Obert Mpofu, Zanu-PF youths in heated exchanges

THe Zanu-PF youth league reportedly stood firm during an explosive politburo meeting in which secretary for administration Obert Mpofu reportedly tried to threaten them into silence, highly-placed sources have said.

Mpofu is alleged to have issued threats and warned the youths to respect party processes and procedures, saying their move to call for a Press conference to embarrass senior party members by labelling them as corrupt was uncalled for.

"He tried to threaten the youth league. He was angry and even issued threats, but he later retreated because he only had the support of two other politburo members while the rest could not speak out or supported (deputy youth secretary Lewis) Matutu and team," the source said.

The three who supported Mpofu stayed clear of the issue of corruption, but instead wanted to hammer on the issue of procedure, arguing that the youths should have brought the names to the politburo instead.

"Matutu stood his ground, telling the politburo that there was no procedure and process in fighting corruption. He asked Mpofu if it would have made sense to bring a letter to him and say in the next politburo I want us to discuss that you are corrupt," the source said.

After agreeing to investigate allegations of corruption by Zanu-PF members, government officials and ministers named by the youths, the politburo then insisted on having members of the politburo probe the allegations.

Sources said the youth league rejected the suggestion, instead telling the meeting that they were going to name more party bigwigs and it would be impossible for them to properly investigate the allegations.

"The President (Emmerson Mnangagwa) agreed and said he would name an independent commission. He is going to look for reputable individuals who have no links to the party because he insisted that he wants corruption dealt with," the source said.

Matutu yesterday refused to comment on the matter, referring all the questions to party spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo. He, however, reiterated that the youths were not scared of the lawsuits that were coming their way and were ready for the legal battle.

"I can comment on the lawsuits. We have seen the notices and we are unmoved. We can assure you that we did not just pull names from the hat; we know what we are talking about and at the grand stage we will weather the storm," he said.

Moyo said his statement on the politburo meeting was sufficient to cover what had transpired during the Wednesday politburo meeting and would not comment further.

Responding to the allegations, Mpofu said: "Whose party are they talking about? They can only do so on what they own, on what is theirs. I am in the office and there is nothing like that and it will never happen. I am just hearing it and they haven't come to me directly, I am just reading about it."