Chigwedere rescued from oblivion

via Chigwedere rescued from oblivion 10/01/2015

FORMER Mashonaland East governor Aenias Chigwedere Saturday emerged from oblivion after Zanu PF assigned him to head a 15 member team to oversee the “renewal” of the party’s structures in the volatile province.

Announcing the dissolution of the acting executive that took charge following the sacking of the one led by Ray Kaukonde, party political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, said the interim executive’s mandate would be to restructure the party from the cell level.

“The party in this province had been diverted from its ideology. You had been used in vote buying with people particularly those that claim to be big-wigs indicating who they wanted to occupy which position.

“Now we will begin the job of rebuilding the party and we want to warn those that would want to throw spanners in the works to be careful. We will not brook any nonsense. The team we have set up led by Chigwedere have a job to organise and unite the party,” said Kasukuwere.

Chigwedere gained notoriety when, as education minister, he tried to controversially rename schools across the country after national heroes, including the likes of Chenjerai Hunzvi, as well as introduce a single uniform policy for all students.

Both proposals were shot down by the public, earning him ridicule and the “nincompoop” image in the process.

Since then Chigwedere has largely remained obscure until his party came to his rescue and awarded him the new role Saturday. The controversial historian had reportedly taken comfort in being a traditional leader as one of the headmen in the province.

Chigwedere will be deputized by rising political star, Joel Biggie Matiza, who was recently appointed provincial affairs minister.

The Chigwedere-led team also includes University of Zimbabwe Political Science lecturer Charity Manyeruke and members of the Women’s League as well as war veterans, frontrunners in the witch hunt for those suspected to have been former vice president Joice Mujuru’s foot soldiers in the province.

In the run-up to Kasukuwere’s visit, Matiza had met with resistance in his bid to assert his authority as government leader in the province.

The former local government deputy minister undertook a whirlwind tour of the province and his erstwhile comrades in the executive then led by remnants of the Kaukonde executive had reportedly sought to undermine him.

Matiza was forced at one of his meetings to declare that he would “not be intimidated”.

“We are aware that there are some leaders seeking to cause chaos and confusion. Who do not want the development gospel we are preaching by ganging up with white farmers from whom they get protection fees,” he said during one of his public addresses.