Source: Sandi-Moyo, Mahoka demos reach crescendo | The Herald
Nduduzo Tshuma Bulawayo Bureau
ZANU-PF Women’s League chairpersons from across the country’s 10 provinces converged here yesterday to reaffirm calls for the ouster of national executive members Cdes Eunice Nomthandazo Moyo and Sarah Mahoka following demonstrations in their respective areas.
The chairpersons — in a demonstration attended by hundreds of party supporters at the Davies Hall provincial party headquarters — took turns to denounce Cde Moyo, the Women’s League deputy secretary and secretary for Finance Cde Mahoka over allegations of undermining First Lady and secretary for the organ Amai Grace Mugabe.
They also accused the pair of corruption, insubordination and fanning factionalism.
The demonstrators were joined by members of the revolutionary party’s Youth League, war veterans and war collaborators who all called for the expulsion of Cdes Moyo and Mahoka.
The Women’s League chairpersons said Cdes Moyo and Mahoka should be relieved of their duties as they were working against Amai Mugabe and President Mugabe.
Yesterday’s demonstrations followed similar protests across the country’s 10 provinces on Wednesday.
Cde Mahoka also stands accused of denigrating Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Presidential spokesperson Mr George Charamba.
Mashonaland East provincial Women’s League chairperson Cde Charity Manyeruke said all those opposed to the First Lady were opposed to women.
“We are here standing for Mashonaland East, the entire province, the First Lady is our mother and those against our mother must go. All those engaged in corruption and factionalism must go and we say Cdes Mahoka and Sandi must go,” said Cde Manyeruke.
Mashonaland Central provincial Women’s League chairperson Cde Mercy Jonga said they were reaffirming the calls they made in their respective provinces on Wednesday.
“We initially conducted the demonstrations in our provinces, but today we are all here to reaffirm our calls. These people are dividing our party and we are here to confirm that we are fully behind the First Lady and say whoever crosses paths with Amai Mugabe, also crosses our path,” she said.
Mashonaland West provincial Women’s League chairperson Cde Angelina Muchemenyi said Cdes Moyo and Mahoka were causing a lot of problems in the Women’s League.
“God is there, these two were causing a lot of problems, dividing people, imposing people on positions, insulting our First Lady and Vice Presidents. These people are very dangerous to the party but we say to them beware the Ides of March,” she said.
“We are here to expose their evil and corruption and we say it all ends today.”
Harare provincial Women’s League chairperson Cde Joyce Kasinamunda said they wanted to see the removal of all “practitioners” of corruption.
“We support Dr Mugabe and don’t want to see anyone creating problems for her. If you wrong Dr Mugabe, you wrong us the women. What we are doing here is preparing for elections in 2018 and want to root out all those not toeing the party line,” she said.
“We don’t want people who receive money on behalf of the League and pocket those monies for their personal use.”
Matabeleland North provincial Women’s League chairperson Cde Medeline Bhebhe who described Cdes Moyo and Mahoka as S&S (Sandi and Sarah), cited the bible scripture that calls for the respect of elders so that they live longer.
“Why are you insulting the First Lady? Why are you disrespecting President Mugabe? We support the First Lady to lead us because we want to benefit from the projects that she has initiated in all parts of the country from irrigation, poultry and many empowerment initiatives,” said Cde Bhebhe.
“Mahoka took away our t-shirts meant to be distributed to our youths in Matabeleland North. We want to thank Dr Obert Mpofu for assisting us with transport on the day of the demonstrations in Lupane, when we were facing transport challenges, he came in and assisted.”
Manicaland provincial women’s league chairperson Cde Estelle Muyambo said;
“We are here to say that we will not stand and do nothing when our mother is being disrespected. We have seen it fit for Cdes Moyo and Mahoka to go.
“We won’t have imposition of people, divisions and people fanning factionalism, we refuse. We have children who died in the liberation war and some were left in the bush yet we have people who want to play around with this country engaging in corruption.”
