Gumbo spoke sense

ZANU PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo spoke sense when he appealed to his party colleagues to stop their petty fights and exert their energies on fixing the broken economy instead.

ZANU PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo spoke sense when he appealed to his party colleagues to stop their petty fights and exert their energies on fixing the broken economy instead.RUGARE GUMBO

The economy has been on a free-fall in the past few months due to a combination of factors, but the ruling party seems too preoccupied with its succession battles to douse the flames.

Gumbo is among those viewed as fighting in Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s corner, hence he has been singled out for vilification.

The campaign to malign Zanu PF officials suspected to be opposed to First Lady Grace Mugabe’s ascendancy has come at a cost to government business.JOICE-MUJURU-2

Ministers are spending more of their time scheming against their opponents than they do on government work.

President Robert Mugabe is also looking like a bystander in the whole circus, only stepping in here and there to buttress the machinations of his faction.

There is hardly any reference to the government’s much-touted economic blueprint – the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation — because it is the least of the feuding party’s concerns right now.

Gumbo rightly accused his colleagues in Zanu PF of focussing on trivialities while the country burned. His words are worth repeating here.

“We are creating problems for the country and we are not focusing on economic challenges, everyone is confused about all that is happening,” he said.

“The economy is bleeding, let’s focus on attracting investors in the country. We want peace and stability not condemning the hierarchy of the party and everyone linked to the VP.”

From the look of things, Zanu PF will not have time to attend to the sick economy for at least three months.

November will be consumed by preparations for the December congress and soon afterwards Mugabe will go on his annual leave.

Zanu PF leaders need to set aside their personal ambitions and start working for the people who elected them.