Poor turnout at Mnangagwa's rally

Acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday suffered another blow to his campaign, with a poor turnout at his rally here confirming the dramatic drop in support suggested by analysts.

Analysts have predicted that the crisis-torn ruling Zanu-PF party faced a real battle to stay in power in forthcoming elections.

A few thousand supporters attended the rally at Mucheke Stadium in a key Mnangagwa home constituency.

Repeated appeals for bus drivers to ferry more supporters to the meeting failed to boost the audience, although Mnangagwa arrived hours later than scheduled to address them.

Party stalwarts complained that they had expected a bigger turnout, and accused the district organisers of failing to do a good job.

Several hundred thousand people had turned out to hear party officials at the same site three years ago, shortly before Zanu-PF controversially swept to power ahead of the 2013 general elections.

In his speech, Mnangagwa repeated the familiar themes of the campaign of recent months, dismissing claims that the ruling party has split into two factions.

"Never believe those who are saying the revolutionary party has split," Mnangagwa said.

"There are no two Zanu-PF's as those who purport to be forming another party cannot do so because we fired them. In Zanu-PF, we fire people one by one who cannot toe the correct line and thus we are not like MDC who have several parties with one name."

He said those who were mulling plans to form a new Zanu-PF party were "day-dreaming".

Mnangagwa likened the splinter Zanu-PF faction going by the moniker People First to an insignificant outfit.

"Those who are spreading wrong information and making noise are like a dog barking at an elephant passing through a home and Zanu-PF is the elephant it will continue to move on despite the barking dogs and Didymus Mutasa and his colleagues are the useless dog," Mnangagwa said.

His remarks come amid reports that Mutasa, Rugare Gumbo and other disaffected party stalwarts were insisting that they were the bona fide Zanu-PF.

"There are sellouts that are making noise and some of them like Mutasa and (Temba) Mliswa have gone and tried to drag our party to the court and have lost their case so you can never stop the revolution because it will continue to unfold," he said.

"There will never be a split in Zanu-PF and never be two parties in the revolutionary party because we have a strong constitution that allows us to expel renegades, so if you are fired you cannot be part of us anymore."

He accused Mutasa and Mujuru of being responsible for their expulsion after ostensibly planning to assassinate President Robert Mugabe. Both have rubbished the accusations.

Earlier, Mnangagwa had officially opened the Trabablas national liberation war monument site at Masvingo Railway Station. It was the scene where Mnangagwa reportedly bombed a train in 1964.

Mnangagwa, under his nom de guere Trabablas Dzokerai Mabhunu, in 1964 blew a train at then colonial Rhodesia's Fort Victoria Train Station while conducting sabotage guerrilla operations under the Crocodile Gang. This was after he had undergone military  training outside the country.

Mnangagwa was saved from the hangman's noose because he was still under the age of 21.