So intense is the jostling for places in the DCCs, that the
ruling party has received a staggering
5 000 curriculum vitaes (CVs) — including from the high and mighty who
are keen to participate in the polls.
This comes as preparations for the DCCs, which were banned
during the last few years in power of the late former president Robert Mugabe,
have been sullied by damaging allegations of bribery and ugly factional fights.
It also comes as political analysts have warned that the
DCC elections could destabilise Zanu PF if they are not well handled.
Zanu PF insiders who spoke to the Daily News yesterday said
most ministers and legislators without strong political bases wanted to land
posts in the DCCs to improve their standings ahead of the 2023 national
elections.
In addition, the sources said, having seats in the DCCs
increased the Cabinet ministers and MPs’ chances of being elevated to the
party’s other influential organs such as the central committee and politburo.
“It’s dog-eat-dog at the moment in the party. Although some
MPs were appointed ministers, politically they are weak. They thus want to have
positions in the DCCs as power bases.
“Some legislators also simply want to protect their
territories and to also use these positions to deal with their rivals ahead of
the 2023 primary elections.
“The party is currently vetting nearly 5 000 CVs from all
provinces and the competition is very tough,” one of the insiders told the
Daily News.
Zanu PF political commissar Victor Matemadanda confirmed to
the Daily News that many big names were vying for positions in the DCCs.
“We have many CVs coming in. In Zanu PF, we have many
people with big names who have also submitted their CVs,” he said.
On his part, Zanu PF chief whip Pupurai Togarepi also
confirmed that many bigwigs were vying to be elected into the DCCs.
“MPs are members of the party and if they meet the set
criteria there is nothing wrong in them seeking political office.
“Zanu PF affords equal opportunities for its members
provided they meet the requirements of the set guidelines.
“I urge those members seeking election to remain honourable
in whatever they do during the process,” Togarepi told the Daily News.
Insiders said in Mashonaland Central, Energy minister Zhemu
Soda, businessman Tafadzwa Musarara and Mazowe North MP Campion Mugweni were
among those that had thrown their hats in the ring for DCC positions.
In Masvingo, deputy Finance minister Clemence Chiduwa and
former Zanu PF Masvingo youth chairperson Brian Munyoro were said to be some of
the big names contesting in the polls.
“We have some big names who want to contest for DCC
elections in our province, but for now I cannot comment more because the
process of vetting is still under way.
“For Chiduwa, the people of Zaka demanded that he lead
their district,” Zanu PF Masvingo political commissar Jevas Masosota confirmed
to the Daily News.
In the Midlands, former Zifa vice president and MP for
Vungu, Omega Sibanda, and ex-MP for Chiwundura Constituency, Brown Ndlovu, were
among some of the big names touted for the Gweru district chairmanship.
Youthful Gokwe-Nembudziya MP, Justice Mayor Wadyajena, will
become Gokwe North chairperson after emerging unchallenged.
In Kwekwe district, former Mbizo parliamentarian Vongai
Mupereri will battle for the top position there with Moses Thandika and former
DCC chairperson George Valentine Makombe.
In Mashonaland East, Maramba legislator Tichaona
Karimazondo is also vying for a top DCC post, while in Mashonaland West former
Cabinet minister Webster Shamu’s wife, Constance, and former journalist
Kindness Paradza, are also said to be vying for posts in the DCCs.
This comes as fissures are widening in the ruling party,
amid damaging allegations of “dirty money” exchanging hands to influence the
outcome of the internal elections.
The names of people identified with the party’s vanquished
Generation 40 (G40) faction have featured heavily in the fissures, which Zanu
PF bigwigs say are attempts by the group to regain control of the party.
So deep are the suspicions in this regard, that the former
liberation movement has now roped in its security department to investigate
these allegations and to deal with the growing ructions in general, which have
sullied the party’s preparations for the pending DCC elections.
Meanwhile, respected political analyst Eldred Masunungure
told the Daily News yesterday that the DCC polls would likely prove to be “very
divisive”.
“It looks like the DCC structure is a critical cog of the
party, because if one controls the DCCs he or she will be able to advance
factional interests.
“Some bigwigs want to consolidate their positions. They
want to protect their political bases. The DCC competition will destabilise the
party if it is not handled well.
“The fact that they were banned before means that they are
important. But they are also vulnerable to factionalists at the higher levels of
power,” Masunungure said.
The DCC structures elect Zanu PF’s 10 provincial executives
— from where the party and President Emmerson Mnangagwa draw members of the
central committee and the politburo.
The DCCs were disbanded in 2012 after they were deemed to
be fanning factionalism during Mnangagwa and former vice president Joice
Mujuru’s battles to succeed Mugabe.
Then, Mnangagwa’s group had gained control of most regions,
including Mujuru’s Mashonaland Central province — putting him in a strong
position ahead of the party’s 2014 congress.
The widening fissures in Zanu PF appear to have taken the
same route of the last few years in power of Mugabe.
Then, Mnangagwa was involved in a hammer and tongs war with
the G40 faction — which had coalesced around Mugabe’s erratic wife Grace.
The vicious brawling took a nasty turn when Mnangagwa was
allegedly poisoned by his rivals during one of Mugabe’s highly-divisive youth
interface rallies in Gwanda in 2017.
The then VP’s fate was eventually sealed on November 6,
2017 when Mugabe fired his long-time lieutenant a few days after his allies had
booed the irascible Grace during a tense rally at White City Stadium in
Bulawayo.
However, tables were dramatically turned on Mugabe when the
military rolled in their tanks on November 15 of that year and deposed the
long-ruling leader from power — which saw a number of alleged G40 kingpins
fleeing into self-imposed exile soon afterwards.
But despite Mnangagwa’s ascendancy to power, some ambitious
bigwigs in the former liberation movement continue to stand accused of plotting
to unseat the Zanu PF leader. Daily News
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