News / National
'Mujuru captured, we'll deal with people around her'
13 Dec 2017 at 05:53hrs | Views
National People's Party (NPP) members yesterday described their leader Joice Mujuru as "captured", saying they were duty-bound to deal with the people surrounding her to rescue the troubled opposition outfit from further disintegrating.
More than 100 officials convened in Harare yesterday expressing concern at the state of affairs in the party and to map the way forward.
The party officials also want the disbandment of the People's Rainbow Coalition, an electoral pact with three other little-known political parties - Zimbabweans United for Democracy, Democratic Assembly for Restoration and Empowerment and the splinter People's Democratic Party - calling it a coalition with zeros.
They said it was prudent to join the MDC Alliance.
They are also going to submit a petition raising their concerns and calling for a number of drastic measures, among them the recalling of secretary-general Gift Nyandoro.
This comes after scores of executives, including national and some from various provinces, were either expelled or suspended last week for various reasons.
This has also caused a mass exodus from the party, threatening its existence, a few months before the general elections.
"The president [Mujuru] is captured because in her normal senses, she cannot give a go-ahead to the vice-president (Samuel Sipepa Nkomo) to send a Press statement firing people unconstitutionally because she is a democrat. We are bringing people together and say let's fight until we liberate ourselves from ourselves," Lloyd Masiya, the national youth boss, said yesterday.
"The problem is not necessarily with the leader, but the people surrounding her. There is a proverb that says a leader is only as strong as people surrounding him/her, so she is surrounded by people who are extremely factional. People are trying to derail NPP from its core values so that we create another Zanu-PF that doesn't respect its people."
Yesterday's gathering accused some party leaders of intimidating people against signing the petition and attending a meeting to denounce other leaders accused of sowing divisions in the party.
"The continued holding of office by Gift Nyandoro is unacceptable considering his public thuggish showdown with Jealousy Mawarire. We urge you to encourage him to do the morally acceptable thing and step down, failure of which you must exercise your constitutional authority and relieve him of his duties lest he continues to be a moral eyesore for our public image, thereby costing us membership growth and, by extension, potential votes," the petition read.
On the coalition, the petitioners described the alliance as a waste of time and a bad strategy for the 2018 elections.
"As serious paid-up members who have been pivotal in mobilising numbers for this party, we would like to hereby declare our displeasure with the People's Rainbow Coalition," the petition read.
Masiya told the gathering that Mujuru was opening lines of communication so as to reach out to them and address their concerns.
More than 100 officials convened in Harare yesterday expressing concern at the state of affairs in the party and to map the way forward.
The party officials also want the disbandment of the People's Rainbow Coalition, an electoral pact with three other little-known political parties - Zimbabweans United for Democracy, Democratic Assembly for Restoration and Empowerment and the splinter People's Democratic Party - calling it a coalition with zeros.
They said it was prudent to join the MDC Alliance.
They are also going to submit a petition raising their concerns and calling for a number of drastic measures, among them the recalling of secretary-general Gift Nyandoro.
This comes after scores of executives, including national and some from various provinces, were either expelled or suspended last week for various reasons.
This has also caused a mass exodus from the party, threatening its existence, a few months before the general elections.
"The problem is not necessarily with the leader, but the people surrounding her. There is a proverb that says a leader is only as strong as people surrounding him/her, so she is surrounded by people who are extremely factional. People are trying to derail NPP from its core values so that we create another Zanu-PF that doesn't respect its people."
Yesterday's gathering accused some party leaders of intimidating people against signing the petition and attending a meeting to denounce other leaders accused of sowing divisions in the party.
"The continued holding of office by Gift Nyandoro is unacceptable considering his public thuggish showdown with Jealousy Mawarire. We urge you to encourage him to do the morally acceptable thing and step down, failure of which you must exercise your constitutional authority and relieve him of his duties lest he continues to be a moral eyesore for our public image, thereby costing us membership growth and, by extension, potential votes," the petition read.
On the coalition, the petitioners described the alliance as a waste of time and a bad strategy for the 2018 elections.
"As serious paid-up members who have been pivotal in mobilising numbers for this party, we would like to hereby declare our displeasure with the People's Rainbow Coalition," the petition read.
Masiya told the gathering that Mujuru was opening lines of communication so as to reach out to them and address their concerns.
Source - newsday
