'We have last laugh,' says Moyo

TWO long-serving Zanu-PF officials who had been frozen out of party leadership due to vilification and sidelining for the past decade by Vice-President Joice Mujuru's faction, say they have the last laugh as people behind their ouster had now been exposed.

Former provincial chairpersons for Midlands and Manicaland, July Moyo and Mike Madiro who respectively bounced back into the Central Committee at the weekend, said they were vindicated that the actual factional leaders had been booted out of the party.

They hailed President Mugabe for approving their comeback into the Central Committee after so many years in the wilderness.

Moyo had last been in the party leadership in 2004 when he was stripped of his Midlands chairmanship, while Madiro who was also suspended in 2004, bounced back a few years later to win the same post but was suspended again last year on what he described as "cooked up charges".

The duo blamed their suspensions on VP Mujuru's faction as it sought to consolidate its grip in provinces in its grand plan of toppling President Mugabe through targeting those who were not aligned to her.

"It's nice to be back in the Central Committee after so many years on the sidelines, but I never gave up working for the party," said Moyo.

"I knew the leadership of President Mugabe is sound and believed that he knew exactly what was happening hence the final outcome where those people have been exposed now.

"It's unfortunate that those people were pushing an agenda that they knew was patently wrong but pretended as if it was the right thing. They vilified us alleging that we're the people who were being factional but we're glad that the whole country now knows who was being treacherous and disloyal to the President and the party values and principles."

Moyo said everyone in the party knew that VP Mujuru's faction was behind the "Bhora Musango" phenomena of March 29, 2008 harmonised elections when President Mugabe trailed behind MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai in the first round of polls.

"President Mugabe knew what they were doing but he's very patient. We soldiered on until we got to the July 31, 2013 harmonised elections where he won resoundingly. He accommodated a lot of people who were behind "Bhora Musango" with the hope that they would repent. But they'd always been disloyal and treacherous, which has now been exposed.

"When the First Lady Grace Mugabe first mentioned those things people thought it was an incredulous thing. But everyone now sees what she meant because they've been exposed," said Moyo.

Madiro said he had been subjected to vilification from the early 1990s by the same people who have fallen by the wayside now.

"But I've never been bitter because of what was being done to me as I took it as a learning curve. That long period of persecution was a training ground for me to be a resilient party cadre.

"I'm proud that I was never tempted to react negatively to the persecution from those factional people because I celebrate my icon President Mugabe's leadership. I marvel that he resisted so much persecution and vilification even during the liberation struggle he remained resolute.

"My only disappointment is that the late Kotsho Dube whom we laid to rest yesterday (Sunday) is no longer around to celebrate with me because he's one man who knew all the persecution I went through since 1995 when he was deputy secretary for administration. He witnessed my persecution and he used to encourage me to remain strong and resolute in the party," said Madiro.

Madiro was suspended last year and dragged to court on allegations of defrauding diamond mining companies in Chiadzwa and misappropriating donations that were meant to go towards President Mugabe's birthday but the case was dismissed by the courts.

He hailed President Mugabe for his astute leadership and principled stand on unity while urging those who had fallen by the wayside through suspensions or losing elections to embrace the outcome because the party was bigger than individuals.