Mujuru and Mutasa’s popularity not yet tested- analyst

Although expelled Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front politicians such as former Vice-President Joice Mujuru and Secretary for Administration Didymus Mutasa command some respect, their popularity should not be based on “hallucinatory projections” but requires scientific verification, political analyst, Pedzisai Ruhanya told the Daily News.

Ruhanya, Director of the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute, said it would be misleading to project their influence in the absence of evidence.

“We should also not forget that their influence and significance while they were in ZANU-PF, apart from their credentials as liberation nationalists, was mostly because of their romance with state institutions and their access to state resources through the patronage system and neo-patrimonial activities of ZANU-PF administered by the centre of power, President Robert Mugabe.

“In the absence of access to the state and the clientele activities of ZANU-PF, it would be misleading to overrate the influence and power of these expelled ZANU-PF politicians. Simply put, the support must be subjected to empirical testing beyond their politically seductive statements of invincibility.”

On claims by Mutasa and former Publicity Secretary Rugare Gumbo that they belong to the original ZANU-PF, Ruhanya queried what the “original” referred to, whether this was a reference to values, customs and ideologies or whether they were founders of the party.

“At the level of ideology, there is nothing that they are articulating that reflects the socialist authoritarian values of ZANU-PF and its liberation ideas.

“Figuratively, former Vice President Mujuru was eight years old when ZAU-PF was formed in 1963. Therefore she is not original and the original ZANU-PF is led by Mugabe who was there in 1963. More so, the original Vice President of ZANU-PF is no more, the late Leopold Takawira who passed on in 1970. So what are these people talking about?

“My point is that they have been defeated in the hegemonic power struggles in ZANU-PF and were thus later expelled. That is the political reality they should accept. With regards to suggestions that they will split from ZANU-PF, how do expelled members split from a party that they are no longer members?

“They should get on with their political lives and convince Zimbabweans that they are no longer part of a competitive electoral authoritarian regime headed by Mugabe and that they want to bring a new democratic political culture different from their old friends.”

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