THE biggest lie being peddled by the opposition and the ‘independent’ press, in this their season of desperation, is that the Bikita West by-election will be what they say it is — a dress rehearsal for the 2018 harmonised polls by ZANU PF.
This is because they have suddenly realised, albeit too late, that yet another electoral defeat looms large for their preferred candidate and their preferred political party in Bikita.
After congregating around the ‘proposed’ coalition between Morgan Tsvangirai’s ailing MDC-T and Joice Mujuru’s out of sorts ZimPF and which coalition remains a ‘mooted’ one, they are now desperately vilifying ZANU PF by accusing it of violence and rigging.
This prognosis of the Bikita election, and to a larger extent the 2018 polls, is writ large before the election.
The biggest tragedy is that emotions are taking precedence over reason.
What Tsvangirai and Mujuru are trying to come up with is an outfit that has nothing to do with the people of Zimbabwe, but an angry entity seeking to settle scores with their perceived enemy – President Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF.
And this is where ZANU PF must introspect and map the way forward.
Coming up with the coalition has been a frustrating prospect for those agitating for ZANU PF’s ouster from power, the same way the maverick Donald John Trump, who will be sworn in as the 45th US President today (Friday), left his opponents utterly astounded.
Such is the nature of ZANU PF that it always rises to the occasion when threatened from outside as witnessed in the July 31 2013 demolition of the MDC-T.
It turns out the opposition never learnt anything from that ego-bruising July 31 2013 encounter.
Because the inescapable reality remains that far from the disintegrating party that ZANU PF is supposed to be in their eyes, the ruling party remains as formidable as ever.
The Bikita West by-election outcome will prove just that.
Yet the 2018 elections will, as was the 2013 polls, be about consolidating the connection with the people, presenting acceptable policies and programmes to the electorate.
This is what ZANU PF has already set in motion through its many people-oriented policies.
The heavens have opened up at an opportune time, with the all-encompassing Command Agriculture Programme set to demystify the MDC-T’s warped belief that ZANU PF ‘loves’ droughts.
Other sectors of the economy, itself a principal entry point of the opposition which constantly accuses ZANU PF of ‘economic mismanagement’ will continue to grow, much to the chagrin of opposition.
Goodbye Obama, welcome Trump
The outgoing US President, Barack Obama, will go down in history as a mere passenger in America’s vast political terrain.
It was Obama who unsuccessfully sought to push ZANU PF from power through his unholy alliance with the opposition during his disastrous tenure.
During each of his treacherous two fourt-year terms, Obama renewed sanctions against Zimbabwe with the latest being last week, when he gave Harare a now all too familiar slap on the cheek.
But Zimbabwe is resilient. It has refused to bow down to America’s renowned bully tactics. It has defiantly refused to be cowed into submission, all to create an opening for Tsvangirai to the State House.
It has bluntly refused to surrender its land and its Command Agriculture initiative to the West.
In spite of the sanctions, we still stand tall.
In spite of pressure from the US and the rest of the Western world, we march forward, armed with the knowledge of ability and our greatest asset — resilience.
This is what Trump will be confronted with when he takes office today — a defiant and resilient Zimbabwe with people born to work for their country, a people born to serve their nation.
There is nothing much to look forward to from Trump.
His US is too preoccupied with the mess that Obama and Trump himself have created for the country.
Yet this will not deter him from taking a constant poke at Zimbabwe.
The US just cannot get its long nose out of our affairs and our beloved Zimbabwe.
When the future is forever sweet
Combining the mooted coalition and the Trump factor would ordinarily present a scary picture, but not so for ZANU PF and Zimbabwe.
The battles that have been fought in this country are about consolidating political power which has to be shored by control of the economy and the resources.
Our politics today are built around land and the economy.
There is no escaping from that, but the biggest challenge is what we do with that land and economy.
The future of this nation lies in maximum utilisation of these two and this is what should occupy our minds and hearts, not the petty politics we see today.
Our people need development.
They need production and all that can only be achieved if we put our minds together to work for the country.
That is the mandate that was given to ZANU PF — to work for our beloved country!
Let those with ears listen.