The Zimbabwe Communist Party (ZCP) has criticised opposition politicians for behaving like Zanu PF, shutting out those with differing views instead of embracing open dialogue and respecting opposing opinions.
ZCP General Secretary Nicholas Ngqabutho Mabhena referred to this intolerant behaviour as “zanuism,” which entails refusing to engage with those who disagree with them.
“The struggle in Zimbabwe is not defeating Zanu PF but defeating Zanuism, whose ideology is that the views of others must not be heard. We should not behave like zanuists and close out those that we don’t agree with,” he said, citing a recent conversation with the acting leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), Professor Welshman Ncube, where some opposition politicians wanted him to stop speaking.
“In the battle of ideas, all ideas must be contested. We need to articulate our position and at the same time hear what others are saying.”
Mabhena said historically, Zanu PF has made it impossible for the opposition to express its views by blocking access to public media so that its views cannot be heard.
“Zanu PF does not want the opposition to be granted space on national radio, television, or in print because it is afraid that the people will judge the opposition based on what they present. This shutting out is now seen in the behaviour of some in the opposition,” said the ZCP leader.
“We have seen how the opposition wants to deny others the opportunity to articulate their positions. Whether we agree or not, one has a right to express their views.”
The ZCP leader said it was unfortunate that the opposition failed to engage with others.
“We are in a country where Zanu PF uses state institutions to suppress those they don’t agree with. They bombed the Daily News in 2001 to frustrate the opposition from expressing their views using state media. It is equally wrong for anyone in the opposition to say people can’t listen to someone speaking. By doing so, we are becoming zanuists,” said the general secretary.
Mabhena stated that the ZCP’s call to the mass movement, which included the CCC and the so-called Blue Movement, was to create an alternative to Zanuism that the working class and peasants would support.
“A mass movement must be able to defeat zanuism as a political ideology. This means we must respect those we disagree with. It’s important to engage. We have seen how Zanu PF engages in violence by using state institutions to shut down those they don’t agree with,” said the ZCP leader.
“Zanu PF can’t engage in a battle of ideas. That’s why they use the security forces simply because you hold a different view. Down with Zanuism!”
During a recent conversation on X spaces, Prof. Ncube was asked why some of his colleagues in the opposition CCC labelled him a “sellout” or a “state agent.”
In his response, the acting CCC leader said labelling others was “who we have become as a nation.”
“If I disagree with you, I label you something hurtful, false, deliberately calculated to hurt you in order to avoid the issue on the table. There’s pretty little that some of us can do about it,” Prof. Ncube said.
“The moment I disagree with you or I don’t support your position for the leader you prefer, I’m a sellout. This applies across the board. It doesn’t matter who; it’s what we give each other.”
According to Prof. Ncube, labelling others as sellouts started during the liberation struggle and has continued throughout Zimbabwe’s trajectory.
“If you wanted to kill someone or execute them in the liberation struggle, to have the right to hold them in a dungeon, to terminate their life, that is what you had to do—label them as sellouts,” said the politician.
The acting CCC leader said if Zimbabweans continued on such a trajectory, when the opposition was in power, it would do “exactly what Zanu PF was doing.”
“We will label those who have a right to oppose us as sellouts, agents of imperialism, or set our dogs on them, beat them up, or throw them in jail,” he said, lamenting that while the opposition opposed its opponents, it “actually admired Zanu PF’s methods and adopted them.”
“We as a people need to address this because it undermines us and our commitment to democracy. If I’m having a debate, the moment you call me a sellout or insult my mother, you give up on the engagement and the end result is the issue on the table won’t be debated.”
