PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe yesterday read the riot act against members of his party involved in bitter factional fighting that has ripped apart Zanu PF as they jostle to succeed the 89-year-old veteran politician ahead of crucial elections later this year. REPORT BY OBEY MANAYITI
The Zanu PF leader also spoke strongly against architects of the infamous 2008 Bhora Musango campaign that led to his party losing general elections the same year to the MDCs.
Speaking at the burial of Matadziseyi Tangwena in Tsatse village, Tangwena area in Nyanga, Mugabe said his party needed to be organised before the forthcoming elections. Matadziseyi was the wife of the late Chief Rekayi Tangwena.
“Organise, organise, organise, organise! You should organise yourselves well. This business of continuously insulting each other and forming little factions should stop. We don’t want that. No, no, no I have rejected it. This is not what (Chief Rekayi) Tangwena died for,” Mugabe said.
The veteran Zanu PF leader added: “No to strikers who deliberately shoot off-target whenstaring at the goalmouth and then claim to be part of the team they would be deceiving. We will have no option, but to expel such sellouts.”
Mugabe’s threats came as Zanu PF infighting deepened amid reports that several provincial executives will be purged as the battle to succeed Mugabe rages on.
The fight for the control of Manicaland province recently took a new twist with reports that a recent petition to Mugabe against party secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa contained forged signatures.
The fights in Zanu PF have so far resulted in the dissolution of the Killian Sibanda-led Bulawayo provincial executive and the appointment of a new one led by Callistus Ndlovu.
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The squabbles also prompted Zanu PF to dispatch a team to probe problems in Manicaland where officials led by women’s league boss Oppah Muchinguri and Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa wrote the petition accusing Mutasa of fanning divisions and dictatorial tendencies.
The fights were pitting two main factions, one loyal to Vice President Joice Mujuru and another sympathetic to Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.
In Manicaland, provincial chairman Mike Madiro, a perceived Mnangagwa ally, was recently suspended and the axe could soon fall on more provincial executives. Party sources have been quoted as saying the next target was the John Mafa-led executive in Mashonaland West, followed by the Lovemore Matuke executive in Masvingo and the Dickson Mafios-led Mashonaland central executive.
Turning to elections, Mugabe said Zimbabweans should embrace the peaceful environment that prevailed during the constitutional referendum.
“We should not be people who fight because of different totems or different political parties. If people refuse to buy your ideologies you don’t use force. Let’s vote peacefully.
“On primary elections, let’s vote peacefully. In all parties there is fighting, we can’t have all of you to represent the party during elections, it’s only one who represents the party. We heard that some leaders are using money. We don’t want vote buying, you can’t buy people, they are not clothes.”
Mugabe, who was assisted to cross into Mozambique to lead the 1970s war of liberation by the late national hero Chief Tangwena, described Matadziseyi as a loving mother. He said she was the spirit medium which guided the freedom fighters during the Chimurenga War. At the burial, he chronicled how he was welcomed and assisted by the Tangwenas in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Mugabe promised hundreds of villagers at the burial that an agriculture college was on the cards in that remote area. He said Agriculture minister Joseph Made was currently working on the modalities. Family members described the death of Matadziseyi as a loss to the whole community.
They also dispelled rumours that she died a neglected woman, adding that they were content with the State assisted funeral accorded to her by Zanu PF.
