via ‘Mash West is in my pocket’ – DailyNews Live 15 July 2015
HARARE – Former Zanu PF chairperson for Mashonaland West, Temba Mliswa, has made stunning claims that many of his erstwhile comrades in the ruling party still report to him and that they are also allegedly aligned to ousted former Vice President Joice Mujuru.
The garrulous politician’s claims follow last weekend’s ouster of Ziyambi Ziyambi, Mliswa’s successor on an interim basis as the provincial Zanu PF boss, on untested allegations that he leaked party secrets to his predecessor ahead of the June 10 by-election in Hurungwe West.
Mliswa told the Daily News yesterday that if Zanu PF wanted to completely rid the province of “Gamatoxes”, a complete overhaul of the structures would be have to be carried out.
Since the party’s damp squib “elective” congress that was held in Harare late last year, Zanu PF has been undertaking a controversial restructuring exercise that has seen a ruthless purging of all perceived allies of Mujuru, including former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa and former spokesperson Rugare Gumbo — on untested claims of plotting to oust and kill Mugabe.
But the firebrand former Zanu PF bigwig said singling out Ziyambi, as Mashonaland West was doing, was “a waste of time”, further claiming that he had “an octopus-like grip on the province” notwithstanding his expulsion from the ruling party.
“Everyone there is Gamatox. They all report to me because I appointed all of them. I have a database of the 311 districts whose chairpersons report to me almost daily.
“They will have to fire all the 311 chairpersons and others because my ghost will continue to haunt them,” Mliswa boasted.
He added that he was so influential in the province that he had allegedly “masterminded” the victory of his June 10 by-election rival, Keith Guzah, in the internal Zanu PF primary elections to choose candidates to represent the party in the mini-poll.
Mliswa claimed that he had instructed district chairpersons to ensure Guzah, whom he considered a weaker candidate, won the right to represent Zanu PF against him in the by-election proper.
“I run this province and if you want I can show you proof that I directed chairpersons to ensure Keith’s victory,” he claimed.
He said Zanu PF was aware of the amount of work he had put into the structures when he was chairperson and that the ruling party was desperate to have him back in the fold as a result.
Mliswa also said he “pitied” Ziyambi, claiming that he (Ziyambi) was being “sacrificed after delivering victory for the party in Hurungwe West”.
“I have said that the Hurungwe West by-election was between me and the State and it was Ziyambi as deputy Home Affairs minister who deployed State security agents to campaign for Zanu PF.
“There is really nothing about Zanu PF that Ziyambi can leak to me because I know everything. I am the boss in the province so how can I not know what is happening in the party.
“The thing is that they want me back but I cannot be part of them because there is just too much in-fighting which I cannot bear,” Mliswa said.
A vote of no-confidence was passed on Ziyambi at the weekend, amid claims that party bigwigs were behind his ouster.
The no-confidence vote came hard on the heels of Ziyambi’s public embarrassment by First Lady Grace Mugabe who accused him of being dishonest after he allegedly disregarded a provincial women’s league decision to elect Angeline Muchemeyi as Mashonaland West chairwoman.
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