BY CLAYTON MASEKESA
OUTSPOKEN Zanu PF Manicaland provincial youth leader Mubuso Chinguno has made a fresh call for the expulsion of War Veterans minister Tshinga Dube, accusing him of wining and dining with expelled party members, particularly the Christopher Mutsvangwa-led executive of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association (ZNLWVA).
Chinguno told NewsDay yesterday that Dube should stop recognising Mutsvangwa’s executive because they were no longer party members and were disrespectful of the party’s top leadership.
“Why is Dube still recognising and dining with a group of war veterans that has an expelled leader? Mutsvangwa was expelled from Zanu PF and that clearly means that he should not hold that post,” he said.
“The war veterans’ association is an arm of Zanu PF, so he (Mutsvangwa) must not be part and parcel of the war veterans’ association.
“Mutsvangwa was expelled from Zanu PF just like Jabulani Sibanda and he should leave the operations of the war veterans’ association.
“It is very clear that Mutsvangwa’s group has fallen out of favour with the Zanu PF leadership, but Dube is still embracing that same group, why? Whose interests is he serving?”
On Saturday, secretary for war veterans in the Zanu PF politburo Sydney Sekeramayi ordered Dube to organise a fresh congress to elect a new executive for the war veterans’ association to replace Mutsvangwa’s team.
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Contacted for comment yesterday, Dube said he was appointed by Mugabe as minister and was operating on the President’s directive.
“I am an appointee of His Excellency the President, when one is appointed, one is given terms of reference for his duties,” he said.
“I am carrying out my duties as per the mandate I was given when I was appointed a minister.”
Sibanda was instrumental in President Robert Mugabe’s re-election in 2013, but was expelled from ZNLWVA in 2014 on accusations of undermining the authority of the First Family after he claimed First Lady Grace Mugabe had carried out a “bedroom coup” and usurped executive authority.
The fight for control of the war veterans’ movement has caused fissures within the government and Zanu PF with some party officials aligning themselves to a rival faction led by Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister Mandiitawepi Chimene, while others have sided with the Mutsvangwa camp.
The High Court recently issued an interim order barring Chimene and her group from masquerading as war veterans’ leaders.
