THE death of Masvingo Provincial Affairs minister Shuvai Mahofa mid-last month has reportedly created a power vacuum and stalled government business in the province, as President Robert Mugabe is yet to appoint her replacement.
By Tatenda Chitagu
A director in Mahofa’s office, Kudakwashe Machako, told Southern Eye yesterday that he was receiving directives from head office in Harare, as the government had not yet appointed someone to act in her capacity.
“I am not the one acting in her capacity. No one has been appointed the acting Provincial Affairs minister,” he said. “I get instructions from head office on what to do.”
Mahofa died on August 15 and was buried at the national shrine after she was declared a national heroine, but over a month down the line, the government has not yet appointed someone to fill the gap.
Several names have been touted as candidates to replace Mahofa — among them Tongai, the son of the late Vice-President Simon Muzenda, Masvingo Urban legislator, Daniel Shumba and Masvingo South legislator, Walter Mzembi — although Zanu PF sources said Mugabe might only announce a new Provincial Affairs minister after next year’s elections if he wins.
Mahofa, long labelled as a top ally of Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, reportedly succumbed to a litany of ailments that her associates in the ruling party said had been exacerbated by the “poison” she ingested at a Zanu PF conference held in Victoria Falls in December 2015.
Both Mahofa and Mnangagwa are accused of turning Masvingo province into their personal fiefdom and blocking top Zanu PF officials from invading sugarcane plots in the Lowveld.
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The late minister had been in government since 1980, starting off as a deputy minister in the then Youth and Women Affairs ministry, before her election as Zanu PF MP for Gutu South.
She was appointed Masvingo Provincial Affairs minister in 2015 after the dismissal of Kudakwashe Bhasikiti-Chuma for being part of axed former Vice-President Joice Mujuru’ group.
