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Cde Mliswa

Bulawayo Bureau
Former Zanu-PF Mashonaland West provincial chairperson Cde Temba Mliswa faces expulsion from the party after his province forwarded a request to the National Disciplinary Committee seeking his ouster.

Cde Mliswa’s political future now stands on shaky ground as expulsion would see him losing the Hurungwe West parliamentary seat he won in the July 2013 polls on a Zanu-PF ticket.

Since losing the chairmanship last year, Cde Mliswa has disrupted a number of meetings in Mashonaland West and threatened party members.

He interrupted an inter-district meeting at Karoi Country Club at the weekend where he accused acting provincial chairman Cde Ziyambi Ziyambi of causing his arrest over illegal possession of firearms.

Cde Ziyambi said on Monday that the only reason why Cde Mliswa had not been expelled from the party so far was that they had hoped that he would see the error of his ways.

He said Mashonaland West Province met on January 17 and wrote to the National Disciplinary Committee recommending the expulsion of the former provincial chairperson.

“We thought he was a fellow comrade,” said Cde Ziyambi.

“We wanted to give him the benefit of doubt. We thought that by demoting him from the post of chairperson, he would be able to reflect and correct himself. It is not that we have been afraid to discipline him.

“We wanted to give him a chance to prove that he can be disciplined and abide by the rules of the party. As a province we have passed a vote of no confidence in him. He is a law unto himself. He thinks he can say anything about people and not be held responsible,” he said.

“He is always making one allegation after another and always blames others when he is in the wrong. He should take responsibility for his actions and not blame other individuals. He should be expelled immediately.”

Zanu-PF national spokesperson Cde Simon Khaya Moyo said the party would not tolerate rogue elements that bring the name of the party into disrepute. “We do not condone any form of indiscipline from our members and neither do we condone interruptions of meetings, he said.

“People should behave in a mature and orderly manner. The party has structures that should be followed when one has grievances. We will not tolerate rogue elements. We are a revolutionary party and will not be embarrassed by an undisciplined rogue element.”

Cde Mliswa has been linked to a faction led by former Vice President Joice Mujuru which was plotting to oust President Mugabe as the First Secretary of Zanu-PF. He has been on a warpath against the Zanu-PF provincial executive committee since his ouster and has on several occasions heckled and harassed officials at meetings.

He is on $200 bail which was granted last week after he was found with several rifles at his farm which he allegedly stole from a white farmer in 2012.