Political talks between President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party and several others have gripped Zimbabweans as the leaking of such dialogue has been the norm over the years in the country.
Talks between the Rhodesian colonial rulers and then liberation fighters in the late 1970s were leaked to the public by some people who were taking part in the political process to grant Zimbabwe independence from British rule.
This also happened when Zanu PF and PF Zapu were engaged in unity talks. The same happened to the Zanu PF/Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) talks that led to the formation of a unity government in 2009. Now, the leaking continues as Zanu PF is said to be engaging the MDC formations in a new round of talks designed to normalize the social, economic and political situation in the country.
What leads to the leaking of such talks and who normally does it? Studio 7 posed these questions to Zanu PF Central Committee member, David Ndlovu, and independent political analyst Mlamuli Nkomo.
Ndlovu said at times it’s strategic to leak secret talks to the public. “The reason why things are leaked is that people will be anxious to know what is going on and where information is not being given, people tend to start rumours.”
Nkomo echoed the same sentiments but noted that some people in Zanu PF aligned to some factions of the party opposed to such talks “may be leaking information on these talks.”
He further said expectations are that such talks won’t save Zimbabwe from the current problems bedelving the nation.
The last unity talks resulted in the formation of a unity government, which was ended through national polls that were won resounding by the ruling Zanu PF party.
The MDC formations say the elections were allegedly rigged on behalf of Zanu PF by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, which has dismissed these claims as baseless.
