'Pasi nemi!' - Mugabe breathes fire at youths conference

HARARE - President Robert Mugabe yesterday came out guns blazing, blasting faction leaders in his strife-torn ruling Zanu PF party who had abandoned efforts to hold a sussessful youths conference while jostling to field their preferred candidates.

Officially opening the elective Zanu PF Youth League 6th conference at the Harare International Conference Centre, the 90-year-old strongman warned party hawks against pushing their agenda through proxies.

In the run-up to the youth conference, factional leaders have been clandestinely meeting behind the scenes to ensure that their preferred candidates win, according to Mugabe, ignoring key issues such as preparing food, accommodation and logistics.

Mugabe described the intensifying factional battles, including sabotage and open warfare, as "filthy and dirty."

"Senior leaders in the province would like to get to the Central Committee, they start to use the youths. No! Pasi nemi (Down with you)," he charged.

"Central Committee members now want to get into the Politburo and to get into leadership positions of the party, this one wants to get into this position and starts recruiting so and so of the youths and saying I have my people... ah, they belong to the party, they do not belong to individuals.

"The clandestine organisations, the activities going in the party just now, they are filthy and dirty. They are destroying the party and people pretend they do not know what is happening."

Mugabe seemed to be riled that the party's youths went without food the whole day due to poor planning as top officials plotted to field their candidates, apparently ignoring crucial plans for the conference.

Chillingly warning those who were in charge of organising the conference, Mugabe said certain leaders should not cry foul when they failed to garner re-election in the forthcoming December elective congress.

"It is very painful, it is very bad," he said. "We can never allow this. We will organise ourselves after this. But when it comes to congress, do not cry. I cannot have a Central Committee or a Politburo that is inept."

Reiterating his statement that the party had been infiltrated by "weevils", the ex-guerrilla leader said he was aware of the shenanigans taking place behind the scenes.

Mugabe had the frenzied youths eating from the palm of his hands as he railed against party hawks. He said his wife Grace had agreed to give the youths 1 000 tonnes of maize and 20 or 30 beasts.

Mugabe also promised to temporarily stop supplying milk to dairy companies and provide it to the youth conference so that they could have tea.

Zimbabwe's sole leader since independence from Britain in 1980 said some in his party were hell-bent on seizing power but passive to the needs of the people.

"I would like to apologise for the inconvenience," he said. "I will not accept kuti zvinonzi tanga tisina mari, ko masubscriptions evanhu arikuenda kupi? (they say we don't have money, where are the subscriptions going to?) Yes, we must be frank. I just am not happy.

"The whole of our Central Committee has been meeting to plan this conference only to be told we do not have a cent. What is happening in the party?" asked Mugabe to a chorus of "zvipfukuto" or weevils.

"Havana kudya tirikushaya kana kugadzirira, hapana zvekudya (people did not eat, there is no food) we cannot provide food to the people, the Central Committee. What are we doing, we members of vepamusoro-soro (we are top officials?)"