Source: Chaos as ZimPF elects new leader – DailyNews Live
Blessings Mashaya 23 April 2017
HARARE – War veteran and former diplomat, Agrippa Mutambara, was yesterday
named the new leader of the Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) – amid chaotic
scenes which threatened to derail the meeting which had been called to
announce the party’s new leadership.
At the stormy meeting held in Harare, ZPF founding fathers, Didymus Mutasa
and Rugare Gumbo, were also relegated to peripheral roles – with Mutambara
taking charge of the fledgling party in an acting capacity.
Fearless former war veterans’ leader, Jabulani Sibanda, came out of his
long political hibernation to be elected the party’s commissar.
But the gathering was marred by ugly scenes which rocked the troubled
outfit, with angry supporters besieging its headquarters and causing the
cancellation of a press conference that had been scheduled to announce the
party’s new leadership.
The supporters were protesting the party’s failure to appoint a
substantive president.
ZPF acting spokesperson, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, was forced to chase away
the journalists who had turned up for the scheduled media briefing –
although he did apologise for the chaotic scenes.
“I want to apologise to you. We are going to call you later. For now we
are still having our meeting,” Bhasikiti told reporters.
But the irate supporters accused Bhasikiti of trying to mask the party’s
problems and challenged him on why he was turning away journalists when he
was the one who had invited them for the briefing.
“Why did he invite journalists to come here in the first place? … We
want to elect the president. Takazviramba kwaMai (former vice president
Joice) Mujuru tichiti vaakuita zvechi-thug. Ndizvo zvavava kuita (They are
behaving in the same thuggish and unacceptable manner which happened under
Mujuru’s leadership).
“Bhasikiti is trying to impose a leader on us and we don’t want that. We
need to go to a congress and elect a leader of our choice,” said one angry
supporter who declined to be named.
Bhasikiti later phoned journalists to announce the party’s new interim
leadership.
“We have agreed that Mutambara becomes the interim president and he will
manage the affairs of the party in association with the steering
committee.
“We have also resolved that Gumbo and Mutasa remain advisors, but with no
dealings in the day-to-day affairs of the party, while Jabulani Sibanda
will be in charge of the commissariat department. Munacho Mutezo will be
secretary for finance,” he said.
Until yesterday, ZPF did not have a leader following the highly-publicised
fallout between Mujuru on one hand, and Gumbo and Mutasa on the other,
which led to a nasty split in February.
In that stunning development, Mujuru later announced that he had fired
Gumbo, Mutasa and five other high-ranking officials over a slew of
allegations which included claims that the stalwarts were Zanu PF spies.
“Having done extensive consultation within the rank and file of the party
and also in my capacity as the president with the executive authority to
ensure its wellbeing, I hereby announce the expulsion of the following
members from Zimbabwe People First with immediate effect: Rugare Gumbo,
Didymus Mutasa, Margaret Dongo, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, Luckson Kandemiri,
Munacho Mutezo and Claudious Makova.
“We assure Zimbabweans that more heads are going to roll in this
revolutionary exercise. We remain committed to the democratisation of
Zimbabwe. We remain committed to a coalition of progressive forces to
fight and remove Zanu PF from office,” she said.
But before the dust had settled down on the staggering development, Gumbo
and Mutasa held their own press conference later in the day where they
also announced Mujuru’s summary expulsion from the party.
Mujuru eventually left the party to launch her own outfit, the National
People’s Party (NPP), which last week signed a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai ahead of the make-or-break
2018 elections.
COMMENTS
It seems the real factions in ZanuPf have finally come out. ZimPF has the old thugs, NPP the thuggish moderates, G40 the Zealots and Lacoste the cunning thugs. All will kill for their supper but none will dare challenge the scheming brutal king – what a savage kingdom we live in.
I honestly want to know where, in the constitution, it is stated that Zimbabwe, like its name, belongs exclusively to the Shona people and that they can do whatever they choose. From its independence, it has been a fiefdom of the predominantly Shonalized ZANU. New party after new party among the so called OPPOSITION, originates among and has Shona leadership.
Actually the problem is not Shona, which is only a language group. The fight for control in Zanu has always been tribal. Sithole, who was Changani and related to the Ndebele, formed Zanu. The Manyika did their bit through Chitepo (that is why most of the fighters at the Chinhoyi battle and early Zanla were Manyika). The Karanga strengthened it through Tongogara. All these early icons were deposed, most unceremoniously, and the Zezurus took over and they do not want to let go. The stay of Mugabe and the current factional fights are testimony to this. Joyce, a Korekore was dismissed with mostly Manyikas and Karangas. The Zezurus who supported her (Goche, Shamhu, Chombo, Sekeramayi, etc) somehow found their way back. G40 is essentially a Zezuru group pitted against Lacoste which is Karanga leaning. Granted Ndebeles have suffered the most but we should spare a thought for the Ndau, Manyika, Tonga, Korekore and Venda bearing in mind that at the individual level no single tribe in Zim can be exonerated for the misdeeds of Zanu. All former and current “leaders” have contributed in creating this monster either actively or by their silence. By grouping Zimbos into essentially Shona and Ndebele we mask the dangerous tribal fault lines that have the potential to destroy the entire country. Worse, we make enemies of people who suffer the same fate at the hands of a very greedy and irresponsible cabal. Zanu, just like the Rhodesian Front before it, is an existential threat to us all whether Shona or Ndebele speaking.