The Zanu PF purge targeting suspected loyalists of the under-fire Vice President Joice Mujuru continued Monday with two cabinet ministers and five others being dumped from the Central Committee, just two days after the ruling party’s congress.
Officially closing the 6th Zanu PF National Congress on Saturday, President Robert Mugabe directed his party activists from Mashonaland East province to convene an urgent meeting to re-elect their representatives to the Central Committee saying he had taken this decision following complaints from party members in that province.
Some congress delegates reportedly complained that some members loyal to Mrs. Mujuru had been elected to the powerful Central Committee.
Mr. Mugabe directed the provincial structure to expedite this process so that he could have time to assess the new members before appointing members of the presidium and the Politburo.
Following Mr. Mugabe’s directive, Zanu PF’s Provincial Coordinating Committee for Mashonaland East province met in Marondera on Monday and reportedly decided to re-call Defense Minister Sydney Sekeramayi and Health Minister David Parirenyatwa from the Central Committee.
Political analyst, Blessing Vava, said the recalling of Sekeramayi is a well-calculated move by those aligned to the Zanu PF faction led by Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa to block Sekeramayi, long believed to be a candidate in the race to succeed Mr. Mugabe, from being appointed into the Zanu PF presidium.
Mr. Mugabe told delegates at the just-ended Zanu PF congress that he would be announcing the presidium and members of the Politburo this week after congress ratified the ruling party’s constitution to allow his make the appointments.
Some Zanu PF sources in Marondera told Studio 7 others who fell by the way-side are Deputy Agriculture Minister Paddy Zhanda, Jericho Gotora, Zvikomborero Mangowo, Moreblessing Mushure and David Kanjere who are allegedly linked to Mrs. Mujuru’s faction. Efforts to get a comment from Sekeramayi and other were unsuccessful.
At the time of going to air, the sources said the Provincial Coordinating Committee was still receiving names from the party’s districts in the province of those that want to take over from the members that were booted out.
While some Zimbabweans are expressing constitutional reservations about Mr. Mugabe’s delay to announce his deputies, national party chairman and members of the Politburo, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formation led by Morgan Tsvangirai seems to have also breached its own constitution by failing to hold a National Council meeting within a month following its own congress as stipulated in the constitution.
But the opposition’s spin-doctor Obert Gutu told Studio 7 that they were acting within the confines of their constitution.
Gutu added that the national council would meet this weekend where members of the national executive committee would be announced.
Sources in the MDC-T said the party’s president Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to bring back former organizing secretary of the party, Nelson Chamisa, into the national executive.
Chamisa, who had been nominated by all but one of the MDCT’s 12 provinces for the post of secretary general, lost to Douglas Mwonzora by a wide margin.
In terms of the MDC-T’s constitution, Mr. Tsvangirai has the power to appoint twelve people into the national executive.
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Report on Continuing Zanu PF Factionalism Filed By Thomas Chiripasi