NEW cracks have emerged in Zanu PF with knives out for the Deputy Minister of ICT Winmore Mlambo who stands accused of fanning factionalism, de-campaigning party leadership, intimidation and causing disharmony in his Chipinge stronghold.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
A petition against Mlambo which was addressed to the new Zanu PF Manicaland political “godmother” Oppah Muchinguri was handed over to the party leadership on Friday in Chipinge at a meeting presided over by the party’s secretary for legal affairs Patrick Chinamasa.
Mlambo appears to have fallen out of favour with his colleagues after he recently organised demonstrations against Buhera South legislator Joseph Chinotimba when the war veterans leader allegedly grabbed a lucrative macadamia nuts farm in his constituency.
Zanu PF officials who attended the meeting told NewsDay that Mlambo was sorrowful and apologetic during the meeting.
But when contacted for comment, the ICT deputy minister said he would not stop working towards eliminating corruption.
The petition was signed by 22 people out of 25 people present.
Some of the allegations include: “Instigating violence in the district by campaigning to reverse the land reform programme, de-campaigning party leadership in the district, causing the arrest of party members by telling them to invade legally settled farmers.”
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The petition further accuses Mlambo of using his ministerial position to intimidate people in the district and abuse of power.
“Winmore has caused disharmony in the district, always organising headless demonstrations hence confusion in the party,” the petition reads.
The petitioners also accused Mlambo of misleading traditional leadership and calling them “every minute for unspecified meetings”.
“On land issue, Winmore displays a lot of tribalism by saying those without digits 13 on their IDs should not be given farms in Chipinge district,” the accusations further read.
Contacted for comment, the party’s secretary for administration Kenneth Saruchera said the matter would be brought before the provincial executive. “It’s an issue which should be discussed by the provincial executive. We will sit down and discuss, but some of these things might not be authentic,” Saruchera said.
However, Mlambo maintained his innocence. He said he was fighting against corruption and not individuals.
“As you can see, clearly those things are cooked up by people who don’t want corruption to stop. They generally see me as coming into their way to stop what they had been accustomed to. That’s unfortunate,” he said.
Mlambo said some of his colleagues in Zanu PF needed enlightenment and as such he was organising a training workshop for them.
