News / National
Mujuru ghost haunts Zanu-PF
02 Apr 2015 at 09:16hrs | Views
MONTHS after the ouster of former vice president, Joice Mujuru, and her key allies in the top echelons of government and Zanu-PF, ugly infighting continues to hound the revolutionary party from grassroots structures right up to the national level.
At the weekend, the party political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, had to rush to Bulawayo following reports that Mujuru faction members were being blocked from contesting for both party positions and the five national Assembly constituencies where by-elections will be held in June.
Kasukuwere, according to Zanu-PF insiders, read the riot act against warring members of the party and ordered a fair procedure in the selection of candidates to represent the party at various levels, including in by-elections.
But even after he left the province, reports say more squabbles erupted, with sources in the second capital saying Zanu-PF secretary for youth affairs, Pupurai Togarepi, who was assigned to superintend the restructuring in the absence of Patrick Chinamasa, the secretary for legal affairs, was having a torrid time trying to put things in order.
Old battle lines between Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial chairman, Callistus Ndlovu who was reinstated to the position after the Politburo reversed a vote of no confidence in him in November, and the ambitious George Mlala, who had instigated the move, have been renewed as they try to outfox each other through proxies in the lower tiers of the party.
Togarepi confirmed there was intense jostling for positions in the province.
"They are forming alliances to jostle for positions," he told the Financial Gazette.
"Obviously, in any political set up, people are bound to argue and quarrel. It is allowed in any democratic party such as Zanu-PF," he said.
Zanu-PF insiders in different provinces said a huge implosion was taking place in the party as trigger happy hawks seized the opportunity to try and shove all those perceived to be sympathetic to Mujuru, amidst fears there were considerable numbers of people still sympathetic to the ousted former vice president.
"There is a lot of shadowboxing going on in the party," said a well placed Zanu-PF official in Mashonaland East, another province which is said to be rocked by the massive grassroots wash.
"It looks like there is no future for those thought to be in the Mujuru faction anymore. Very nasty developments are taking place."
"The pasi ne gammatox (down with gammatox) slogan is going on and the atmosphere at these cell verification gatherings is so tense that some are voluntarily opting out. The situation is so volatile that they cannot even set foot at these gatherings without fearing victimisation. The target is all those who are said to have been imposed by former provincial chairman, (Ray) Kaukonde," the official told the Financial Gazette.
Gammatox is a derogatory term used to refer to the Mujuru's camp.
It was first coined by Didymus Mutasa, the ousted former Zanu-PF secretary for administration, in reference to the poison used to do away with weevils from grain a few weeks after President Robert Mugabe declared that the party had been infiltrated by people without the party at heart, describing them as weevils.
The infighting comes at a time Zanu-PF has embarked on a nationwide audit of its structures following an internal revolution that rocked it ahead of its 6th congress which led to the expulsion of key officials including the former VP, Mutasa and party spokesman, Rugare Gumbo.
They were accused of attempting to stage a palace coup on President Mugabe, or even plotting to assassinate the 91-year old who has ruled the country since independence in 1980.
The purge left the party badly disfigured and in need of structural reforms that it has kicked off.
But apart from the tussle over party structures, looming by-elections have ignited the fuse to a huge dogfight as members jostle for legislative seats.
The restructuring, which many have described as a witch-hunt targeted at eliminating the Mujuru faction which for years had battled neck on neck with Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa's rival camp, was ordered by Kasukuwere last month.
Kasukuwere is an ally of Mnangagwa although rumours within party circles say he harbours personal ambitions beyond being someone else's ally.
In the broader scheme of things, Kasukuwere's link to the succession fights, however, distant, has brought in another dimension to an already complicated and unsettled terrain.
This has given rise to discomfort even within his own camp whereby some believe he is building the party with selfish ambitions in mind.
The restructuring is currently at cell level, the lowest in Zanu-PF, and indications are that Mujuru sympathisers continue to exist, a situation which has seen militant activists loyal to Mnangagwa, moving to consolidate their foothold.
The 'Mujuru cleansing' is expected to worsen as the audit creeps up the party structures in the coming weeks.
Zanu-PF sources said the restructuring has become the new theatre for internal political power struggles as the Mujuru faction refuses to back down and totally surrender control of the party to the Mnangagwa camp in the faint hope of a possible revival in future.
They are encouraged by the unexpected resurgence of the Mnangagwa faction which looked completely annihilated following its purging in 2004, almost in similar fashion and for the same reasons of plotting treason.
The infighting has since left Kasukuwere with a lot of firefighting to do to try and calm the situation.
The firebrand political commissar was not picking calls this week but the Financial Gazette understands that although the restructuring is still at lower levels, local party bigwigs are already spoiling for a fight knowing that the grassroots structures hold the key to their political future.
"There is a lot of friction as the Mnangagwa faction attempts to assert itself as the dominant force under the ruling party's big tent," said a Zanu-PF official in Harare.
