News / National
Anti-Mujuru hecklers barred from GZU graduation
01 Nov 2014 at 12:21hrs | Views
A group of rowdy Zanu-PF youths and women wearing T-shirts emblazoned with First Lady Grace Mugabe's portrait were yesterday turned away at Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) campus after they tried to gatecrash a graduation ceremony were President Robert Mugabe was capping over 1 000 graduands.
The Daily News witnessed over 100 women and youths being led away by security forces, who told them that they were not welcome at the ceremony.
Security insisted that only those with invitation cards would be allowed in.
Admire Mufamba, one of the youths, attempted to use Mugabe's name to intimidate the soldiers and police officers but they would have none of it.
"Do you know that we have leadership positions in the party and we want to see our President?" he said.
A party official loyal to the Joice Mujuru faction told the Daily News that it was a plot by their rival faction to humiliate their leaders in front of the president.
"We got intelligence that they had hired thugs to come and humiliate our provincial leaders and Cabinet ministers who have been accused of blocking the first Lady through working with vice president Mujuru. But the plot was foiled after security was tipped," said the official who declined to be named.
He said there was a plan to heckle Energy minister Dzikamai Mavhaire, a Mujuru faction loyalist, together with local provincial leadership who attended the ceremony.
The group also wanted to imitate a stage managed demonstration against Mujuru faction members in the presence of Mugabe, just like the one held at Thursday's Politburo meeting in Harare.
The GZU chaos came hardly a day after the pro-Mujuru provincial chairman, retired brigadier general, Killian Gwanetsa was pushed out through a no confidence vote passed by the local executive.
The provincial leadership is being accused of working against the nomination of the first lady to become Women's League boss.
The Daily News witnessed over 100 women and youths being led away by security forces, who told them that they were not welcome at the ceremony.
Security insisted that only those with invitation cards would be allowed in.
Admire Mufamba, one of the youths, attempted to use Mugabe's name to intimidate the soldiers and police officers but they would have none of it.
"Do you know that we have leadership positions in the party and we want to see our President?" he said.
"We got intelligence that they had hired thugs to come and humiliate our provincial leaders and Cabinet ministers who have been accused of blocking the first Lady through working with vice president Mujuru. But the plot was foiled after security was tipped," said the official who declined to be named.
He said there was a plan to heckle Energy minister Dzikamai Mavhaire, a Mujuru faction loyalist, together with local provincial leadership who attended the ceremony.
The group also wanted to imitate a stage managed demonstration against Mujuru faction members in the presence of Mugabe, just like the one held at Thursday's Politburo meeting in Harare.
The GZU chaos came hardly a day after the pro-Mujuru provincial chairman, retired brigadier general, Killian Gwanetsa was pushed out through a no confidence vote passed by the local executive.
The provincial leadership is being accused of working against the nomination of the first lady to become Women's League boss.
Source - dailynews
