Zanu-PF presses panic button on escalating infighting

Zanu-PF yesterday said it would crackdown on party members who campaigned for central committee positions before finalisation of election guidelines for the party's elective congress in December.

In a press conference in Harare, party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said warned Zanu-PF members from campaigning saying they faced stern disciplinary action.

Infighting over posts has resulted in the formation of disparate camps within the party with factions allegedly led by Vice-President Joice Mujuru and Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa fighting tooth and nail to strategically position themselves in the race to succeed President Robert Mugabe.

Party members have resorted to mudslinging opponents in the Press and openly buying votes ahead of the congress.

The youth and women's league conferences held in August were chaotic amid accusations of vote manipulation as the factions vied for control.

In an apparent bid to stem the Press leaks, Gumbo warned members to desist from issuing unauthorised statements.

Mugabe last month while addressing party supporters in Kariba admonished members from playing their factional wars in the "private" Press which he described as "opposition" media.

Gumbo announced a nine-member committee headed by party national chairman Simon Khaya Moyo that would oversee the preparations for the congress.

Didymus Mutasa (finance sub-committee), Webster Shamu (organising), Sydney Sekeramayi (security), Gumbo (information), Nicholas Goche (transport), Mnangagwa (legal), David Parirenyatwa (health) and Sikhanyiso Ndlovu (entertainment) are the other members of the committee.