By Kundai Marunya
A HIGH-POWERED delegation of senior members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and their counterparts from ZANU PF visited the recently completed Chitepo School of Ideology in Harare.
The delegation included CPC Central Committee member Cde Tang Dengjie and a secretary for the CPC’s Shanxi provincial committee, Chitepo School of Ideology principal Munyaradzi Machacha, who doubles as ZANU PF national commissar; director-general responsible for administration at the school Rtd General Ezekiel Zabanyana and Rtd Colonel Magumise, among others.
The state-of-the-art building, constructed with funds sourced from China, stands as proof of bilateral relations between China and Zimbabwe which are deeply rooted in mutual respect and shared belief in empowering the masses.
The Chitepo School of Ideology is an important part of the country’s bid to ward off Western imperialism.
It takes on students from different walks of life, including high-level government officials, who are taught to stay true to the ruling party’s revolutionary values.
A number of ZANU PF cadres who have, in the past, strayed from the founding principles of the revolution have been sent to the school for re-orientation.
Established over five years ago, the school has been operating without a formal institution, thus limiting its reach.
“The Chitepo School of Ideology has been working as a school without walls for the past five and half years, notwithstanding the very limited resources at our disposal.
“The school has grown to become a very important cog in the party in the work of our commissariat department,” said Cde Machacha.
“Our Party building work can be split into three main activities which are political mobilisation, which involves political persuasion to attract membership into our Party.
“The second leg of our work is political organisation which involves registering members who would be successfully persuaded to join the party, organising registered members into structures of the Party starting with grassroots cells to district, provinces and the Central Committee.
“The third and most important is the political education which involves teaching members to understand the constitution of the party, its ideology, discipline and policies.
“Prior to the establishment of the Chitepo School of Ideology, basic political education was undertaken by the commissariat of the party. However, since the formation of the school, political education is now the responsibility of the school.”
The Chitepo School of Ideology now stands as a formal structure for political education. It is an institute that is standardised and targeted in accordance with the needs of students.
It will produce well-rounded politicians and citizens who are ideologically sound to defend the country’s patriotic values.
“Every member in a senior leadership position will be required to undergo training at the institute,” said Cde Machacha.
The same training should be extended to various individuals, some of whom have become proxies of Western imperialism due to lack of knowledge.
It is close to impossible to have ideologically sound citizens in the absence of proper education; that is expected to be rectified at the school.
It is, however, at the core of the country’s education system, including the current heritage-based school curriculum widely referred to as Education 5.0.
As part of the tour, Rtd General Zabanyana made a presentation on the Xi Jinping Thought, lessons for Zimbabwe and ZANU PF.
During his presentation Rtd General Zabanyana said Zimbabwe had a lot to learn from how China had successfully risen to dominate the world economy despite Western aggression and sabotage.
“The party (ZANU PF) and Zimbabwe are beneficiaries of the success story of China,” he said.
“President Xi Jinping has been instrumental in dismantling a unipolar system pivoted on unilateralism which had sought to dominate world politics which is different to multilateralism bringing to the fore his political aptitude which has led China to be a globally dominant economic force.”
Rtd General Zabanyana praised China for always standing by Zimbabwe through a difficult economic situation driven by Western-imposed sanctions aimed at inciting regime change.
China has immensely contributed to the continued growth of Zimbabwe’s GDP through strategic partnerships that have seen the development of industry as well as increased output in the mining sector.
The mutually beneficial relationship between Zimbabwe and China has seen the latter opening lines of credit while also contributing to infrastructure development, including the recent upgrade of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and the construction of the new Parliament Building in Mount Hampden.
There have been various Chinese companies operating in different sectors including processing of battery grade lithium, steel manufacturing and construction work.
“This is an outcome of our two countries’ fraternal relationship which has continued to deepen, dating back to Zimbabwe’s war of liberation,” noted Rtd General Zabanyana.
“Looking at the global perspective, Xi Jinping Thought has become a defining political ideology in contemporary history. One is tempted to suggest that it combines the rich action progressive values (sic).”
China’s consistency in teaching its citizens the values of socialism has seen the country rise to become one of the biggest world economies while its citizens benefit from a strong base, successfully overcoming poverty.
These are the same values reiterated by the Chitepo School of Ideology.
“For many years, our Party has been holding training programmes similar to those of the CPC,” said Cde Machacha.
“In the process we have developed a deep understanding of the CPC party school system and its critical role in building the CPC and the development of China.
“From these exchanges, we have been able to identify methods that we have adapted for our own unique conditions in Zimbabwe as we undertake our own work of building then Party.
“It is, therefore, befitting that a delegation from the CPC be the first holder of official business meeting at this school.”
