Joylene Mtandwa | Severe factionalism has rocked the Joice Mujuru led Zim People First ahead of the Bikita by-election.
Going by surveys on the situation on the ground in the hotly contested Bikita West constituency by-election, the seat is up for grabs for any opposition political party candidate more so the Mujuru led Zimbabwe People First.
However, severe factionalism within the Mujuru led party coming as a result of resentment of the party candidate Kudakwashe Gopo is bound to hand the seat back to ZANU PF.
Party insiders who spoke to ZimEye.com on the sidelines of the party’s campaign rally held in Nyika Growth point yesterday, said that the rift among party members on Gopo’s candidature is so bad that some of them are literally going out in the constituency discrediting Gopo and his campaign manager retired Colonel Claudius Makova.
The rift is reported to not only be existing within the constituency itself but from higher offices within the party. The sources indicated that the party’s head office was originally against having a candidate participating in the elections in the name of the party opting to field the candidate as an independent on the advise of fellow National Electoral Reforms Agenda NERA opposition parties.
However, the Masvingo Province Executive Committee is said to have met and resolved to have the party participate in the election.
A further rift arose in selecting the candidate to stand for the party following the province’s determination to contest the election. According to the high ranked party sources, party President Mujuru preferred former legislature of the constituency Heya Shoko who the province rejected as he was initially strongly against the party participating in the election.
In what the party sources expressed as a shock, Shoko is said to have been forced to contest the elections as an independent candidate allegedly with the backing of the party leadership in Harare.
The sources further claim that Gopo has been receiving very little financial support from the party making his campaign difficult while Shoko is said to be enjoying a hugely financed campaign which members believe to be from the party top officials and from the Morgan Tsvangirai led MDC-T.
In her speech at the rally, Mujuru anguishingly tried to speak against the factionalism in the party urging members to unite and rally behind Gopo. She however did not make any mention against the candidature of Shoko who is believed to be still claiming to be a member of the Zimbabwe People First.
Bikita West constituency fell vacant following the 10-year imprisonment of former legislator, Munyaradzi Kereke (Zanu PF) for raping a minor at gunpoint.
Zanu-PF’s Beauty Chabaya will fight it out with Zimbabwe People First’s Gopo, Terence Makumbo of Progressive Democrats of Zimbabwe (PDZ), and Independent candidates Innocent Muzvimbiri and Shoko.