POLITICAL dogfights within the Zanu PF Manicaland provincial leadership have intensified ahead of the ruling party’s national conference as other members, who are not loyal to the provincial leadership, are reportedly being barred from attending the annual conference set for Esigodini in Matabeleland South next month.
BY KENNETH NYANGANI
The conference, which is expected to attract 5 000 delegates countrywide, will be held from December 11 to 16.
However, in Manicaland some members who are not in good books with provincial chairman Mike Madiro are crying foul as there are allegations of attempts to strike them off the list of those scheduled to attend the indaba.
A senior ruling party official who refused to be named confirmed the development to NewsDay yesterday.
“There is chaos in the province as the provincial leadership has a hand on people who are going to attend the conference, the Mike Madiro-leadership is selecting people who are only loyal to them,” he said.
“We are told that in Chipinge the provincial deputy chair Dorothy Mabika is taking only a list of people who are loyal to her, some district chairpersons are being left out from the list, but they are supposed to attend the conference.”
Another senior party member said he was worried as he has been left out in the process.
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But Mabika refuted the charges, saying they were simply following guidelines from the party headquarters.
“As a party, we follow guidelines on how to select members who attend the conference and these guidelines are from the national party headquarters and you can get a comment from chairman Madiro,” she said.
Madiro’s phone went unanswered when reached for comment.
Manicaland province is deeply divided as some party members are up against Madiro’s leadership whom they are blaming for President Emmerson Mnangagwa loss in the province to MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa.
Despite winning 19 out 26 parliamentary seats, Mnangagwa lost to Chamisa in the presidential polls’ provincial tallies.
