Monday 16 May 2016

Zanu PF Should Not keep Bad Company

By Nick Mangwana


They say, show me your friend sand I will tell you what you are. Those that read the Bible rush to to 2Corinthians 6:14. It asks, “What does righteousness and wickedness have in common?”. That is clearly a rhetorical question. One which does not need an answer., Why? Because there shouldn’t be any. You ask me where this is going? Is it not obvious? When we were young and ask silly and obvious questions, you would get spanking for seeking attention. So does the Frank one deserve some spanking today? Hell No.

Maybe further questions will help. Has Zanu PF been commandeered by a criminal gang? Of course not but it is in blending with some of them. Well today we are preaching. There was a city in Biblical times called Ramoth-Gilead. It initially established as a city of refuge for the tribe of Gad by Moses (Deuteronomy 4:43). Later this city was fortified and is found on the border of Israel and Syria. It was built on a very high places and not easy to reach if someone takes refuge in there.  So when this city was actually a city where people who committed murder would go and hide. It was that once you hide in this city then you were home and dry. Nothing would happen to you. It then became a culture that whoever was in this city was basically exempt from prosecution and retribution.

Now comrades, let us call a spade, a spade as we are accustomed to doing on this column. Has Zanu PF unwittingly into the modern day Ramoth-Gilead for thieves? Have we allowed ourselves to molested by criminal gangs masquerading as businessmen? Is it an exaggeration that all members of Zimbabwean Mafioso are now associated with our party because they perceive us as the fortress from which they will not face the marauding legal system? Now with their impunity they don’t even mind being exposed. Why? Because exposure is not taking their wealth away. How can we even think of taking their wealth when some of you leaders are being given crumbs and associating with them to provide a shield.

There are known criminals. Some convicted by the courts. Some convicted in the court of public opinion. Why are we sanitising these criminals by providing them with a shade to sojourn under? Zanu PF is not a church, I get that. So we are not expecting only sanctified people but hey, neither is it Sicily where the Italian Mob has its habitat. We refuse to let our party be abused by people without a shred of a revolutionary ideal in them except to steal.

Scandal after scandal is coming out. And everyone of those people has something to do with our party or has an associate in high places within our party. If we are going to be in bed with these gangsters influencing government policy both the country and the party are doomed. Some minister is reported to have just wrote some letter and an MP and his church friend were given a contract to run public relations for a big corporation with its own corporate communication department! This is not an allegation because the facts are not in dispute. These are uncontested facts. And you turn around and dispute that this is organised crime? Well if this is not I don’t know what is. What about that one accused of externalising $330 million? Yes, you read that one write. Maybe let me make it easy to understand how bad this is. Zimbabwe’s health budget is $301 million only. The whole health delivery system is less than the amount this individual is alleged to have externalised. The tragedy again is that he is associated with top people within our party. People are already taking bets that no matter what, this individual will not see day in prison. You know what, I am not risking my money on this bet. Why is this bet not a winner? Well because nobody has served a day for corruption except professor Nherera who was then miraculously absolved of any wrong doing. The only thing missing in our country right now is the shooting of knees and the declaring of no-go territories. Zimbabwe is a beautiful country and it is high time we show that crime doesn’t pay. Not to give criminals access to the VVIP areas of all our events and envelope them in our factions. Comrades, let me repeat speaking for the silent majority, we don’t want our party to associate with criminals. They are damaging our brand. We are also damaging public confidence in the institution of Police.


We now have stories of what is clearly racketeering at very high levels. Oh come on, we can’t let criminals operate with such impunity. We have to change this culture of not minding who we associate with. Like Booker T said, “ associate yourself with people of good quality.” It is better to be alone than to be in bad company”. Let us esteem our reputation as a party. If we are clean, why are we tolerating this dirty among us? The Bible which we have quoted in this sermon says, the deep calleth unto the deep. Those who love to dig will find their associates in the pits of hell. As for us the clean of Zanu PF we ask those among us who have concordance with thieves to do us a favour. We don’t want to be guilty by association.

Bad company corrupts good behaviour.

(First published in the People's Voice, 13-19 May 2016 Edition)

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