As members of the Central Committee, we must realise that our temperament and judgment become the temperament and judgment of our Party, and in-turn set the pace and tone of our Party. Our thinking becomes the thinking of the Party; our actions, too, become the actions of the Party. Conversely, our missteps become the missteps of our Party; our acts – whether of commission or of omission – become the acts of our Party. Being the party of national liberation, national unity, peace and development, our deeds or misdeeds reverberate throughout our nation because we are the leaders. This is the heavy responsibility we in here all carry.
I make the above observation in view of recent developments in our party, and which also became developments which affected our nation in a major way. This is with reference to attempts by a cabal of counter revolutionaries, infiltrators and foreign agents who went under the moniker of G-40, to destabilise our party and hijack our revolution. As a result of their activities, the negative development in our party echoed throughout our nation, confirming that the stability of the country is inextricably tied to the stability of Zanu-PF. Thus, we must draw lessons from all this, including hard and uncomfortable ones which have come to pass.
It was indeed disheartening as party structures seemed helpless as the cabal pursued its sinister programmes using platforms, structures and the personnel of our party.
The Interface rallies. The majority of us thought the interface rallies were for mobilising Zanu-PF, no, no, it was an agenda.
They undermined party rules and procedures while pretending to be upholding and defending them. They undermined the leadership of the party while pretending to love and defend it. Their programme, therefore, was one of subverting the party from within.
A key lesson to draw from all this is how important it is to remain vigilant in the party. This means insisting on and ensuring the supremacy of the party by foregrounding its values and its ethos; by upholding its rules and its procedures, indeed by respecting its structures and procedures, indeed by respecting its structures and processes. All these must reign supreme at all times, taking precedence over individual status, wishes or predilections. Never again, should the Central Committee watch while indiscipline, personalisation and abuse of the party and its structures take root.
From the past events within our party, it must henceforth be ingrained in all of us that the party constitution is supreme and must be followed without deviation, to the spirit and letter; and that no one individual or groups of individuals are superior to it. The constitution is the soul of our party, a straitjacket that prunes our behaviour and conduct as members; it moulds us so that we do not break, for it gives us shape and form. The duty of every genuine cadre of the party is to ensure that this holds true at every level of the party, at all times and in all situations and circumstances.
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