News / National
Mugabe blocks Chiyangwa's comeback bid, 'Security Concerns'
06 Jun 2011 at 12:54hrs | Views
President Mugabe openly flexed his muscles in his home province of Mashonaland West by blocking Phillip Chiyangwa's comeback bid.
Miffed by reports that his nephew had bounced back into the party to contest for the provincial chairperson's post in Mashonaland West, the ZANU-PF leader is said to have summoned the party's national chairperson, Simon Khaya-Moyo; secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa and political commissar, Webster Shamu among other top ZANU-PF officials to his offices where they were taken to task over Chiyangwa's re-admission.
Despite the escalation of factional fights in Mashonaland West which have had the effect of weakening ZANU-PF's grip on the area, President Mugabe has in the past preferred to keep his distance, not wanting to be seen as interfering in the party's provincial politics.
But Chiyangwa's reentry into the political ring changed all that about a fortnight ago when President Mugabe expressed his anger over the manner in which Mutasa had handled the issue.
The espionage charges that Chiyangwa faced in 2004, before he was later cleared by the High Court the following year proved to be his waterloo in his comeback bid as President Mugabe indicated that this had left him tainted.
The espionage charges however, saw Chiyangwa losing his parliamentary seat and his ZANU-PF membership. Officials in Mashonaland West province went on to petition the party's disciplinary committee, seeking his ouster regardless of the outcome of the court case.
Although in July 2005 Chiyangwa resigned from the provincial chairmanship post and insisted that he would remain as an ordinary party member, ZANU-PF proceeded to expel him from the party with his deputy at the time, John Mafa, taking over the position.
Sources said that President Mugabe went into the meeting in a no-nonsense mood, brandishing Mutasa's letter to the Mashonaland West provincial leadership recommending Chiyangwa's reinstatement.
In the meeting, the President was said to have been livid with Mutasa for his apparent soft stance on Chiyangwa despite the fact that he was the country's state security minister at the time the property mogul was hauled before the courts, facing espionage charges.
President Mugabe is said to have told those attending that Chiyangwa had only been cleared on a technicality.
He is said to have then drew parallels between the businessman's case and that of former firebrand politician and nationalist, Edgar Tekere, who was fired from ZANU-PF, readmitted and told that he could not hold any position for the next five years.
As a way forward, the meeting tasked ZANU-PF national chairperson, Moyo, to ensure that Chiyangwa's political aspirations should, for now, not go beyond just being a card carrying member of ZANU-PF.
Mutasa said that Chiyangwa's readmission would now be subject to approval by the party's political commissar, Shamu, a key character in Mashonaland West's politics. But there would be security considerationss on Chiyangwa's case.
Sources said President Mugabe had already set the tone for the rejection of Chiyangwa's readmission by raising security concerns relating to his passing of party information.
Miffed by reports that his nephew had bounced back into the party to contest for the provincial chairperson's post in Mashonaland West, the ZANU-PF leader is said to have summoned the party's national chairperson, Simon Khaya-Moyo; secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa and political commissar, Webster Shamu among other top ZANU-PF officials to his offices where they were taken to task over Chiyangwa's re-admission.
Despite the escalation of factional fights in Mashonaland West which have had the effect of weakening ZANU-PF's grip on the area, President Mugabe has in the past preferred to keep his distance, not wanting to be seen as interfering in the party's provincial politics.
But Chiyangwa's reentry into the political ring changed all that about a fortnight ago when President Mugabe expressed his anger over the manner in which Mutasa had handled the issue.
The espionage charges that Chiyangwa faced in 2004, before he was later cleared by the High Court the following year proved to be his waterloo in his comeback bid as President Mugabe indicated that this had left him tainted.
The espionage charges however, saw Chiyangwa losing his parliamentary seat and his ZANU-PF membership. Officials in Mashonaland West province went on to petition the party's disciplinary committee, seeking his ouster regardless of the outcome of the court case.
Although in July 2005 Chiyangwa resigned from the provincial chairmanship post and insisted that he would remain as an ordinary party member, ZANU-PF proceeded to expel him from the party with his deputy at the time, John Mafa, taking over the position.
In the meeting, the President was said to have been livid with Mutasa for his apparent soft stance on Chiyangwa despite the fact that he was the country's state security minister at the time the property mogul was hauled before the courts, facing espionage charges.
President Mugabe is said to have told those attending that Chiyangwa had only been cleared on a technicality.
He is said to have then drew parallels between the businessman's case and that of former firebrand politician and nationalist, Edgar Tekere, who was fired from ZANU-PF, readmitted and told that he could not hold any position for the next five years.
As a way forward, the meeting tasked ZANU-PF national chairperson, Moyo, to ensure that Chiyangwa's political aspirations should, for now, not go beyond just being a card carrying member of ZANU-PF.
Mutasa said that Chiyangwa's readmission would now be subject to approval by the party's political commissar, Shamu, a key character in Mashonaland West's politics. But there would be security considerationss on Chiyangwa's case.
Sources said President Mugabe had already set the tone for the rejection of Chiyangwa's readmission by raising security concerns relating to his passing of party information.
Source - FG
