'Kasukuwere plotted coup'

FORMER Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial chairperson Ezra Chadzamira has sensationally written to interim provincial chairman Joram Gumbo informing him that the party's national commissar Saviour Kasukuwere had plans to oust President Robert Mugabe and take over leadership of the party ahead of the 2018 general elections.

The letter containing the claims was handed over to Mugabe at a politburo meeting a fortnight ago together with Gumbo's report on elections held to choose a provincial chairperson on February 23. In his report, Gumbo also alleged that Kasukuwere interfered with the elections in Masvingo.

Chadzamira contested for the chairmanship of the province and managed to garner 12 393 votes, while his challenger Mutero Maenzanise got 4 888 votes. The Zanu-PF politburo has, however, ordered a re-run of the polls after voting in some districts was affected by heavy rains.

Although he did not reveal how Kasukuwere intended to usurp power, Chadzamira said the local government minister promised him large tracts of land in Harare if he agreed to be part of his project.

"I feel that it is deemed necessary to disclose to you why I am being victimised by the national political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere," wrote Chadzamira.

"After the demise of the Mujuru cabal, I as provincial chairman and Jappy Jaboon our provincial commissar were summoned to a secret meeting at the Ministry of Local Government offices of the national political commissar. He expressed his wish to make preparations for the take-over of the leadership of Zanu-PF without any delay. I was shocked to hear Kasukuwere introducing such a treasonous subject abrasively in our presence.

"Realising that my body language was not responsive to this preposterous rumbling, he then referred me to Jaboon for further clarification. Jaboon expressed the same repugnant and unacceptable sentiments. In fact, we were supposed to be co-ordinators of this nefarious act which I refused."

Chadzamira added: "Curiously, Shadreck Mashayamombe was tasked to co-ordinate the allocation of 300 hectares of land in Harare to myself and Jaboon for our benefit if we agreed with the idea of Kasukuwere ascending to the highest office in the country. I and Jaboon were supposed to be co-ordinators in Masvingo province to pursue the agenda. As they did not manage to entice me to join the bandwagon, our normally good relations nosedived to the lowest ebb; this immediately brought about discord and tension between us on day-to-day party activities in Masvingo. This also led to my suspension from the province on spurious allegations which were dismissed by the national disciplinary committee."

Chadzamira further stated: "I shall, as usual and always, remain a consistent and persistent member of Zanu-PF and continue to offer my unflinching loyalty and allegiance to the party and its President and first secretary Cde RG Mugabe."

Contacted for comment, Chadzamira said he was not going to discuss internal issues being handled at a higher level.
"I cannot comment on an issue being dealt with at a higher organ of the party. You can refer all your questions to Gumbo," Chadzamira said.

Gumbo could not be reached for comment as he was said to be in Malaysia on government business.
However, in an interview last week Kasukuwere dismissed such allegations, saying he was not aware of the existence of such a letter. "I don't know anything about that letter," he said.

After being told of the allegations being raised by Chadzamira in the letter, Kasukuwere said: "That's weird. I have never sat down with anyone to discuss such issues."

In his report, Gumbo said he had no control over the elections as Kasukuwere allegedly interfered with his job.

"I wish to report that as acting chair and returning officer, I had no control of the electoral process. Instead the national political commissar had total control of the process through direct communication with the provincial chairpersons who are leading the different teams," he said.

"My expectation was that I would be in charge of the process together with the team that assisted in the restructuring process and that the NPC (national political commissar) would receive reports from me. As a result, decisions were taken without my involvement and I would only be informed of those decisions."