s leadership ranks chose to bargain the ideology of party collectivism for personal ambition individualism. Many succumbed and compromised their own and the party ideals for self-preservation in preparing for political careers past a constitutionally elected leadership. Those who compromised party ideals to further personal agendas have now been left languishing on the wrong side of the political fence and rightly so.

On their brief expedition towards personal power they ditched their party responsibilities for own personal ambitions. The Machiavellian menaces of factional and over-ambitious politics is what relegated these heroes-come-counter-revolutionaries to the edges of the ruling party ranks.

They allowed themselves to go against the core values and ideals of the party and the party had no choice but to redirect them and put them back in line.

The mesmeric pre-Congress dramatic unfolding and the captivating conclusion to it all has brought about clarity and reassurances of a united ruling party without any fissures from the tectonic activity of the recent few months. The former Vice President of Zimbabwe, Dr Joice Mujuru, summed it up well when she said: “Mind you, I don’t know any other party other than Zanu-PF and that’s my party. And I will die in Zanu-PF.”

It is because of this political and economic elitism that those who lost their way drew their confidence from to run parallel structures to the tried and tested leadership of President Robert Mugabe. It is only because of the rich history of the ruling party and the astute leadership of President Mugabe that the party was able to navigate the factional and treacherous political landscape that had been specifically designed by a select elite grouping of restless and over-ambitious simple-minded individuals who embraced machinations which have historically sought to undermine Zimbabwe’s quest for genuine political and economic emancipation.

The simplicity stems from the fact that many in the ruling party have tried the very same before and have failed spectacularly. The colossal figures of the likes of Edgar Tekere, Simba Makoni, Ndabaningi Sithole and Margaret Dongo, just to name but a few, have all taken that route to the exterior of the ruling party hoping for lone victories only to find themselves alone and instantly irrelevant. They should have known better, surely.

The unsettled and over-zealous caucus within the ruling party quickly jumped on the bandwagon in anticipatory naivety and a misguided sense of entitlement to power by virtue of being on the vice side of things. This coterie of the muddled suffered tunnel vision and was built on simplistic ideas of self-preservation and accumulation and more accumulation.

The treachery is derived from the fact that members of this subversive syndicate chose to indulge in unsanctioned associations and private unrecorded meetings with known agents of the regime change agenda in Zimbabwe and the marionette local op- position.

The biggest mistake was excessive confidence in simple ideas that ran parallel to the body polity and the mistaken thinking that power was already in the bag. Any political party is bigger than its minute and individual pieces and that is the fate of all those implicated.

The fact that they embraced the opposition as well as agents and elements known to have continually pursued an illegal agenda truly undermined the validity of this grouping and was, in effect, undermining the ruling party ideology and Zimbabwe as a country

It is hard to stomach the fact that it was some revered liberation war heroes who chose to cuddle up to the erstwhile enemy they so exhaustively defeated during the prolonged liberation war struggle. They chose to sacrifice the country’s hard-won sovereignty for a quick gateway to the top job in Zimbabwe.

The realignment that has happened within the ruling party ranks has appropriately placed the accountability of the transgressions on those responsible. The ruling party has taken the right steps to counter the alleged sabotage; anyone anywhere else would have done the same. The realignment was necessary because, even though those implicated belonged to the revolutionary fold, they were working on the other side of the revolution and clandestinely seeking to derail the very same revolution.

The ruling party has emerged from the ruckus and fracas even stronger and united contrary to the pre-congress speculation of a fragmented and weak party. The main thrust now that the party has rid itself of the internal counter-revolutionaries is the country’s frail economy. The two Vice Presidents and the whole team are in place and there is clarity in terms of rank and order.

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