News / National
Zanu-PF Masvingo defy Politburo directive
11 Apr 2014 at 05:56hrs | Views
The Masvingo provincial leadership is defying a politburo directive to re-run the Zanu PF poll after provincial election results were sullied by allegations of electoral fraud and flagrant violation of voting guidelines.
The re-run was sanctioned after a letter written to national chairman Simon Khaya Moyo and penned by Munyaradzi Mangwana, Shuvai Mahofa and Daniel Shumba was tabled before the politburo two weeks ago.
The letter raised a number of objections to the legitimacy of the Callisto Gwanetsa-led executive and its November installation into office.
While Gwanetsa was unreachable for comment, the Daily News understands he was defying the politburo directive.
"Webster Shamu, Dzikamai Mavhaire, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti and the chairman Gwanesta, have complied with part of the directive," said a top Zanu PF insider.
"They complied with correcting their members who were in the basket but they have not complied with electing those members into office as directed by the party circular 19 of 2013 which directs that you must call for a provincial inter-district conference to elect the people in the basket into executive positions."
Asked why they were defying the directive, the official said: "Because, clearly the executive elected is partisan towards their team, they are simply perpetuating factional lines in preparation for the next electoral processes that include central committee and congress."
Mangwana, Mahofa and Shumba in their letter to Khaya Moyo said the objections to the flawed election were raised at a provincial meeting held on March 8 in Masvingo, that was also attended by Shamu, the Zanu PF national political commissar.
Shamu was not taking calls from the Daily News yesterday.
"The meeting noted that the chairman misdirected, manipulated and did not follow party directives on the holding and conduct of provincial elections," said the letter to Khaya Moyo. "He, with the full blessing of Cde Dzikamai Mavhaire negated to call for the provincial inter-district conference to elect into office the provincial executive but instead went on to appoint members into office in a partisan manner.
"The appointments were and remain in direct contravention of Commisariat Circular 19/2013, regarding the election of provincial executives into office. This continued deliberate violation of party rules, policies and procedures is rendering it impossible to effectively and legitimately conduct party business and affairs in Masvingo province."
The Masvingo provincial meeting complained that the same "un-elected and illegitimate provincial executive" was now giving itself a mandate to change and restructure subordinate party organs inorder to put into office members who were partisan toward their executive.
"The provincial chairman (Gwanetsa) has now resorted to intimidating and use insulting language inorder to subdue members during meetings," the letter says.
Top party sources said the damning letter split the Politburo along factional lines two weeks ago, with Shamhu, Rugare Gumbo, Bhasikiti, Nelson Mawema and Mavhaire reacting angrily to the letter. They are all believed to be Joice Mujuru loyalists.
Justice and Legal Affairs minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, a 66-year-old guerrilla war veteran and President Robert Mugabe's key ally and enforcer, is widely seen as a succession contender, along with Mujuru, 58, another liberation war veteran whose nom de guerre was Teurai Ropa and is leading the stakes to succeed the 90-year-old president.
Both have been members of Mugabe's Cabinet since 1980, and played a major role in Zanu PF's re-election machine, and are looking to strategically-position loyalists ahead of the elective congress in December that will decide a successor to Mugabe.
Various politburo sources confirmed the challenge to the Masvingo vote caused bitter divisions between the Zanu PF factions in the politburo.
The Daily News understands the politburo challenge was the latest turf war after the Mnangagwa faction had earlier appealed against the poll result to the Zanu PF headquarters for presentation to the politburo, after studying the electoral process with legal advisors. The Mnangagwa faction insisted that there must be a new election held under terms of the electoral circular drafted by Shamu, which the Mnangagwa faction alleges Gwanetsa flagrantly violated during the November vote.
The Mujuru faction allies reportedly fumed at the authors of the letter. Mahofa, Mangwana and Shumba, and accused them of attempting to destabilise the province. Most of the venom was directed at Shumba, with Mavhaire charging: "Who is Shumba?"
Sources said Mawema told the politburo that in his 50 years in Zanu PF, he had never seen attempts to dethrone an executive when the leadership has made a decision.
But he was immediately overruled by Mnangagwa, who said the three had a right to their views, and that officials must be elected into office through an election not through the back door.
Gumbo is said to have attacked Shumba, saying he was the main cause of all this disquiet and insisting that the executive was enthroned through a legitimate process.
Mugabe is said to have interjected, saying Shumba was entitled to full rights enjoyed by all party members, and if he wanted to object through letters, so be it.
Officials from the Mnangagwa faction said they felt hard-done that there was a system of forgery, which was enough to cancel the entire poll.
But the Mujuru faction, through Mavhaire, made known its rejection of a petition for a new election in Masvingo despite strong evidence of vote irregularities in those elections.
Should there be another election, the outcome cannot be taken for granted as it also influences the cadres who will be seconded to the Central Committee from the province.
