Mujuru allies purge far from over

ZANU-PF's war against its members who are aligned to former Vice-President Joice Mujuru, who have been labelled gamatox, is far from over, with recent warnings from the Midlands spokesperson Conelious Mupereri saying they will be fired.

Addressing over 300 party leaders at a Kwekwe inter-district party meeting held Friday, Mupereri accused those aligned to Mujuru of being thieves, saying the party would not hesitate to fire them.

According to minutes of the meeting, Mupereri, a strong ally of Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, warned the leaders not to sup with the alleged "thieves in the gamatox" camp.

"Mupereri urged members to be wary of the unscrupulous criminals who are calling themselves members of the party who were labelled gamatox," read the minutes.

"He said the party would not hesitate to fire all those identified as aligned to gamatox and leaders who abuse their positions for self enrichment."

The meeting was taken as an opportunity to officially launch Auxillia Mnangagwa's campaign for the Chirumanzi-Zibagwe parliamentary seat.

Mupereri told Zanu-PF Kwekwe leaders that they should do everything possible to support Auxillia's candidature in the by-elections, which will be held on March 27.

"All people were urged to unite and assist to campaign for Zanu-PF candidate Cde Auxillia Mnangagwa," the report reads.

The party is presently facing a serious challenge over the legitimacy of its December 2014 congress from the gamatox clique, which is fronted by former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa and axed spokesman Rugare Gumbo.

In an effort to flush out grassroots supports for those fingered as supporters of Mujuru, Mupereri said Zanu-PF would be holding a restructuring excise at cell level from February 15.

Gumbo has warned that his team will not be silenced and will fight until the party is restored as a centre of democracy with accountable leadership.