News / National
Rugare Gumbo will not apply for re-admission into Zanu PF
09 Oct 2018 at 07:07hrs | Views
FORMER Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo, a stalwart of the liberation struggle, is ready to walk away from politics and will not apply for re-admission into the party, but would consider a return if the party makes such a resolution.
His comments came in the wake of Zanu PF's announcement that former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa and ex-Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association national chairperson Jabulani Sibanda had been re-admitted after their applications were approved by the politburo last week.
"They know my position. If they want me to return to the party, they can re-admit me. I do not have to apply to re-join a party that I formed. It does not make sense," Gumbo said.
"There were problems that I would not want to encounter again. I have been quiet and have not commented on anything. I am busy with personal stuff and that is what I want to concentrate on."
Asked if he was contemplating retiring from politics, Gumbo suggested the time might have come.
"I have been in politics for a long time. I would not want to keep being pushed around. I want to rest," the former Agriculture minister, who had a number of run-ins with former President Robert Mugabe, said.
A week after Mnangagwa's sacking as Vice-President by Mugabe in November last year, Mutasa said he would never "shed tears for Mnangagwa" and that he deserved "everything coming at him".
But Mutasa said he was not going to keep grudges forever.
"The fact that you heard the party announce my return means I have had a change of heart. We should not focus on the negatives always, I want to contribute constructively for the benefit of the nation," he said.
"I know I said things in anger, but if I was angry in 2014 when I was expelled, it does not mean I must continue to hold the grudge to this day."
The former Intelligence minister was expelled from the ruling party as part of an internal purge that swept away then Vice-President Joice Mujuru along with other leading stalwarts in Zanu PF.
Mujuru's expulsion did nothing to stem the fighting in Zanu PF, but it was Mnangagwa's sacking that triggered a military intervention that forced Mugabe's resignation last November and Mnangagwa's eventual rise to the top.
Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo last week announced the party's politburo had resolved to re-admit Mutasa and Sibanda.
His comments came in the wake of Zanu PF's announcement that former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa and ex-Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association national chairperson Jabulani Sibanda had been re-admitted after their applications were approved by the politburo last week.
"They know my position. If they want me to return to the party, they can re-admit me. I do not have to apply to re-join a party that I formed. It does not make sense," Gumbo said.
"There were problems that I would not want to encounter again. I have been quiet and have not commented on anything. I am busy with personal stuff and that is what I want to concentrate on."
Asked if he was contemplating retiring from politics, Gumbo suggested the time might have come.
"I have been in politics for a long time. I would not want to keep being pushed around. I want to rest," the former Agriculture minister, who had a number of run-ins with former President Robert Mugabe, said.
But Mutasa said he was not going to keep grudges forever.
"The fact that you heard the party announce my return means I have had a change of heart. We should not focus on the negatives always, I want to contribute constructively for the benefit of the nation," he said.
"I know I said things in anger, but if I was angry in 2014 when I was expelled, it does not mean I must continue to hold the grudge to this day."
The former Intelligence minister was expelled from the ruling party as part of an internal purge that swept away then Vice-President Joice Mujuru along with other leading stalwarts in Zanu PF.
Mujuru's expulsion did nothing to stem the fighting in Zanu PF, but it was Mnangagwa's sacking that triggered a military intervention that forced Mugabe's resignation last November and Mnangagwa's eventual rise to the top.
Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo last week announced the party's politburo had resolved to re-admit Mutasa and Sibanda.
Source - newsday
