KINGPINS of the vanquished G40 faction have apologised to the ruling Zanu PF party for going out of line in their ill-fated bid to block the ascendancy of President Mnangagwa to power in 2017.
Mr Patrick Zhuwao and Professor Jonathan Moyo, who are living in self-imposed exile in South Africa and Kenya respectively, on Tuesday wrote an open letter where they recounted how, in their tormented state, they hopped into bed with the opposition CCC and pushed the unpopular hashtag #ZanuPFMustGo, which, however, failed to gain traction.
The dramatic apology from the two, who were once rabid critics of the Second Republic, was embraced by Zanu PF, with the ruling party’s spokesperson, Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa, saying it confirms President Mnangagwa’s unifying qualities.
“We welcome them back in the fold, this is a party of the revolution, everybody belongs to it. Recently we had the President revisiting the heroes of the Second Chimurenga, and including James Chikerema and Ndabaningi Sithole as national heroes. It is in the same spirit that we welcome both Zhuwao and Professor Moyo to the party and we want to see how we can work together so that we bring prosperity to the people, we don’t look at past differences, we look at opportunities that can arise when all Zimbabweans come together.”
Asked if there will be any repercussions for the former G40 kingpins for their past transgressions and indiscretions, Cde Mutsvangwa said the party is preoccupied with the opportunities of the future and not the past.
“If they come back in an open manner as they have done, we want them to be part of the big party Zanu PF, it is a big movement, it embraces everybody, they are as good as any Zimbabwean regardless of that we had a fallout in the past,” he said, adding: “It is inevitable in politics that we may have disagreements, we may have bitter disputes but the most important thing is how you come back together, how you end up finding each other.”
Cde Mutsvangwa said there is room for both Prof Moyo and Mr Zhuwao and many others who will take a cue from the two who have publicly apologised.
Significantly, the apology from the two comes just after the 7th Zanu PF National People’s Congress last month, which was preceded by unfounded speculation of divisions and disunity in the party, false prophecies that however, came to naught.
“There are no fundamental differences in Zanu PF, there is a long bond in Zanu PF of comradeship and friendship, especially among the leadership, and it triumphed during the Congress. We know each other and we are likely to find each other when the time is due.”
Apart from Prof Moyo and Mr Zhuwao, the other key members of the G40 faction were Mr Saviour Kasukuwere and Mr Walter Mzembi, who are both living in self-imposed exile in South Africa.
“We hope that Kasukuwere, who was very close to Jonathan and Zhuwao, takes the cue. He is still out there in the cold, I do hope that illusions about his political stature outside Zanu PF can be shattered and he genuinely comes back and can be part ofthe Zimbabwe revolution,” said Cde Mutsvangwa.
Reached for comment yesterday, Mr Mzembi just said, “Mombe inozvikumira yega” while Mr Kasukuwere was not readily available.
However, the apology from Mr Zhuwao and Prof Moyo comes as Zanu PF has been swamped with letters from both former party members, especially G40 functionaries, and former opposition adherents who are keen on retracing their steps to the liberation movement.
In their open letter, Messrs Zhuwao and Moyo said even though they frenetically supported Mr Chamisa ahead of the 2018 elections and after, it ultimately dawned on them that the opposition, apart from hashtags, has no strategy, ideas or the grounding to move the nation forward.
“Whereas we stopped using the hashtag and disassociated ourselves from it quite some time back, it is our considered judgment that we owe you a long overdue apology for having used the hashtag and for having associated ourselves with it, in the first place.
“Accordingly, and on this day of November 15 2022, we hereby apologise to all of you comrades most sincerely and with profound regret for our wrong use of and ill-advised association with the hashtag ‘Zanu PF Must Go’ (#Zanu PFMustGo),” reads the letter.
Prof Moyo and Mr Zhuwao said whatever differences that ensued in the past since 2017 did not and do not justify their use of and association with the hashtag ‘Zanu PF Must Go’ (#Zanu PFMustGo).
The two former ministers conceded that no other political party, apart from Zanu PF, “recognises, values and appreciates the liberation struggle that gave way to the country’s independence, and that it is also guided and informed by the genuine patriotic and nationalistic values and principles that shepherded Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle”.
In their letter, the two, who had a cosy relationship with Mr Chamisa, said the opposition “has no ideological content beyond the hashtag”.
“In our view, the quest to keep or seek power for its own sake is inimical to both the public and national interests.
“In the circumstances, our association with the ‘#ZanuPFMustGo’ hashtag was ill-advised and wrong for the reasons that we have documented herein; and that is why we dropped the use of and association with that hashtag more than a year ago, hence the apology we are happy to tender to you all Zanu PF members.”
The apology from Prof Moyo in particular, who once supported Mr Chamisa, leaves the opposition exposed and its support base dwindling by the day as Zimbabweans start to troop towards Zanu PF because of lack of direction in the opposition quarters, analysts said. – The Herald
