By Dr Masimba Mavaza | Political tension has risen in the Midlands Province as ZANU PF structures are gearing towards restructuring of all organs of the party up the provincial echelon.
Reliable information emanating from the Province states that a meeting was held at Minister July Moyo’s Kwekwe Farm where some senior members of the party were present.
The aim of the meeting was to strategise on how to come out with a provincial structure which will be favourable to July Moyo who has made himself the godfather of the province.
Among the attendees at July Moyo’s meeting were Edson Chiherenge Chakanyuka a Politburo member, Owen Mudha NCUBE Minister of State Security,Nugget Manyiwa the Provincial Secretary for Midlands, Edmond Mukaratirwa member of parliament for Shurugwi South, Cornelius Mupereri the Secretary for information and Publicity in Midlands Province and Vongaishe Mupereri the brother of Cornelius among others.
The meeting resolved that an instruction be made to all political structures to vote for Owen Mudha Ncube as the Provincial Chairman to replace Mackenzie Ncube the incumbent and Edison Chiherenge Chakanyuka to deputise him replacing Ronald R Nyathi the current vice Chair.
The strategy is to soil the good name of Mackenzie by labelling him a G40 member being sponsored by his old friend Kasukuwere. They agreed to mislead the structures that the President Cde MNANGAGWA no longer has any confidence in Mackenzie and that he now prefers Owen Mudha Ncube who is said to be a loyal confidante of the President.
Teams have been dispatched to various districts to disseminate this information among various DCCs within the province.
In the same meeting Owen NCUBE pledged to use the CIO details to go into districts to coerce District Chairmen to endorse him and Chiherenge. The CIO details have been promised promotions at ministers discretion. The chairpersons are being told that Mudha and Chiherenge are the preferred candidates of the president.
The teams have hit the ground running with Edmund Mukaratigwa holding a meeting last Sunday which he jointly chaired with the DCC chairman Mudhara who was handpicked by July Moyo in Shurugwi North on Sunday 5 August 2021 where he was propagating their false claims that he had been sent by the President to inform the Shurugwi members to remove Mackenzie and Nyathi and replace them with Mudha and Chiherenge Chakanyuka.
In a development which will rock the party July Moyo is sledged to have complained that they have to rid Midlands of former ZAPU cadres who he said have infested the province. This if true will be very divisive and splitting the party on tribal and ethnic grounds.
The attitude of Minister July Moyo and Mudha NCUBE has set tongues waging.
Many people in Midlands who spoke on the condition of anonymity have said July Moyo has been very divisive. He was hiding in Kwekwe when Mackenzie NCUBE was embarrassed in 2017 for refusing to endorse the firing of Ed from the party. Some have said to put the record straight Mudha was actually named Mudha Mugabe NCUBE.
One resident of Kwekwe asked
“ can any one tell the nation of any time during Mugabe’s reign when if ever heard July Moyo and Mudha NCUBE openly supported President ED. These two are known of running around looking for false prophets and witch doctors feeding ED with falsehoods.”
Another ZANU PF member in Kwekwe said “This Kwekwe political Mafia are causing a lot of damage to the party and to the president. Instead of ensuring that ZANU PF gets 5 million votes for the President and the legislators they are busy causing divisions in the Province”
One angry resident of Gweru said “ we are tired of hearing July and Mudha telling us that if it was not for them ED would not have set his foot in the State house. We are not fools. Tiri kuvaona hedu and we hope the president is seeing them.”
Many senior ZANU PF members said the party must reign in these Midlands gangsters. They are destroying the party and the president. These bad deeds have gone too far and for a long time without being confronted.
One member said “ there is nothing wrong in anyone exercising his right to vie for any post in the party but bringing the name of the party in disrepute is totally unacceptable. We aught to protect our president and our party. President MNANGAGWA is not a tribalist and tribal sentiments directed to Nyathi and other people is not according to the ideology of ZANU PF.
Contacted for a comment by phone and WhatsApp messaging, Hon. Owen Ncube angrily replied…”write what you want.”
Hon Mukaratigwa did not respond to questions sent him via whatsapp, though a digital signature stated that he had read the messages well before this article was printed.