Zanu-PF still to decide on forgiving Mugabe ministers

ZANU-PF says it is yet to make a concrete decision on whether or not to readmit into the party, expelled Midlands-based government ministers, who were aligned to the vanquished G40 faction.

Addressing journalists in Kwekwe Wednesday, the Zanu-PF Midlands provincial chairperson, Daniel Mackenzie Ncube said the party was still debating on the issue almost two years after the affected ministers who were expelled in 2017 begged for readmission.

The affected are; former sports minister Makhosini Hlongwane and ex-labour deputy minister Tapiwa Matangaidze.

They were expelled when then-Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa seized control of both the state and the party in a 2017 military assisted coup.

At the time, the ex-party and government officials were loyal to Generation 40, a party faction that was keen on the then First Lady Grace Mugabe succeeding her husband, Robert Mugabe.

After their expulsion, they wrote to the party two years ago seeking readmission.

"We received applications from several former G40 cadres including Makhosini and Matangaidze. We deliberated on those applications and passed them to head office," said Ncube.

"I am meeting with Dr (Obert) Mpofu and we will be discussing the applications. Hopefully, they can be concluded as soon as possible."

Mpofu is the Zanu-PF secretary for administration.

Last year, the former cabinet ministers wrote to the Zanu-PF provincial executive pleading to be readmitted into the party.

"They say they love the party and are loyal to the HE (President Emmerson Mnangagwa). They agree they made a mistake and are young," Ncube told journalists.

Meanwhile, Ncube said Zanu-PF had started in earnest its campaign for the 2023 elections.

"We are slowly, but surely gearing up for 2023. Zanu-PF is always confident of electoral victory. The restructuring programme is going on really well. We have since covered Shurugwi, Zvishavane. Mberengwa and Chirumanzu," he said.

However, he admitted there were cracks in the party structures due to the contested District Development Committee (DCC) elections held last year.

"They may be contradictions but I will not elevate them to factionalism. The party has moved on from the DCCs. We have embarked on a serious outreach programme. We also inducted all the DCC members to the Chitepo School of Ideology. Hopefully, they will mend their residual differences," he said.

"Those who have defected from the opposition some of them have been accommodated and attended the Chitepo School of Ideology programmes, and they found the programmes very useful to them, in terms of teaching them values, culture and the norms around Zanu-PF and the love of their country."

Among those who have attended the school of ideology is former MDC Alliance senator and deputy treasurer, Lilian Timveous and former MDC Kwekwe Central MP Blessing Chebundo. The two defected to Zanu-PF last February.