D-Day for Didymus Mutasa

THE Zanu-PF Manicaland Province holds a crucial Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) meeting today with members indicating that they would push for the expulsion of former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa from the party.

This follows Mutasa's statement in the private media on Tuesday denouncing last December's Zanu-PF 6th National People's Congress as a nullity.

The ruling party's former secretary for administration said his faction would go to court "to reclaim the leadership of the party from the jaws of political vultures."

Mutasa said they were "calling on Zanu-PF cadres to join us in refusing to accept the illegal congress and its outcomes; we call on our Dear Comrades to stand united and remain resolute in their defence of the true values of the liberation struggle towards which we all made contributions which has been hijacked by amafikizolo."

Zanu-PF Manicaland provincial spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka yesterday confirmed that the PCC would be held today, but would not be drawn into discussing its agenda.

He said it was premature to say what kind of action the province would take against Mutasa, but dismissed the former Presidential Affairs Minister's statement.

"It's important that you should know that we'll be having a PCC meeting tomorrow (today) but I can't share with you the agenda. The party, especially the province, isn't intimidated or moved by those statements," said Mandipaka.

"The position of the party is that all Mutasa said is a nullity and it's not going to take anything he said seriously. The congress was convened legally and the decisions that followed were to the satisfaction of all party members except Mutasa and the group of renegades that wanted to topple the President."

However, a member of Zanu-PF's Manicaland PCC, who is also the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association spokesperson, Mandi Chimene told Chronicle that she would move a motion for Mutasa's expulsion from the party at today's meeting.

"That statement shows that Mutasa has left Zanu-PF. I said it a long time ago that Mutasa doesn't have respect for the party and its leadership. He doesn't have respect for Zimbabweans. There's nothing better that he can do because he's a failed politician, he failed when he was still a minister and he'll fail now," she said.

"Tomorrow I'll attend the PCC meeting and when his matter is raised, I'll personally move the motion that Mutasa be expelled from the party."

On Tuesday, war veterans said Mutasa's call for Zanu-PF members and supporters to rally behind him and ousted leaders accused of plotting against President Mugabe was a farewell speech by the shamed leader as his days in the revolutionary party were numbered.

The war veterans said Mutasa's statements that bordered on fomenting a rebellion in the party, meant he was also no longer fit to represent Zanu-PF in Parliament.

ZNLWVA secretary general Victor Matemadanda said Mutasa suffered from the illusion that processes can only be legitimate with his involvement hence in "his stupidity" still refers to himself as party secretary for administration yet Ignatius Chombo had been appointed by President Mugabe to the post.