ZANU PF national commissar Victor Matemadanda (pictured), who was allegedly poisoned during a party meeting a fortnight ago, yesterday claimed that there were people in the ruling Zanu PF party that wanted him dead.
Matemadanda told NewsDay in an interview that the people
celebrated his sudden illness with the hope that he was dying, but insisted
that this was “part of the game” which would not deter him from working “for
the good of the party”.
Reports of Matemadanda’s poisoning come as the ruling party
is in a tense moment as it is set to hold internal elections to choose district
co-ordinating committee (DCC) members as it moves to galvanise grassroot
structures.
Some Zanu PF bigwigs were said to be already canvassing for
support to stand as candidates in the 2023 general elections, while others were
allegedly unhappy with the party’s restructuring exercise which the Defence and
War Veterans deputy minister is spearheading.
“Don’t expect people to love you,” Matemadanda said. “Whatever
happened will not deter me from my assignment. Even if I were to die, many
precious lives have been lost for this country and I am not special, for as
long as I am serving as per my appointment and I am doing something right in
the party,” he said.
He said there were some in the party whom he thought were
working together with him, only to realise they were saying bad things behind
his back which revealed that they had their own issues.
“Even if it is my assignment that people would hate me for,
I will do what I was assigned to do. No one kicks a dead dog, and if you then
see people taking up stones when they approach your home, it means there is a
vicious dog, and so it means I am biting them,” he said.
He refused to either confirm or deny that he was indeed
poisoned, but referred questions pertaining to those allegations to the Zanu PF
acting party spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa.
“That is for comrade Chinamasa to say. He is the person
qualified to speak for the party, I am not the party. I am just a drop (of
water) in the party, but what I can say is that I am at work, I have my energy
and I am raring to go,” Matemadanda said.
“It doesn’t matter where I fell sick. There are mortuaries
in those hospitals and it doesn’t matter where I fell sick and how. What is
important is that I am fine and I am back.”
Chinamasa issued a statement on Saturday that Matemadanda
fell ill a week ago and had been rushed to hospital.
His illness, Chinamasa said, included itchiness of the
eyes, sweating profusely, swelling of the body and vomiting badly.
He fell ill during a Zanu PF provincial co-ordinating
committee meeting in Marondera last week and was rushed to hospital.
Matemadanda said after his illness, he was now aware of how
much he was hated and loved in equal measure and alleged that there were some
people who celebrated his illness and wished him dead.
“I now know people’s perceptions about me. Some were
posting saying ‘you should have died’. I wish them well because they have
exposed themselves. I had my obituaries and messages before I died, so it gave
me a picture of what people would say if I were to die. “What makes me happy is
that the number of those who were sympathising (with me) is more than those who
wished me dead.”
He added: “My mother would hide sugar from us as I was good
at stealing, and so when I grew up, I was diagnosed with diabetes and the
doctor said I should not take sugar as it was dangerous for my health. I said
to myself, if sweet things like sugar can kill, who am I to be liked by
everybody when sweet things can also kill.
“Some people should be free to hate me and others should
love and like me, but you would want to understand why would people hate you
that much?”
Matemadanda alleged that some people hated him despite that
he was merely a representative of the party, Zanu PF, adding: “I cannot wish
those to love me, but their hate obviously tells me of my effectiveness. So I
will keep on working for the good of my party because it shows that I am doing
something good.”
The Zanu PF political commissar said he was committed to
the party and country to the extent that he had to walk around the city one day
to listen to people’s concerns and to assist the party with a strategy to
address their concerns.
“I walked around Harare to listen to people’s concerns and
to help my party and my President (Emmerson Mnangagwa) to solve the problems in
the country. Zanu PF has a manifesto that is people-centred and I am at the
centre of that as the national commissar, and so I went and spoke to the people
about their needs.”
Speculation was rife that Matemadanda was actually targeted
by rivals in Zanu PF after several names were dropped from the list of
potential candidates for DCC elections expected to be held soon. Newsday
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