ZANU PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo yesterday hit back at Transport minister Obert Mpofu after the latter had accused Gumbo of abusing his position to speak on behalf of his faction at the expense of the party.
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This was after Gumbo had defended Vice-President Joice Mujuru from the corruption allegations levelled against her by First Lady Grace Mugabe during her “Meet the People Tour” rallies.
Gumbo is believed to be in the Mujuru faction and, two weeks ago, he attended Mujuru’s PhD conferment celebrations held at Dotito Primary School in Mt Darwin.
Mpofu was at the weekend quoted in some sections of the media as saying: “Now we don’t know whether those charged with speaking on behalf of party are speaking on behalf of the party or faction. An old man appears on television frothing from the mouth speaking for a faction and not the party. We do not agree with that.
“If you are a Zanu PF spokesperson, speak on behalf of Zanu PF, do not talk about your own things . . . Speak for the party and tomorrow, speak your own things.”
Gumbo, in an interview, urged party members to stop focusing on “trivialities” at a time the economy was limping.
“No provinces made any resolutions against me,” Gumbo said. “I am told (Transport minister Obert) Mpofu expressed his views and not the views of the (Zanu PF central) committee. It’s a personal issue and all I can say is: ‘Please leave my name alone’. He [Mpofu] thinks he is a super minister, but with his background, he shouldn’t say that.
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“I fought for this country and some of these people never fought for this country. I think it’s just a smear campaign. We don’t take smear campaigns seriously. Let’s stick to facts and direction of the party.”
Gumbo added: “We are creating problems for the country and we are not focusing on economic challenges in the country. Everyone is confused about all that is happening. What we want to say is please avoid this. The economy is bleeding. Let’s focus on attracting investors into the country. We want peace and stability, not condemning the hierarchy of the party and everyone linked to the VP.”
This comes amid revelations that Mujuru could face a probe after the crunch Zanu PF politburo meeting last Thursday tasked President Robert Mugabe to set up an investigation team to look into corruption allegations levelled against her, NewsDay has learnt.
Party sources yesterday said Mugabe was likely to announce the team soon after his return from Vienna, Austria, where he is attending the Second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries. The conference ends tomorrow.
Among other resolutions, the politburo members agreed to assign senior party officials to each province to investigate factionalism charges levelled against Mujuru and Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mujuru has been under fire from Grace and several party officials, including youths and a section of the war veterans’ association, who have accused her of engaging in corrupt activities and plotting to topple Mugabe.
But perceived Mujuru loyalists, who include war veterans’ leader Jabulani Sibanda and party spokesperson Gumbo, have dismissed the allegations as part of a smear campaign to tarnish her image ahead of the party’s elective congress next month.
They claim that the campaign had also targeted all party members perceived to be sympathetic to Mujuru.
On Sunday, Zanu PF youths led by Gokwe-Nembudziya MP Justice Mayor Wadyajena vowed to block alleged attempts by Mujuru loyalists to unseat Mugabe, saying they would “die fighting to protect the First Family”.
“The VP was fingered in corruption issues, how can we have a leader like that? In Parliament last week, the First Lady Dr Mugabe was jeered by MDC-T MPs and the President was jeered and accused of all sorts of things by those MPs, but the VP received a standing ovation. Even (MDC-T leader Morgan) Tsvangirai recently confirmed that it was better working with moderates in Zanu PF like the VP than working with hardliners,” Wadyajena said.
“It shows they are one with MDC. Dr Mugabe wasn’t lying when she said the party (MDC) was formed in a Zanu PF official’s house. You can’t tell us to revolt against our President. That will never happen here in Nembudziya. We will die with President Mugabe. The President will rule and rule until he says he is tired. He is what we call our life President. He will rule until he says no. We will vote for him in 2018. We will vote for him in 2023.”
To date, several Mujuru loyalists in various provinces have been subjected to verbal and physical attacks, while their leaders have been booted out of party structures on various charges believed to be stemming from Zanu PF faction fights.
Violence marred provincial co-ordinating committee meetings in Masvingo and Manicaland over the weekend, with rival camps exchanging blows.
Mugabe last week stated that his position was under threat from “a young person” in the ruling party.
