You can tell that Mugabe is badly panicked when he starts eviscerating the party he leads, just in order to stay at its helm.
The last time that he was this badly panicked was when he had to face Edgar Tekere's ZUM in 1990. That is the only time I ever saw him shed his British gentleman demeanour and campaign in a t-shirt from the back of a pick-up truck.
Mugabe seems to have turned against some of his staunchest backers. People who have stood by him through thick and thin for decades like Didymus Mutasa and Joice Mujuru herself, are now under threat of being expelled from the party they helped build.
That he is having to depend on mafikizolos some with breast milk still smelling on their noses like Kasukuwere and Jonso Moyo, shows that he has probably lost the core of liberation cadre.
My own personal opinion is that without the liberation cadres there is no Zanu-PF to talk about. They are the people who faced mortal danger to put ZanuPF where it is. It would be extremely unwise to nepotistically substitute them with family and friends.
I am not sure what Mugabe hopes to achieve by eviscerating Zanu-PF at this late stage in his life. It cannot be longevity for Zanu-PF because without the steadying hand of the liberation cadre that elevated Mugabe himself, it is difficult to see Zanu-PF lasting long.
There is no other liberation party, that has vultures circling around the way Zanu-PF has. It is a party that broke a racist stranglehold on a country through armed force and to this day those it deposed remain bitterly opposed to the party. Many of them have got influence in the corridors of powerful Western governments. One wrong step and the vulture will swoop in lightning fast.
I am left wondering whether ZANU should be renamed GANU (Gushungo African National Union). Last time I checked Zanu-PF was a properly constituted political party with a constitution and proper procedures for things such as disciplinary action. It was definitely not a Vharazipi Village kind of entity.
However the way Rugare Gumbo an others have been ejected has left me wondering whether comedy has finally found its way into mainstream politics. Otherwise how does one explain the sabhuku-type decrees that are taking place?
What has been termed a Mujuru vs Mnangagwa factional struggle is morphing into a Gushungo clan vs the rest factional struggle. If those who are in the so called Mnangagwa faction think that Mugabe is helping them by attacking Joice Mujuru they are wrong.
Mugabe attacks the biggest threat. The Mnangagwa faction were that threat in 2005 when they were downed in spectacular fashion. Now it is the other faction's turn. However the Mnangwagwa faction will be the targets again once Mujuru is done with.
I do not know if people have noticed that the attacks are cunningly timed to give opponents little time to regroup. Mugabe has been quiet and seeming uninterested all along. Just a few weeks back he defended Didymus Mutasa and seemed to blame Oppah Muchinguri for starting the strife.
Only for him to barge out of the pen now, horns flailing tossing perceived opponents left, right and centre. It would be a miracle if the cunning mudhara's opponents can regroup in the two weeks left, enough for them to challenge him at the congress.
I would be surprised if Mugabe can succeed in converting Zanu-PF to a personal dynastic vehicle. The Zanu-PF that I know was watered by the blood of liberation war fighters. Unlike the MDC it can never be claimed as a personal brand by one individual. Especially an individual who was in jail when the foundations of the party were laid. Laid on a bedrock of people who remained dedicated when faced hunger, hardship, suffering, sleeping in the bush and facing cruel attacks by a well armed enemy.
None is a better symbol of that suffering and dedication than Comrade Teurai Ropa. A brave woman who soldiered through the hardship of war to be where she is. She is not a woman who eloped into a bedroom that had been warmed and feathered by someone else.
It remains clear that Mugabe may have overstayed his welcome in Zanu-PF. While he may have succeeded in keeping discussion on the issue of succession tightly bottled up, it cannot be for much longer. I am willing to bet that if just one person is brave enough to nominate a challenger to Mugabe at the Zanu-PF congress, that challenger will have a good chance of winning unless intimidation and threats are used against voters.
