Repent or face Zanu-PF axe, Mutasa warned

WAR veterans yesterday warned Zanu-PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa to dissociate himself from elements covertly pushing for the removal of President Mugabe or face the axe.

They also want Politburo members Tendai Savanhu and Flora Bhuka to be investigated for destabilising the party and have challenged national political commissar Webster Shamu to pull up his socks or be chopped.

The war veterans said Cephas Msipa must "behave" like someone who has retired from active politics by desisting from factional politics.

The veterans of the country's liberation war welcomed Politburo's Thursday decision to suspend Zanu-PF secretary for information and publicity Rugare Gumbo and Enoch Porusingazi and the dismissal of former Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association chairman Jabulani Sibanda saying it was a reflection the "centre still holds".

They warned wayward senior party officials to repent or face the same fate.

Spokesperson for the ZNLWA Committee of Elders Victor Mutemadanda said it was time to clean up Zanu-PF.

He castigated Mutasa and Zanu-PF Manicaland provincial chairperson Ambassador John Mvundura for attending a meeting addressed by Sibanda in Manicaland last month saying they offered the expelled war veterans leader moral support.

"Mutasa should avoid mingling with ‘small people'. He shouldn't attend such meetings. The direction the party is taking is now clearer.Mutasa and Ambassador Mvundura by their attendance, they morally supported Sibanda. Vanhu vanoda kuratidzwa gwara." (People should be shown the way)

The war veterans applauded the Politburo's decision to suspend Cdes Gumbo, Porusingazi and some provincial chairpersons.

"We commend the decision that was taken by the Politburo yesterday regarding especially Rugare Gumbo and chairpersons that were suspended but we are saying there're more still remaining in the party. Savanhu is brewing all these problems in Harare. We think he must be brought to book. He behaves like a super Messiah in Harare. We're cleaning the party," he said.

The war veterans accused Bhuka of "kidnapping" a group of women during district elections in Gokwe in August saying such behaviour was not expected of a Politburo member.

"We can't be silent on that. She can't go scot-free. It's a crime and she must be investigated. As freedom fighters we want sanity in the party and that must be corrected," said Mutemadanda.

The war veterans said Bhuka should be barred from contesting in Central Committee elections.

"That was a transgression. We don't expect such behaviour from a person in the Politburo," he said.

They took a swipe at Shamu for "sleeping on duty".

"The commissariat department has let the party down. The commissariat has been sleeping for some time. He has been quiet yet he should be emphasizing the party ideology. He was silent because the faction he supports was on the offensive. We want a political commissar who builds the party and not a faction," said Mutemadanda.

On Jabulani Sibanda, he said: "He was expelled from the party a long time ago. He wasn't re-admitted. We're re-affirming that he should go forever."

Mutemadanda said war veterans who continue to align themselves with Sibanda would be disciplined.

He advised Msipa to stay out of active politics.

"Msipa retired from politics a long time ago but when factionalism started he became active like a young man. No, he should rest."

Zimbabwe National Liberation War Collaborators Association national chairperson Pupurai Togarepi said the decision by the Politburo to expel Sibanda and to suspend Cdes Gumbo, Porusingazi and some provincial chairpersons showed that President Mugabe was fully in charge.

"This shows to all that the centre is still holding. The party is still intact. The membership of Zanu-PF is still in control of the party. People were watching and people reacted and they paid the price. Some people in Zanu-PF felt by being up there in the Politburo, they now owned Zanu-PF and they could divide people. People are solidly behind the leadership of President Mugabe. People will not allow those with devious intentions to destroy the party," he said.

Added Togarepi: "We can't keep people who antagonise the President…We can't accept that. What happened is a lesson that the party is bigger than individuals. It's only one way that's relevant to the revolution – be closer to the leader of the revolution. We're revolutionaries; we aren't like any other political party. You mess around with the revolution, we dump you. The peg is the President. The Politburo just responded to people's demands."

Zimbabwe Ex-Political Prisoners Detainees Restrictees Association national chairperson Victor Kuretu said they supported the decision by the Politburo which he said was long overdue.

"We go by the decision taken by the Politburo. It was overdue. A lot of things were happening and we were seeing them. The entry of the First Lady Grace Mugabe into politics opened people's ears and mouths."