Zanu youths attack Mnangagwa

via Zanu youths attack Mnangagwa – The Zimbabwean 8 July 2015

Cracks are widening fast within Zanu (PF) following an explosive letter recently written by youths supporting Saviour Kasukuwere. The letter attacked Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and war-veterans.

The Zanu (PF) Youth Group, Vana VaChaminuka, recently rapped “a bunch of so-called veterans” for trying to succeed President Robert Mugabe, who turned 91 earlier this year.

“We support Saviour Kasukuwere’s statement that some of these so called ‘war veterans’ leaders are in fact bogus and drunkards,” said Eliard Mhangami, the group’s chairperson in a statement.

“We have it on good authority that even Mnangagwa never participated in the struggle. Instead he was working in Zambia as a paralegal secretary for the late party chairperson Herbert Chitepo. He only appeared in the last days of the struggle as an aide and body guard for President Robert Mugabe. We as concerned youths urge everyone out there to only support the president, Cde Mugabe, Dr. Amai Grace Mugabe and Cde. Saviour Kasukuwere as they are the only genuine leaders with traceable history in politics,” he said.

“Why are we saying this now because we find it highly pathetic that a bunch of so-called war veterans who have no leadership history and only hijacked positions after the ouster of a retrogressive leadership that wanted to assassinate the president have started causing disunity and chaos within the party with the blessing of none other than Mnangagwa and gang.”

The statement said Kasukuwere had been a prominent national leader for more than 20 years, and asked “where was this funny character Victor Matemadanda all this time?”

“Kasukuwere has served the country and party very well, first in intelligence days in Mozambique. He has done a lot for young people of this country. He always fights corruption, look how he empowered a lot of us young people during his tenure as youth and indigenisation minister. He has taken the President’s tutelage well and shows great potential to lead the party and country when the president finally goes,” reads the statement.

Ahead of the party’s December 2013 congress, the youth group challenged Mugabe to clip Mnangagwa’s wings, claiming he had become a “de facto Prime Minister”. The group, which claims to represent all party youths, said it would pressure Mugabe soon to be wary of Mnangagwa’s alleged underhand machinations to usurp power.

The group is also known for lobbying founder party members to hand over the leadership baton to the party’s Young Turks, among them Jonathan Moyo, Walter Mzembi, SKasukuwere and Mugabe’s nephew Patrick Zhuwao.

Zanu (PF) spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo could not be reached for comment as his phone rang unanswered.