JOSTLING for top positions in the ruling Zanu PF party has gone into full swing ahead of the district co-ordinating committee (DCC) elections on December 5 and 6, with some bigwigs fearing being kicked out for flouting rules.
NewsDay understands that civil servants, including teachers
and headmasters, have thrown their hats into the ring, while some bigwigs have
scaled up name dropping President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vice-President
Constantino Chiwenga to gain traction.
Zanu PF last week announced that the highly-contested
internal polls will be held across the country’s eight rural provinces next
week.
But concerned members fear that the DCC elections could
further divide the party and chaotic scenes that have characterised the
campaign period could be prolonged unless leaders intervene.
Divisions in the party were apparent when, at a charged
meeting in Mashonaland East, Senate president Mabel Chinomona claimed that
members of the vanquished G40 group were still sitting on the “top table” with
Mnangagwa and Chiwenga, while fomenting chaos ahead of the polls.
Zanu PF acting spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa yesterday
said all the issues pertaining to the DCC and PCC elections would be addressed
this week.
“We are not going to talk about that now,” Chinamasa told
NewsDay. “Keep your questions because they will be attended to on Wednesday at
our weekly Press conference. Be there with your questions and I will address
them,” Chinamasa said.
But NewsDay understands that divisions have reached boiling
point, forcing the top leadership to read the riot act to those at the centre
of factionalism. Those flouting the party’s regulations face the chop, insiders
said.
“The leadership is not happy with how things are going
especially candidates that are using the names of President Mnangagwa and VP
Chiwenga to fan factionalism. There are fears that the party will emerge from
the elections divided instead of fostering unity. Those who are found offside
or flouting party rules risk being disqualified or fired from the party,” a
source revealed.
He said the party was also unhappy with civil servants who
wanted to contest for positions before resigning from their jobs. Zanu PF is
said to be afraid that this might tarnish its image because civil servants are
supposed to be apolitical.
“A decision is going to be taken on those civil servants
who have flouted the rules by vying for party positions. The party is running
away from the narrative that government officials are captured by the party,”
he said.
In Masvingo, a headmaster and a teacher based in Mwenezi
district are campaigning in DCC elections.
Master Makope, a headmaster at Dhiziri Secondary School and
Marvelous Chifumuro, a teacher at Sangwari Secondary School were said to be
gunning for the positions of political commissar and secretary for finance,
respectively.
Yesterday, Makope confirmed that he had decided to take on
bigwigs in the polls. He said there was nothing wrong with him vying for
political office. “Yes, it is true I am campaigning. Maybe we are basing this
issue on a different law. The law says I should resign if I win, but if I don’t
win I will retain my post. You want me to resign, what if I lose?” Makope
charged.
Chifumuro could not be reached for a comment. Mwenezi
district schools inspector Philip Gumbo refused to comment on the issue.
“I am not in a position to comment on that issue, talk to
my seniors,” he said. Masvingo provincial education director Zedius Chitiga
also turned down a request for comment.
“Refer to the Constitution and you will see what it says,”
Chitiga said. Zanu PF secretary for legal affairs Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana has
said no government employee should contest for political office or assume any
position in a political party before resigning from the civil service.
Section 200 of the Constitution stipulates that no
government employee is allowed to further the interests of any political party
or cause or act in a partisan manner. Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare
minister Paul Mavima could not be reached for comment.
Zanu PF had banned DCCs in 2012 after the late former
President Robert Mugabe said they were causing divisions within the party.
In the highly-charged Makoni district in Manicaland, war
veterans are also reportedly fighting over the district’s chairmanship.
The district is considered one of the ruling party’s
political hotbeds and is home to former Zanu PF secretary for administration
Didymus Mutasa, who was the province’s godfather before he was expelled from
the party in 2014.
Three candidates are fighting for the Makoni chairmanship. These
include Makoni South MP Misheck Mataranyika, who is said to be the favourite to
win the race. Other candidates are former provincial vice-chairman Joseph
Mujati and Albert Nyakuedzwa.
Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association
(ZNLWVA) Manicaland provincial deputy chairperson Musindo Sendekera said they
are not in support of Nyakuedzwa because of his “dark past”.
Nyakuedzwa was jailed for killing war veteran Tina Wilson
Mukono in 2005 over disagreements in Makoni district.
He was jailed for three years and was released through
presidential pardon at the behest of his political godfather Mutasa.
“There is a group of war veteran moving with Nyakuedzwa
giving a false impression that war veterans have agreed and endorsed his
candidature in Makoni. I want to make it clear that no such endorsement was
made because how can we endorse him when we are very much aware that he killed
one of our war veterans in 2005,” Sendekera said.
“They will come and tell you that war veterans have agreed
and endorsed Nyakuedzwa’s candidature, but that is a lie. No sane war veteran
will endorse the candidature of a man who killed and served time in jail for
the murder of a fellow war veteran,” he said.
The war veteran’s vice-secretary for health Joseph
Nyamapfeni also added: “At which meeting did we endorse him? Nyakuedzwa has
been bribing some war veterans and people should not be deceived.”
Nyakuedzwa, however, dismissed the allegations, claiming
that he was associating with everyone in the district.
“I have support from everyone. I am just one of the people
who submitted their curriculum vitaes ahead of the DCC elections. We need these
elections to be peaceful and we don’t want provincial members to jump the gun,
and we want people to respect the constitution of the party,” Nyakuedzwa said. Newsday
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