Greetings from the Munda wa Chitedze Farm where I relocated from the hustle and bustle of your city. Peace and only peace reigns supreme here.
You see, we are in the season of: It has pleased His Excellency to appoint so-and-so to this or that position. So many people are positioning and repositioning themselves for political appointments. Pay back time for some, and others it is time to gnash their teeth.
As we speak, the Zanu-PF annual national people’s conference is underway in Manicaland in Zimbabwe. As it is, the political air has been thick with anticipation, as Emmerson Mnangagwa seeks to move for an extension of his mandate beyond the stipulated two terms.
The thickness is there in anticipation, introspection, and strategic recalibration. This year’s gathering, which started on October 13 and ends on Saturday is not just a domestic political ritual—. For us at the Munda wa Chitedze Farm, t’s a mirror reflecting the party’s ideological kinship with the Chinese Communist Party (CPC), whose own conferences are global spectacles of centralized planning and ideological reaffirmation.
At first glance, the Zanu PF and CPC conferences may appear worlds apart. One is held in Zimbabwe, where hordes of Malawians have found a home, a nation grappling with economic recovery and political reform. On the other hand, China is a global superpower with a tightly controlled political apparatus and a booming economy. Yet beneath the surface, both events serve as ideological reaffirmations, strategic planning sessions, and loyalty tests for their respective party structures.
Dear Diary, the Zanu PF’s People’s Conference is a cornerstone of the party’s internal governance. It’s where resolutions are passed, policy directions, like the one that may accord Mnanagwa an extended tenure, are scrutinised.
Over 4 000 delegates are expected to attend, signaling the event’s significance in shaping Zimbabwe’s political and economic trajectory. The conference is also a moment for the party to reflect on its delivery of the 2023 electoral mandate and to chart a course for the coming year.
We at the farm draw comparisons and contrasts between China and Zimbabwe because the terminology from the two conferences certainly forces us to do so. Talk about the People’s Conference, the politburo and all the rub makes you explore the thin line between socialism and communism.
Both conferences share a common thread: they are tools for consolidating power. In Zimbabwe, the succession debate remains the elephant in the room, often sidestepped but never absent. In China, succession is meticulously planned, with rising stars groomed years in advance. The contrast is stark, but the intent is similar—ensure continuity, stability, and loyalty to the party’s core.
This is a missing link in Malawi politics.
The relationship between the Zanu PF politburo and the CPC politburo is more than symbolic. It’s a strategic alliance rooted in shared revolutionary histories, anti-imperialist rhetoric, and mutual economic interests. Recent meetings between Zanu PF officials and a visiting CPC delegation underscore this bond.
We at the farm are aware that CPC deputy director of the CPC centre for international exchange Yao Jianguo recently emphasized the importance of people-centered policies and pledged continued support for Zimbabwe’s development.
Dear Diary, such a partnership is not merely diplomatic—it’s deeply ideological. Both politburos operate as the nerve centres of their respective parties, guiding policy, managing internal discipline, and ensuring ideological alignment.
One can choose to explore how the CPC’s influence on Zanu PF can be seen in the latter’s emphasis on centralized planning, party loyalty, and economic nationalism.
Dear Diary, you may wonder why the departure from the norm here at the Munda wa Chitedze Farm from discussing the recent ambush on the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation where director general George Kasakula was forced to make a live apology to President Peter Mutharika for his expressions during the campaign period.
If you ask us at the farm, we will tell you that we never agreed with what Kasakula was doing, but then invading a state broadcaster is nothing to smile about. That is a coup! What can prevent the thugs from forcibly going back to the station to place their warped idea of how the state of affairs of this nation should be?
We at the Farm are still wondering how far the Kamuzu Palace was desecrated and who did it. The matter has not been dealt with transparently enough so we are only forced that there has to be a constitutional committee in the seven-day no-man’s-land between declaration of presidential results and the swearing in.
You see, Dear Diary, we are still waiting for the full Cabinet to be announced and look forward to see who takes up the mantle of the Speaaker of National Assembly, as independent MPs wait to hear if it has pleased HE to appoint them into this or that Cabinet position.