Mugabe had the final word, sources said, ordering a re-run of the election in line with party guidelines to put the matter to rest. That directive has been defied, insiders say.
The re-run was sanctioned after a letter written to national chairman Simon Khaya Moyo and penned by Munyaradzi Mangwana, Shuvai Mahofa and Daniel Shumba was tabled before the politburo two weeks ago.
The letter raised a number of objections to the legitimacy of the Callisto Gwanetsa-led executive and its November installation into office.
While Gwanetsa was unreachable for comment, the Daily News understands he was defying the politburo directive.
"Webster Shamu, Dzikamai Mavhaire, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti and the chairman Gwanesta, have complied with part of the directive," said a top Zanu PF insider.
"They complied with correcting their members who were in the basket but they have not complied with electing those members into office as directed by the party circular 19 of 2013 which directs that you must call for a provincial inter-district conference to elect the people in the basket into executive positions."
Asked why they were defying the directive, the official said: "Because, clearly the executive elected is partisan towards their team, they are simply perpetuating factional lines in preparation for the next electoral processes that include central committee and congress."
Mangwana, Mahofa and Shumba in their letter to Khaya Moyo said the objections to the flawed election were raised at a provincial meeting held on March 8 in Masvingo, that was also attended by Shamu, the Zanu PF national political commissar.
Shamu was not taking calls from the Daily News yesterday.
"The meeting noted that the chairman misdirected, manipulated and did not follow party directives on the holding and conduct of provincial elections," said the letter to Khaya Moyo. "He, with the full blessing of Cde Dzikamai Mavhaire negated to call for the provincial inter-district conference to elect into office the provincial executive but instead went on to appoint members into office in a partisan manner.
"The appointments were and remain in direct contravention of Commisariat Circular 19/2013, regarding the election of provincial executives into office. This continued deliberate violation of party rules, policies and procedures is rendering it impossible to effectively and legitimately conduct party business and affairs in Masvingo province."
The Masvingo provincial meeting complained that the same "un-elected and illegitimate provincial executive" was now giving itself a mandate to change and restructure subordinate party organs inorder to put into office members who were partisan toward their executive.
"The provincial chairman (Gwanetsa) has now resorted to intimidating and use insulting language inorder to subdue members during meetings," the letter says.
Top party sources said the damning letter split the Politburo along factional lines two weeks ago, with Shamhu, Rugare Gumbo, Bhasikiti, Nelson Mawema and Mavhaire reacting angrily to the letter. They are all believed to be Joice Mujuru loyalists.
Justice and Legal Affairs minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, a 66-year-old guerrilla war veteran and President Robert Mugabe's key ally and enforcer, is widely seen as a succession contender, along with Mujuru, 58, another liberation war veteran whose nom de guerre was Teurai Ropa and is leading the stakes to succeed the 90-year-old president.
Both have been members of Mugabe's Cabinet since 1980, and played a major role in Zanu PF's re-election machine, and are looking to strategically-position loyalists ahead of the elective congress in December that will decide a successor to Mugabe.
Various politburo sources confirmed the challenge to the Masvingo vote caused bitter divisions between the Zanu PF factions in the politburo.
The Daily News understands the politburo challenge was the latest turf war after the Mnangagwa faction had earlier appealed against the poll result to the Zanu PF headquarters for presentation to the politburo, after studying the electoral process with legal advisors. The Mnangagwa faction insisted that there must be a new election held under terms of the electoral circular drafted by Shamu, which the Mnangagwa faction alleges Gwanetsa flagrantly violated during the November vote.
The Mujuru faction allies reportedly fumed at the authors of the letter. Mahofa, Mangwana and Shumba, and accused them of attempting to destabilise the province. Most of the venom was directed at Shumba, with Mavhaire charging: "Who is Shumba?"
Sources said Mawema told the politburo that in his 50 years in Zanu PF, he had never seen attempts to dethrone an executive when the leadership has made a decision.
But he was immediately overruled by Mnangagwa, who said the three had a right to their views, and that officials must be elected into office through an election not through the back door.
Gumbo is said to have attacked Shumba, saying he was the main cause of all this disquiet and insisting that the executive was enthroned through a legitimate process.
Mugabe is said to have interjected, saying Shumba was entitled to full rights enjoyed by all party members, and if he wanted to object through letters, so be it.
Officials from the Mnangagwa faction said they felt hard-done that there was a system of forgery, which was enough to cancel the entire poll.
But the Mujuru faction, through Mavhaire, made known its rejection of a petition for a new election in Masvingo despite strong evidence of vote irregularities in those elections.
Should there be another election, the outcome cannot be taken for granted as it also influences the cadres who will be seconded to the Central Committee from the province.
Mugabe had the final word, sources said, ordering a re-run of the election in line with party guidelines to put the matter to rest. That directive has been defied, insiders say.
Source - dailynews
