Yesterday four of the 10 legislators namely; Hon Lindiwe
Maphosa, Hon Memory Mbondiah, Hon Winnie
Kankuni, and Hon Virginia Mafuta were received at the ZANU PF headquarters by
the party’s Secretary General Cde Obert Mpofu and the Political Commissar Cde
Mike Bimha.
Hon Maphosa, who is also the chairperson of the
parliamentary portfolio committee for Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation,
Science and Technology Development said ZANU PF is the party of the people
hence their decision to leave opposition politics.
“When I make a decision I make an informed one. As Members
of Parliament and activists in our own right, we have decided to join ZANU PF
from the opposition politics. Some of us with other Comrades joined the
opposition in 2000 and we have been in opposition politics since then. We had a
narrative as the opposition that has greatly changed and deviated from what we
believed in as the youth who joined the opposition then.
“We are Zimbabweans
and Zimbabwe is the only country that we have, so we have seen that some of the
leaders in opposition where we are coming from are incompetent.
“There is Douglas Mwonzora who has turned MDC into
something less than a burial society, in a burial society there are some
activities taking place. Mwonzora is an MDC-A president who is going to an
election but managed to pay his own presidential fee without MPs and
councillors,” she said.
She said the MDC and
CCC are two sides of the same coin.
“CCC leader Nelson Chamisa and Mwonzora were only fighting
for a big chunk but it’s the same thing. We have seen it change into student
activism that has no vision and they don’t know where they are going. If you
look at the way they conducted their primary elections, it was a circus,” said
Cde Maphosa.
She commended ZANU PF for setting up well-oiled structures
from the grassroots.
“If you look at how ZANU PF held their primary elections,
we have seen young people coming up contesting for parliamentarian positions,
something that is not happening in the opposition. We have said we want to see
young people incorporated. We have got a party that has a direction, that has
got a vision, that has structures,” she said.
Cde Mpofu welcomed the former MDC-A legislators saying the
ruling party is open for everyone to join.
“We are welcoming
the comrades to the home of the revolutionary party ZANU PF. The event is
historic in that it is coming at a time when the President is moving across the
country uniting our people and developing our great country,” said Cde Mpofu.
“In my capacity as
the Secretary-General, on behalf of the party, on behalf of the President, and
the entire leadership of ZANU PF, we welcome you with open hands. You are no
longer retainees, but members of Zanu PF from now. Your coming back is slightly
different from other members, since this is a team of Members of Parliament, 10
of them. You will get the same treatment as any other party member”.
The party’s national Political Commissar Cde Mike Bimha,
who presented the returning members to Cde Mpofu said the former opposition MPs
will now join the election campaign.
“Our focus is really
on campaigning and therefore we would welcome you to work with us as we go
through the campaigns,” said Cde Bimha. Herald
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