via More VP allies expelled in Mash West – DailyNews Live Mugove Tafirenyika • 3 December 2015
HARARE – Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s journey to succeed President Robert Mugabe continues to get bumpier following last weekend’s sacking of more of his allies in Mashonaland West.
The latest move by his ever-scheming Zanu PF rivals comes hardly a week after Mnangagwa’s ambitions were dealt a huge blow when a stormy politburo meeting endorsed the suspension and expulsion of dozens of his supporters around the country.
Mnangagwa’s alleged foes in the province over the weekend engineered the suspension of three provincial executives perceived to be the VP’s allies in Mashonaland West.
Angelina Muchenenyi, the provincial women’s league chairperson confirmed the suspension of provincial secretary for Education and former Kadoma mayor Fani Phiri, political commissar Simon Solomon, and secretary for Transport only identified as Ndushu.
“The officials you refer to, especially Mambo Solomon should just go because they do not want to respect our leaders such as Mai Madzongwe (Edna), Mai Mupfumira (Priscah), (Patrick) Zhuwao and (Saviour) Kasukuwere,” Muchenenyi said.
“It was free for all in the province, they were teaching our children to jeer their leaders, they were teaching them to bar leaders from using party offices, so why should we keep them? We want unity in the party not division. They are the ones who started this thing of votes of no confidence, now they are tasting their own medicine.”
Well-placed sources told the Daily News that the province’s secretary for administration, Simbarashe Ziyambi, suspended the trio, who are accused of backing the “wrong faction”.
The three’s suspensions on allegations of fanning factionalism entail that they are barred from doing political work in the name of Zanu PF in line with the dictates of the party’s constitution.
The insiders claimed top Zanu PF officials loyal to First Lady Grace Mugabe are on a mission to ensure that the first lady’s supporters control the levers of power in the politically volatile province using Ziyambi, thereby littering Mnangagwa’s road to the throne with banana peels.
“The three are some of the people who are accused of inciting people to denigrate the name of the first lady at the burial of Joan Tsogorani (Kadoma proportional representation legislator) that is why they are being targeted,” the source said.
Tsogorani was chastened by Grace at the onset of her nationwide rallies and her allies claimed at the time that she was so distressed by the nasty encounter with the influential first lady and ultimately died.
Last week’s politburo meeting saw the suspension and expulsion of several “Team Lacoste” members, as Mnangagwa’s allies now call themselves, from various provinces for different reasons, including fanning factionalism.
Among those affected were Manicaland women’s league chairperson Happiness Nyakuedzwa, former Mashonaland Central youth league chairperson Godfrey Tsenengamu, former Harare provincial chairperson Godwills Masimirembwa and his women’s league counterpart Ratidzo Mukarati and former Masvingo chairperson Paradzai Chakona.
Zanu PF Mhondoro-Mubaira MP Sylvester Nguni and his Guruve South counterpart Chriswell Mutematsaka were slapped with outright expulsions from the party.
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