Masvingo provincial Women’s League chairperson Cde Veronica Makonese said, “We are here to reaffirm our position. There are people who are disrespecting the First Lady, there are people engaging in factionalism.
“You have no room anymore in the party. Let this be a lesson, Dr Mugabe is not going anywhere.”
Midlands provincial secretary for administration Cde Lydia Mataga standing in for her chairperson said they were not happy with the conduct of Cdes Moyo and Mahoka.
“We will not allow any machinations against our mother, we will support her to lead us from Zambezi to Limpopo,” she said.
Matabeleland South provincial Women’s League chairperson Cde Sister Moyo-Bhebhe said while Cde Moyo hailed from their province, they did not want anything to do with her.
“We chased her from Matabeleland South because she was not working well with others and Bulawayo embraced her and we said good riddance. Now that she is being chased away, I want to say that in Matabeleland South, we don’t want to see her,” she said.
Bulawayo provincial Women’s League chairperson Cde Eva Bitu said attempts had been made by sympathisers of Cdes Sandi and Mahoka to block people from coming to the demonstrations.
“Some even said Bitu will be beaten up at Davies Hall, but you can’t touch me because I move in the truth. They failed,” she said.
In a solidarity speech, war collaborators secretary for information and publicity, Cde Joyce Ndlovu said because of Cde Moyo’s interference in the province, structures had crumbled with the organ making as many as 27 co-options.
A representative for war veterans said it was high time that Cdes Moyo and Mahoka were removed from the party as they were causing untold damage.
A member of the national youth executive Cde Elizabeth Masuku said they were sent by national youth secretary Cde Kudzanai Chipanga to show solidarity with the Women’s League in their demonstration.
“Our boss, Cde Chipanga sent us here to come and show solidarity because where the First Lady is involved, the Youth League is also involved,” she said.
One of the members who resigned from the Bulawayo provincial youth executive, Cde Delight Ngwenya said Cdes Mahoka and Moyo were trying to “capture” the Women’s League as Cde Moyo had done with Bulawayo province.
Cde Ngwenya accused Cde Moyo of frustrating cadres out of the party and replacing them with her “henchmen” through co-options.
He accused Cde Moyo of trying to rope in Cde Chipanga to support her factional interests when the youth secretary visited Bulawayo in the wake of resignations by members of the provincial youth executive.
Zanu-PF Women’s League national executive member Cde Judith Ncube said through their intransigence, Cdes Moyo and Mahoka had stepped on a slippery rock and their fall was inevitable.
“If a kitchen has dust, you sweep it and retain order so that there is fresh air. If you don’t follow the rules of the party, you fall,” she said.
Meanwhile, as the demonstrations were going at Davies Hall, Cde Moyo was attending a pastor’s convention at a local church in the city.
On Wednesday, the placard-waving women handed over petitions to provincial leaders for onward submission to the First Lady and the party’s leadership.
They demanded that Cdes Mahoka and Sandi-Moyo’s handlers, whom they said were well-known, be fired or demoted.
Some Zanu-PF bigwigs, national political commissar Cde Saviour Kasukuwere, allegedly spent the better part of Wednesday making covert manoeuvres to block the protests.
Apart from undermining the First Lady’s authority, Cdes Mahoka and Sandi-Moyo stand accused of embezzling funds sourced from local prophets, business people and corporates using Dr Mugabe’s name without her knowledge.
The Women’s League wants Cde Mahoka fired for her untoward behaviour during a rally at Zanu-PF headquarters last year where she likened Zanu-PF Second Secretary and VP Mnangagwa to a duck for his silence on the Zanu-PF succession matrix.
At the same rally, the Hurungwe East legislator challenged President Mugabe to state if he had authorised his spokesperson Mr Charamba to give an interview to ZiFM radio. Both incidents, the women said, showed “a high degree of insubordination”.
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