By Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo|A senior People’s Democratic Party(PDP) official has blasted People First leader Joice Mujuru saying the defections by party members to the former vice president ‘s camp was a non-event.
PDP national deputy secretary general Tongai Matutu last week said the party was not shaken by the mass defection of members who switched camp to Mujuru. He said Mujuru’s party was just one of the new parties sponsored by Zanu PF to weaken genuine opposition parties in the country.
Matutu, a former MDC provincial secretary who also deputised Saviour Kasukuwere in the Youth Ministry, is well known for being outspoken and he was among the first MDC members to call for troubled MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s resignation.
“We are not shaken by the defections to Mujuru because we will simply carry out a gap filling restructuring process to replace the nomads who joined the People First project. You cannot be forming parties all the time and this People First Project is not different from Zanu PF. I strongly believe our ideologies are different.
These people were part of the same Zanu PF that terrorised opposition supporters .As for the defections ,to us it is a blessing in disguise because it is an opportunity for us to replace them with committed people who are ready to defend our ideologies,” said Matutu.
The former Masvingo Urban Constituency legislator said he would never join the Mujuru bandwagon since he was satisfied with the PDP project .
Many cynical observers are distancing themselves from the People First party arguing it is part of Zanu PF’s plan to annihilate opposing voices ahead of the 2018 elections.
However the Mujuru led party is expected to end decades of political and social mayhem for the people of Zimbabwe. Several Zanu PF members are secretly leaving the faction torn ruling party to join People First despite official denials by the revolutionary party.