"They know that to secure their foothold, they have to control the lower structures upwards and at the rate at which things are going, I can assure you much is in the offing," he added.
At the weekend, the party political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, had to rush to Bulawayo following reports that Mujuru faction members were being blocked from contesting for both party positions and the five national Assembly constituencies where by-elections will be held in June.
Kasukuwere, according to Zanu-PF insiders, read the riot act against warring members of the party and ordered a fair procedure in the selection of candidates to represent the party at various levels, including in by-elections.
But even after he left the province, reports say more squabbles erupted, with sources in the second capital saying Zanu-PF secretary for youth affairs, Pupurai Togarepi, who was assigned to superintend the restructuring in the absence of Patrick Chinamasa, the secretary for legal affairs, was having a torrid time trying to put things in order.
Old battle lines between Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial chairman, Callistus Ndlovu who was reinstated to the position after the Politburo reversed a vote of no confidence in him in November, and the ambitious George Mlala, who had instigated the move, have been renewed as they try to outfox each other through proxies in the lower tiers of the party.
Togarepi confirmed there was intense jostling for positions in the province.
"They are forming alliances to jostle for positions," he told the Financial Gazette.
"Obviously, in any political set up, people are bound to argue and quarrel. It is allowed in any democratic party such as Zanu-PF," he said.
Zanu-PF insiders in different provinces said a huge implosion was taking place in the party as trigger happy hawks seized the opportunity to try and shove all those perceived to be sympathetic to Mujuru, amidst fears there were considerable numbers of people still sympathetic to the ousted former vice president.
"There is a lot of shadowboxing going on in the party," said a well placed Zanu-PF official in Mashonaland East, another province which is said to be rocked by the massive grassroots wash.
"It looks like there is no future for those thought to be in the Mujuru faction anymore. Very nasty developments are taking place."
"The pasi ne gammatox (down with gammatox) slogan is going on and the atmosphere at these cell verification gatherings is so tense that some are voluntarily opting out. The situation is so volatile that they cannot even set foot at these gatherings without fearing victimisation. The target is all those who are said to have been imposed by former provincial chairman, (Ray) Kaukonde," the official told the Financial Gazette.
Gammatox is a derogatory term used to refer to the Mujuru's camp.
It was first coined by Didymus Mutasa, the ousted former Zanu-PF secretary for administration, in reference to the poison used to do away with weevils from grain a few weeks after President Robert Mugabe declared that the party had been infiltrated by people without the party at heart, describing them as weevils.
The infighting comes at a time Zanu-PF has embarked on a nationwide audit of its structures following an internal revolution that rocked it ahead of its 6th congress which led to the expulsion of key officials including the former VP, Mutasa and party spokesman, Rugare Gumbo.
They were accused of attempting to stage a palace coup on President Mugabe, or even plotting to assassinate the 91-year old who has ruled the country since independence in 1980.
The purge left the party badly disfigured and in need of structural reforms that it has kicked off.
But apart from the tussle over party structures, looming by-elections have ignited the fuse to a huge dogfight as members jostle for legislative seats.
The restructuring, which many have described as a witch-hunt targeted at eliminating the Mujuru faction which for years had battled neck on neck with Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa's rival camp, was ordered by Kasukuwere last month.
Kasukuwere is an ally of Mnangagwa although rumours within party circles say he harbours personal ambitions beyond being someone else's ally.
In the broader scheme of things, Kasukuwere's link to the succession fights, however, distant, has brought in another dimension to an already complicated and unsettled terrain.
This has given rise to discomfort even within his own camp whereby some believe he is building the party with selfish ambitions in mind.
The restructuring is currently at cell level, the lowest in Zanu-PF, and indications are that Mujuru sympathisers continue to exist, a situation which has seen militant activists loyal to Mnangagwa, moving to consolidate their foothold.
The 'Mujuru cleansing' is expected to worsen as the audit creeps up the party structures in the coming weeks.
Zanu-PF sources said the restructuring has become the new theatre for internal political power struggles as the Mujuru faction refuses to back down and totally surrender control of the party to the Mnangagwa camp in the faint hope of a possible revival in future.
They are encouraged by the unexpected resurgence of the Mnangagwa faction which looked completely annihilated following its purging in 2004, almost in similar fashion and for the same reasons of plotting treason.
The infighting has since left Kasukuwere with a lot of firefighting to do to try and calm the situation.
The firebrand political commissar was not picking calls this week but the Financial Gazette understands that although the restructuring is still at lower levels, local party bigwigs are already spoiling for a fight knowing that the grassroots structures hold the key to their political future.
"There is a lot of friction as the Mnangagwa faction attempts to assert itself as the dominant force under the ruling party's big tent," said a Zanu-PF official in Harare.
"They know that to secure their foothold, they have to control the lower structures upwards and at the rate at which things are going, I can assure you much is in the offing," he added.
Source - fingaz
