Bhasikiti raps Mujuru

EXPELLED Zimbabwe People First secretary for elections, Mr Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, has rapped interim party leader Dr Joice Mujuru, accusing her of exhibiting dictatorial tendencies and ineptitude to lead the formation.

Mr Bhasikiti said Dr Mujuru unilaterally amended the party's draft constitution and made significant changes contrary to what had been agreed to at its formation.

Dr Mujuru on Wednesday cut ties with founding members of ZimPF among them, Messrs Didymus Mutasa, Rugare Gumbo, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, Munacho Mutezo, Dr Margaret Dongo and youth secretary, Mr Lucky Kandemiri after she expelled them from the party. The expelled team countered Dr Mujuru arguing that they had instead expelled her, as more officials tendered their resignations from ZimPF on Thursday.

Appearing on Star FM's Spotlight programme on Thursday night, Mr Bhasikiti said Dr Mujuru had for some time exhibited dictatorial tendencies by only taking advice from her relatives that she had surrounded herself with.

"We started noticing that ZimPF was going off rail when Mujuru started appointing her relatives to positions despite counsel against it from the party leadership," said Mr Bhasikiti.

"She started surrounding herself with her relatives whose decisions she implemented even if they were against those agreed in party meetings."

Mr Bhasikiti said Dr Mujuru appointed Messrs David Butau, Dzikamai Mavhaire and Gift Nyandoro into senior positions despite strong resistance from the party leadership.

He said Dr Mujuru also wanted to remove party spokesperson, Mr Jealousy Mawarire and replace him with Mr Nyandoro, but the former was saved by the intervention of Mr Mutasa and Mr Gumbo.

Mr Bhasikiti said Dr Mujuru went on to amend the party's draft constitution with her cabal without input from the rest of the party leadership.

"We were also shocked that the draft constitution, she had come up with – a second draft  without our input – was written by her brother Nyandoro.

"Then, we asked why and she said, he was correcting errors. Soon after, she said, she had a third draft of the constitution. We looked at it and saw it had departed from the first draft that we lodged with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission when we formed our party.

"We said, it was now getting out of hand because we said that our party should unite the country, (and) we would not need two vice presidents. President Mugabe introduced two vice presidents to cater for the Unity Accord in 1987. People are now aware that we are one country. Even if you look at South Africa, which is bigger than us and even the United States, which has more states, they only have one vice president,'' said Mr Bhasikiti.

"I also told her in her face that I had lost faith in her leadership because she could not unilaterally amend the draft constitution and for surrounding herself with her relatives. We had agreed that there will be no Zimbabwe People First regalia that would be printed with the leader's picture, but now there are T-shirts with her face. And, we also said no songs that praise the leader, (but) we now have such songs. These are the questions we raised," said Mr Bhasikiti.

Contacted for comment on what Mr Bhasikiti said, spokesperson of Dr Mujuru's faction, Mr Jealousy Mawarire declined to comment, saying he would want to respond on the Star FM programme where Mr Bhasikiti made the allegations.

"If you want me to respond, you call me to the same platform. I am available. I won't respond to allegations made on radio, in newspapers," said Mr Mawarire.