The banishing of War Veterans minister Christopher Mutsvangwa from Zanu PF Mashonaland West province is a done deal as all processes were above board, party spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo has said.
Mutsvangwa’s expulsion followed that of his wife, Monica, who was recently sacked from the Zanu PF women’s league on allegations of undermining the authority of the league’s secretary and First Lady Grace Mugabe recently.
But in the aftermath of the announcement of Mutsvangwa’s vote of no confidence and the subsequent recommendation for his expulsion from the party and recalling from Parliament by the provincial executive on Monday, there were groans from the Norton legislator’s sympathisers who quickly pointed to the possibility of a breach of procedure.
Mutsvangwa’s backers argue that the move by the provincial coordinating committee (PCC) to eject him could have been at variance with the Zanu PF procedures as he was not a member of the provincial executive by virtue of being a politburo member hence the PCC does not have the mandate to discipline him.
However, Khaya Moyo maintained that the province’s decision was in order and that Mugabe’s authority had not been challenged.
The ruling party information tsar said Mutsvangwa’s suspension was one of “several other cases that were outstanding and needed to be brought to finality”.
“There is no defiance of the president because all the cases of votes of no confidence had been outstanding for quite some time. It must not be seen as if the issues came about after the president’s conference speech about the need for unity. These are issues that were only waiting to be concluded and that is what is happening now,” Khaya Moyo told the Daily News yesterday.
He was also adamant that the current goings-on in the ruling party did not reflect the turmoil that the former liberation movement was going through.
“This is a mammoth party and there are bound to be misunderstandings in a party as big and democratic as ours. The party is as intact as ever.”
While Zanu PF is burning, there have been spirited efforts by the party’s top leadership to paper the cracks and it actually took Mugabe himself to admit that indeed factionalism is ravaging his party at its recently-held 15th conference in Victoria Falls.
Addressing a central committee meeting ahead of the conference that ended in the resort town last weekend, Mugabe called on party members to desist from unnecessarily resorting to vindictive ways of solving disputes.
“Fighting within the party is not ending, iwo mavotes of no confidence akadai kuuya aya ko nyaya dzacho hadzitauriranwe here? Asi kana munhu adzidziswa ngaanzwisise, kana achida kutora gwara rake iye oga anosungirwa kurangwazve asi munhu anomboyambirwa.(The issue of votes of no confidence that have become so fashionable, can’t you resolve your differences amicably,” Mugabe lamented.
Among a litany of charges being preferred against Mutsvangwa are but not limited to, insulting the First Family, gross misconduct, disloyalty and treachery.
But there are some top Zanu PF officials who are fighting in Mutsvangwa’s corner — who is linked to beleaguered Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s faction.
For instance Peter Chanetsa, a member of the Mashonaland West provincial executive told the State media that Zanu PF was infested with “crooks” hell-bent on elbowing out senior members “for self-enrichment”.
“Mutsvangwa is not a member of the Mashonaland West provincial executive. He is a politburo member and a minister appointed by the president.
“If you say you are passing a vote of no confidence in such a person you are literally passing a vote of no confidence in the president who appointed him,” Chanetsa said.