Zanu-PF students target Mutasa

ZANU PF students at universities and colleges in the country have waded into the ruling party's factional fights and are baying for the blood of secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa, accusing him of trying to destroy the party from within.

The students, under the banner of the Zanu PF-aligned Zimbabwe Congress of Students' Union (ZICOSU), alleged the Presidential Affairs minister was seeking to destroy the party by grabbing the position of national chairman in violation of the 1987 Unity Accord with PF Zapu.

With current chairman Simon Khaya Moyo likely to be elevated to the post of Second Vice-President, Mutasa has shown interest in contesting the position at the party's December elective Congress.

However, the students argue that Mutasa's ambitions would tamper with the 1987 Unity Accord as the position has been traditionally reserved to former (PF) Zapu members.

The students said Mutasa's ambitions had the potential of destroying Zanu PF. They said the Presidential Affairs minister should "shape up or ship out".

"We gather that Mutasa is pushing the people of Zimbabwe to tamper with the sacrosanct ideals of the Unity Accord. It is the tradition and practice in Zanu PF since the Unity Accord that the National Chairman always comes from former PF Zapu members," reads a statement by ZICOSU.

"It is ironic that Didymus Mutasa or Cde Gamatox has himself become a weevil bent on destroying the party by eating silently into its treasured traditions. This has to stop."

The students' union urged Zanu PF leader, President Robert Mugabe, to rein in Mutasa. They threw their weight behind Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chris Mutsvangwa, who recently spit venom at Mutasa accusing him of exaggerating his war credentials and plotting to oust Mugabe from office.

ZICOSU secretary-general, Takunda Mazambani said the union was behind Mutsvangwa declaring there should be no sacred cows in Zanu PF when it comesto preserving unity and the ideals of the party.

"We cannot go anywhere when we have fat cats that cannot be pointed out. We need such people as Comrade Mutsvangwa because he just alerted the nation on what needs to be done. As the youths, we will get to a point where we can point fingers as well because this is unacceptable," said Mazambani.

Mutasa could not be reached for comment yesterday.