News / National
'Wrong' Bhasikiti mounts spirited defence
25 Nov 2014 at 12:38hrs | Views
Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, the Masvingo Provincial Affairs minister, told President Robert Mugabe last weekend that all members of the Zanu-PF politburo were in "wrong baskets".
Following a verbal shellacking he received from Mugabe during last week's politburo meeting where the 90-year-old president asked Bhasikiti why he was "in the wrong basket", the embattled minister mounted a spirited defence in the politburo, according to sources, saying all of them either belonged to Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa or vice president Joice Mujuru's camps.
"You should get out of the wrong basket. I hear that you are not consistent. Get into the right basket," Mugabe said to Bhasikiti as he was entering the politburo.
A tense Bhasikiti told his boss that he had worked on a thesis whose content proves his commitment to Zanu-PF.
"I am consistent, president," he said in his defence, but Mugabe reportedly told him off.
Bhasikiti, however, told the Daily News yesterday that following the public humiliation, he later gathered his guts to tell Mugabe the truth during the meeting.
Defending himself, Bhasikiti said he had impressed upon Mugabe that there were two camps battling for supremacy in the party.
He claimed that he told Mugabe that he had been isolated in the politburo as members had transferred their loyalty to leaders of their respective factions.
"I told the president when all of you journalists had left that I was not the only one in the wrong basket as people are aligned either to Mnangagwa or Mai Mujuru and that members no longer respected him," Bhasikiti said.
Both Mujuru and Mnangagwa have denied leading factions.
The Mwenezi legislator said: "I told him that I was the only one who still believed in him in the entire politburo and even in Parliament despite that I was also in the wrong basket as others have since abandoned him for their new leaders."
Bhasikiti was, however, quick to point out that he did not follow any faction leaders.
"I hope the fact that the president will now appoint his deputies means that people have now been bundled in one basket and all these issues will be put to rest and that is why I supported amendments to the party constitution," he said.
He refused to say whether he felt that the method used to put the party in one basket was unfair to Mujuru since only her perceived allies were purged.
"I am too junior to comment about that but my only hope is that whatever happens in the party pleases us all as one family," Bhasikiti said.
Prior to the politburo meeting, Mugabe had also questioned Labour and Social Welfare minister Nicholas Goche over reports that he approached hit men to assassinate him.
Goche has since been blocked from retaining his position in the central committee by hired anti-Mujuru party supporters.
Following a verbal shellacking he received from Mugabe during last week's politburo meeting where the 90-year-old president asked Bhasikiti why he was "in the wrong basket", the embattled minister mounted a spirited defence in the politburo, according to sources, saying all of them either belonged to Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa or vice president Joice Mujuru's camps.
"You should get out of the wrong basket. I hear that you are not consistent. Get into the right basket," Mugabe said to Bhasikiti as he was entering the politburo.
A tense Bhasikiti told his boss that he had worked on a thesis whose content proves his commitment to Zanu-PF.
"I am consistent, president," he said in his defence, but Mugabe reportedly told him off.
Bhasikiti, however, told the Daily News yesterday that following the public humiliation, he later gathered his guts to tell Mugabe the truth during the meeting.
Defending himself, Bhasikiti said he had impressed upon Mugabe that there were two camps battling for supremacy in the party.
He claimed that he told Mugabe that he had been isolated in the politburo as members had transferred their loyalty to leaders of their respective factions.
"I told the president when all of you journalists had left that I was not the only one in the wrong basket as people are aligned either to Mnangagwa or Mai Mujuru and that members no longer respected him," Bhasikiti said.
Both Mujuru and Mnangagwa have denied leading factions.
The Mwenezi legislator said: "I told him that I was the only one who still believed in him in the entire politburo and even in Parliament despite that I was also in the wrong basket as others have since abandoned him for their new leaders."
Bhasikiti was, however, quick to point out that he did not follow any faction leaders.
"I hope the fact that the president will now appoint his deputies means that people have now been bundled in one basket and all these issues will be put to rest and that is why I supported amendments to the party constitution," he said.
He refused to say whether he felt that the method used to put the party in one basket was unfair to Mujuru since only her perceived allies were purged.
"I am too junior to comment about that but my only hope is that whatever happens in the party pleases us all as one family," Bhasikiti said.
Prior to the politburo meeting, Mugabe had also questioned Labour and Social Welfare minister Nicholas Goche over reports that he approached hit men to assassinate him.
Goche has since been blocked from retaining his position in the central committee by hired anti-Mujuru party supporters.
Source - dailynews
