Opinion / National
Mudenda to retain Central Committee post?
27 Sep 2022 at 17:01hrs | Views
Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda's political career faces a tough litmus test as he seeks to retain his ZANU PF Central Committee spot after facing strong challenges from seasoned party cadres and war veterans.
Mudenda is facing a challenge from 8 contestants who include senior war veterans , party cadres and ex-Hwange colliery boss Fatty Mpofu.
Mpofu is the leading contender with support in Hwange urban and rural. Fatty is popular in Hwange because of his role at Hwange colliery as well as the work he has done for people in the rural areas.
The people of Matebeleland North have voiced their displeasure at Mudenda's prolonged stay with very little development or progress. They have said that he is too busy with his work at Parliament and fails to strike a balance between Parliament and the people he represents in the ruling party's Central Committee.
Party members said that one should not have too many jackets like an onion as it prohibits them from giving their all to other areas as has been the case with Jacob Mudenda who has neglected the people who elected him into central committee.
The ruling party announced guidelines for central committee elections this week and all politburo members who seek reappointment were ordered to submit their CVs for consideration.
Mudenda is currently under fire for promoting a diaspora vote without advocating for the removal of sanctions. His sentiments caused the President Emmerson Mnangagwa to respond during a politburo meeting, where he called the speaker to order and urged the party to speak with one voice.
Mudenda recently fumbled the Wadyajena corruption case and applied the rules differently raising suspicions that the speaker was allegedly compromised and could not act on Wadyajena's corruption charge in the same manner he had acted with similar case involving Temba Mliswa.
To make matters worse it was revealed that Parliament had approved a tender for laptops valued at US$ 9 000 per laptop.
Mudenda has several corruption allegations which have been labeled against him including a fuel scandal during his tenure as CAAZ chairman as well as a ZESA land scandal worth 1 million USD.
The party's provincial coordinating committees are set to meet this weekend to consider CVs for central committee aspirants.
A political analyst Johnson Nkomo said, "The only way that Mudenda would retain this post was if he paid other candidates to stand down , because he is grossly unpopular and the odds are against him in a free and fair election."
Mudenda is facing a challenge from 8 contestants who include senior war veterans , party cadres and ex-Hwange colliery boss Fatty Mpofu.
Mpofu is the leading contender with support in Hwange urban and rural. Fatty is popular in Hwange because of his role at Hwange colliery as well as the work he has done for people in the rural areas.
The people of Matebeleland North have voiced their displeasure at Mudenda's prolonged stay with very little development or progress. They have said that he is too busy with his work at Parliament and fails to strike a balance between Parliament and the people he represents in the ruling party's Central Committee.
Party members said that one should not have too many jackets like an onion as it prohibits them from giving their all to other areas as has been the case with Jacob Mudenda who has neglected the people who elected him into central committee.
The ruling party announced guidelines for central committee elections this week and all politburo members who seek reappointment were ordered to submit their CVs for consideration.
Mudenda recently fumbled the Wadyajena corruption case and applied the rules differently raising suspicions that the speaker was allegedly compromised and could not act on Wadyajena's corruption charge in the same manner he had acted with similar case involving Temba Mliswa.
To make matters worse it was revealed that Parliament had approved a tender for laptops valued at US$ 9 000 per laptop.
Mudenda has several corruption allegations which have been labeled against him including a fuel scandal during his tenure as CAAZ chairman as well as a ZESA land scandal worth 1 million USD.
The party's provincial coordinating committees are set to meet this weekend to consider CVs for central committee aspirants.
A political analyst Johnson Nkomo said, "The only way that Mudenda would retain this post was if he paid other candidates to stand down , because he is grossly unpopular and the odds are against him in a free and fair election."
Source - Mandla Ndlovu
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