Mnangagwa says, factional fights tearing Zanu-PF

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has admitted that the ruling Zanu-PF party is being ripped apart by deep-rooted divisions ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Addressing supporters while commissioning three boreholes in Glen View, Harare on Saturday, Mnangagwa blasted some individuals who he alleged were using money to get positions in the party.

The Presidential Borehole Drilling Scheme is being supported by Prevail International chief executive, Temper Tungwarara.

It will also be implemented in Chitungwiza as Zanu-PF tries to woo urban votes ahead of general elections next year.

Mnangagwa said Zanu-PF Harare provincial chairperson Goodwills Masimirembwa was struggling to contain factionalism in the province.

"Here in Harare, there is a lot of factionalism. Masimirembwa is struggling to contain factionalism in the province, and we don't want that in the party. Zanu-PF does not belong to individuals," he said.

"If you want to be promoted, work hard and we don't want people who use money to get positions in the party. We are also against land barons. If you are caught on the wrong side of the law, you will be arrested. We will continue to rule this country as we have two-thirds majority in Parliament and nothing will stop us from ruling this country."

Currently, Zanu-PF members are jostling for positions ahead of the 2023 elections.

The party's women's league members are also having a go at each other ahead of their conference next month.

In Buhera South, outspoken MP Joseph Chinotimba is feeling the heat after party supporters organised a demonstration to unseat him early this month, accusing him of denigrating Mnangagwa.

Chinotimba, who was a fervent supporter of the late former President Robert Mugabe, courted the ire of Zanu-PF activists after a video leaked onto social media platforms in which he accused Mnangagwa of plotting to remove him from his constituency in favour of a local businessman, Ngonidzashe Mudekunye.

The demonstrations, however, fizzled out after police cordoned off the area and reports surfaced that Chinotimba had apologised to Mnangagwa.

Masimirembwa told NewsDay that factionalism would not be tolerated in the party.

"What his Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa said was very clear that factionalism will not be tolerated in the party, and we are going to ensure that it ends. We will move as a united party. Factionalism is going to be a thing of the past," Masimirembwa
said.

In his Saturday address, Mnangagwa also blasted some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for "working with Western countries to destabilise the country".

"We need to have food security in the country as you can see that we have initiated various government irrigation schemes. The second republic has brought a lot of changes in the country and we are creating employment for a lot of youths in various sectors," he
said.

"As a country, we are making sure that we have food security because we are constructing a lot of dams. You can never suppress our country because we are a united front. We are aware of NGOs that are being used by the Americans to destabilise the country."