Following his unceremonious expulsion from Masvingo Province by his Zanu PF party, war veterans’ leader Jabulani Sibanda has reportedly set up camp in Tsholotsho where he has allegedly vowed to re-orient villagers to vote for the former ruling party.
Sibanda was Monday scheduled to have a meeting in Mbowane, a village in Tsholotsho, to kick-start his programme in the district.
Contacted for comment Sibanda however denied he was in Tsholotsho and claimed he was still in Masvingo.
“Ask them (Zipra Trust and Zapu). I cannot occupy the whole country at one time. I am in Masvingo,” he said. But Zipra Veterans’ Trust member, Retired Colonel Patron Nketa, said they were on their peace building programme in Tsholotsho when they heard of Sibanda’s presence in the district.
“He addressed a meeting on Thursday in Chief Gampu’s area. However, he is not as harsh on the villagers as he was in Masvingo,” he said.
Zapu spokesperson Methuseli Moyo said according to their party officials, Sibanda rounded up war veterans in the Nyamandlovu farming area over the weekend and took them to Tsholotsho where he is alleged to have launched a programme to “re-orient” villagers.
“We have been alerted by our security teams in Tsholotsho that he (Sibanda) is in Tsholotsho. He is said to have vowed that he wants people back in Zanu PF and they should stop supporting Zapu, MDC, and MDC-T,” he said.
Moyo said Zapu was not going to fold its hands and leave Sibanda to terrorise its members in the district.
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“We want to warn him that whatever he does, he must do it peacefully and respectfully and must mind his language and tactics. If he decides to use coercion, we expect the police to make sure they control him or else we will respond appropriately. Jabulani Sibanda is a threat to security. He is bringing his threat to Tsholotsho. People of Tsholotsho deserve peace and respect after they underwent Gukurahundi and the Zanu PF skirmishes of Dinyane. They are traumatised.
“Sibanda’s presence in Tsholotsho certainly causes anxiety because he is synonymous with all the wrong things in politics,” he said.
