Axe looms large over Mujuru allies

05 Apr, 2015 - 00:04 0 Views
Axe looms  large over Mujuru allies Dr Joice Mujuru

The Sunday Mail

Former VP Joice Mujuru

Former VP Joice Mujuru

Zanu-PF is prepared to remove from its ranks any officials with links to expelled ex-Vice President Dr Joice Mujuru to ensure it forges ahead with singularity of mind and spirit.

Dr Mujuru was expelled from the party last Thursday for leading a cabal that attempted to unseat President Mugabe at both party and State level, and exploring the possibility of assassinating him if other strategies failed.

It was also established that she involved herself in corruption, factionalism and behaviour inconsistent with her post as Zanu-PF VP and Second Secretary, and abused party structures to create a divisive centre of power to rival President Mugabe.

In addition, she denigrated the leadership of President Mugabe via statements issued to and published in the private media.

Sources revealed that the Politburo, which met last Thursday, resolved to come down hard on party members who associate with Dr Mujuru.

The sources said it was clear Dr Mujuru had been pushing the agenda through her cabal, which comprises former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa, sacked party spokesman Rugare Gumbo, ex-war veterans leader Jabulani Sibanada, former Zanu-PF Mashonaland West chair Temba Mliswa, and deposed Zanu-PF Mashonaland East chair Ray Kaukonde, among others.

A source said: “The Politburo said it is ready to take hard decisions and to settle any remaining matters from Dr Mujuru’s sympathisers comprehensively. The party is prepared to expel even more MPs who are associated with her; we are even prepared to have more by-elections.”

Another source said associating with Dr Mujuru by Zanu-PF officials would not be looked upon kindly seeing as she had been expelled from the party after being found guilty of very serious charges.

“How can one claim loyalty to President Mugabe while associating with people who would want to unseat him?” he asked.

And Nathaniel Manheru, an influential columnist in our sister paper The Herald, on Saturday said, “Today she is out and no one in the party can hobnob with her without declaring counter-loyalties, without inviting disciplinary action.

“. . . there is a readiness to take hard decisions, to settle the whole matter comprehensively, even if it means another mini-general election . . .

“So let no sitting MP think that there is a fear to expel, a fear to go back to the people (in an election).”

Last week, Sibanda and Mliswa openly professed their allegiance to MDC-T with the latter revealing that the cabal wants to partner the opposition in a “grand coalition” that would back Morgan Tsvangirai in 2018.

Mliswa said some Zanu-PF officials were hybernating in the party when they actually supported Dr Mujuru, and disclosed plans to inundate the courts with spurious legal challenges to “test the Zanu-PF system”.

One such futile challenge was his and his uncle Didymus Mutasa’s contest against their expulsion from Parliament, which the Constitutional Court overruled last week.

Mliswa said: “If there is any political party which has independent candidates, it is Zanu-PF. It has accommodated them because of the factional fights.

‘‘I have a lot of support from a lot of people in Zanu-PF who are saying you must go for it.

“What is important is to understand why we wanted to approach the courts. It is because you must test the system. You must test the Chief Justice; you must test the Deputy Chief Justice; you must test the Supreme Court judges. Is the system working or not? It’s now up to the public to decide whether the system is working or not.”

Gumbo – the cabal’s de facto spokesman – sprang to Dr Mujuru’s defence yesterday, but declined to comment on the group’s links to MDC-T.

“The whole thing was uncalled for. There was no need to punish someone for something that could have happened 10 years ago,” he said, while trying to downplay Dr Mujuru’s lead role in the “Bhora Musango” campaign that saw Zanu-PF lose parliamentary seats and President Mugabe trail in the first round of the March 2008 harmonised elections.

Zanu-PF Harare Youth League chair Cde Godfrey Gomwe said Dr Mujuru’s expulsion was long overdue, and was a warning to all party members that no one was “untouchable”.

He added that the police should move swiftly to investigate criminal allegations against Dr Mujuru.

“As the youth, we salute the Politburo’s stern decision of expelling rowdy elements and uprooting divisive elements like Mujuru.

‘‘The decision is very welcome as it was long overdue.

‘‘This is a clear message that in Zanu-PF, no one is an ‘overweight’, untouchable or bigger than the institution Zanu-PF.

“The giant step taken by Zanu-PF to clip the wings of rogue, corrupt and counter-revolutionary elements shows the dedication, determination and discipline of the party in fighting corruption.”

He went on: “Mujuru quickly forgot how His Excellency, President Mugabe, made her someone out of nothing from 1980 when she was appointed the youngest minister, not that she had anything to offer in the realms of politics but because she had gained favour in the eyes of our God-given President.

“She is a direct beneficiary of the women’s empowerment programme engineered by President Mugabe and also the first female Vice President of the republic.

‘‘Having the privilege to benefit directly from the anointing of the globally-emulated iconic leader – Cde President Mugabe – it was unexpected and unacceptable in the party to let her get away with that.

‘‘She has let down Zimbabwe’s women.”

 

Also see “The Zhuwao Brief” OPINION AND ANALYSIS

 

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