Mujuru 'has Zanu-PF presidency in her handbag'

Vice President Joice Mujuru effectively bagged the support of 9 out of 10 Zanu-PF provinces in her long running battle with Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa to take over from President Robert Mugabe at the next elective party congress in December 2014.

In provincial elections held on Saturday, Mujuru loyalists took control of Harare, Bulawayo, Mashonaland East and West, Masvingo and Matabeleland South provinces in addition to the Midlands, Mashonaland Central and Manicaland provinces she tied up in the first batch of chaotic elections held last month.

So confident are some of her loyalists they are already claiming "the party presidency is now in her handbag."

Last month elections held in the Midlands, Mashonaland Central and Manicaland provinces saw Mujuru loyalists Jason Machaya, Luke Mushore and John Mvundura respectively winning amid chaos and accusations of massive vote rigging from the rival camp led by Mnangagwa.

Efforts to conclude the elections in the remaining seven provinces collapsed last week as the fierce infighting spilled over into the state media with Information Minister Jonathan Moyo and his permanent secretary and Mugabe spokesman George Charamba taking sides with Mnangagwa.

On Saturday Zanu-PF was attempting to repair the damage and conclude the elections without incident but again shortages of voting material and allegations of cooked up voters rolls were made by several losing candidates.

Five incumbent chairpersons retained their positions.

Four of these Ray Kaukonde (Mashonaland East), Amos Midzi (Harare), Andrew Langa (Matabeleland South), Professor Callistus Ndlovu (Bulawayo) belong to the Mujuru faction. Only Richard Moyo (Matabeleland North) supports Mnangagwa.

In Mashonaland West former fitness trainer turned politician Themba Mliswa garnered 9 185 votes in defeating businessman Philip Chiyangwa who managed 7 621 votes.

In Masvingo, Chiredzi South MP Callisto Gwanetsa romped to victory with 11 474 votes against Ailes Baloyi (7 362) from the Mnangagwa faction. Baloyi however complained the vote had been rigged.

"I do not accept the results because there were a lot of irregularities in the election process, for example there are some party structures in areas such as Gutu and Bikita that were arbitrarily disbanded, meaning that some people who were supposed to vote ended up not voting," Baloyi claimed.

"The voter registers that were used in the elections were not the correct ones, they were tempered with and, therefore, I do not accept the outcome and I will soon be writing a letter to the national party leadership expressing why these results should not stand,'' Baloyi added.

Its widely acknowledged that whoever controls the most Zanu-PF provincial structures has an edge in terms of winning Zanu-PF's elective poll next year in December. Mugabe who will be approaching 91 years at that time is not likely to stand for re-election as party president.

This is how the power equation currently shapes up



Below are the winners of the weekend provincial elections:

Bulawayo

Provincial Chairman- Callistus Ndlovu

Women's League- Evah Bipu

Youth League- Khumbulani Mpofu

Mashonaland East

Provincial Chairman- Ray Kaukonde

Women's League- Aquelina Katsande

Youth League- Luckson Kandemiiri

Matabeleland South

Provincial Chairman- Andrew Langa

Women's League- Alice Dube

Youth League- Washington Ngomo

Harare

Provincial Chairman- Amos Midzi

Women's League- Angeline Matambanadzo

Youth League- Godfrey Gomwe

Matabeleland North

Provincial Chairman- Richard Moyo

Women's League- Mediline Bhebhe

Youth League- Tamuka Nyoni

Masvingo

Provincial Chairman- Callisto Gwanetsa

Women's League- Shyllet Uyoyo

Youth League- Oliver Huruva

Mashonaland West

Provincial Chairman - Themba Mliswa

Women's League - Constance Shamu

Youth League - Vengi Musengi