Kasukuwere fails to foster unity in Mugabe's party

HARARE - Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa's Zanu PF allies in Mashonaland Central who were fired from the ruling party say national political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere has so far been unsuccessful in his mandate as he has allegedly failed to foster unity in the party.

In a letter to Kasukuwere yesterday, suspended Zanu PF provincial secretary for security Batsirai Musona, who is a war veteran, openly accused Kasukuwere of using his office to settle petty political scores.

Musona said Kasukuwere had failed to be an exemplary leader unlike  his predecessors who include Border Gezi, Eliot Manyika and Ephraim Masawi "and even the deposed Mai Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru  who played their fatherly and motherly figure roles extremely well in our province".

"They were able to contain our problems within our boundaries unlike your style of leadership where you can't even sit down with your fellow comrades in your province and try to mediate between the warring parties and bring peace in your backyard before rushing to the outside world where you want to be viewed as a saint," wrote Musona.

Contacted for comment Kasukuwere said he could not respond as he was busy in a meeting while Mashonaland Central Zanu PF provincial chairperson Dickson Mafios dismissed Musona's letter as "absolute madness".

"The decision was affirmed by the politburo so I cannot comment on that because it is absolute madness for someone to come to the Daily News with his complaint as if the paper is the party's appeals committee," Mafios said.

In the letter Musona accused the Local Government minister of causing the suspension and expulsion of several senior party officials in the province on frivolous allegations of fanning factionalism and flirting with (former vice president) Mujuru's yet-to-be launched People First party.

He alleged that he was being persecuted because of his alleged links to Zanu PF provincial youth leader, Godfrey Tsenengamu, an avid backer of Mnangagwa, who was also removed in a vote of no confidence.

"When the problems started in the Zanu PF provincial executive through your half-brother Cde Itayi Dickson Mafiosi, I personally phoned you in my capacity as the provincial secretary for security to inform you that the newly co-opted chairman was gradually showing some signs of insanity in his style of leadership.

"Cde Mafiosi was now attacking everyone else except himself, and we suspect it is as of his long stay in the political wilderness   after he got thumped in 2013, Zanu PF provincial elections when he was cleanly clobbered by cde Luke Mushore," Musona writes in the letter.

Musona also claimed that his dismissal was based on false accusations that he belonged to the opposition MDC after the provincial executive committee (PEC) in August was shown "some forged MDC -T data forms implicating John Ngwenya, Lens Farando and myself as members of the MDC-T".

"This was the meeting that did not end well as it became emotional after it was discovered that Comrade Mafiosi was behind the whole fiasco as he started accusing other PEC members of being Gamatox and that they must be booted out of the party".

He added that the letter he subsequently wrote to Kasukuwere seeking his intervention in the matter "was misconstrued to mean a vote of no confidence in comrades Mafiosi and (Wonder) Mashange".

"All what we requested from you was to come and attend the PEC as a special guest to hear our grievances with regard to Mafiosi's leadership of the province.

"Instead of you coming as per our request, you took issue with genuine gesture and you went on to instruct comrades Mafiosi, Mashange, Kuzvidza and Veronica Mukombe to start writing prohibition orders to those comrades who appended their signatures to the letter-cum-petition that sought your intervention".

Musona signed off with the slogan "Pamberi ne ZANU PF !! Pamberi na President R G Mugabe!! Pasi ne G 40!!! Pasi ne unbridled presidential ambitions!!!  Pasi ne factionalism!"