Zimpapers Logo

Cde Saviour Kasukuwere shows his membership card to zanu-pf supporters at Nzvimbo Growth Point in Chiweshe yesterday

Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
Zanu-PF secretary for Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Cde Saviour Kasukuwere yesterday said the revolutionary party would not hesitate to take action against power-hungry individuals working to topple President Mugabe.

Cde Kasukuwere said this while addressing a Zanu-PF inter-party district meeting at Nzvimbo Growth Point in Mazowe District.

He said the suspension of Zanu-PF secretary for Information and Publicity Cde Rugare Gumbo, the expulsion of war veterans leader Cde Jabulani Sibanda and the no confidence votes passed on some provincial leaders should serve as a warning to other members that do not toe the party line.

“President Mugabe is the founder of our party and nation and was elected on July 31 last year overwhelmingly, beating much younger opponents like Morgan Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube.

“We should therefore let him continue with the work that we mandated him to do because he has a vision for this country, a vision to see the empowerment of us the black majority.

“He has sustained the fight against the British and their allies in the past 14 years in a way none of us could have done.

“I am saying all these things because there are some among us who are getting excited, that is why we chased away Cde Gumbo and Jabulani yesterday.

“It is not about how long you have been in the party, but it is about whether you observe discipline and the guidelines of the party or not.”

Cde Kasukuwere said the provincial chairpersons that had been booted out had become arrogant and thought they owned the people.

The Politburo upheld the suspensions of Cde Temba Mliswa (Mashonaland West), Amos Midzi (Harare), Jason Machaya (Midlands), Kallisto Gwanetsa (Masvingo) and Andrew Langa (Matabeleland South) for fanning factionalism and subverting the constitution, among other charges.

“Some chairmen had lost direction, that is why we chased them away,” said Cde Kasukuwere. “They had become big-headed and were now claiming that they were untouchable since they had the people. What they didn’t know is that the people belong to the party, they don’t belong to individuals.

“People were now talking of succession. Who do they want to succeed when the President was just voted in a year ago? That is why we now want the President to appoint his deputies so that we do away with these various centres of power that we now had.”

The 52 Zanu-PF districts in Mazowe elected President Mugabe as their sole candidate for President and First Secretary at the 6th National People’s Congress next month and also endorsed a resolution by the Women and Youth conferences to elevate First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe to Secretary for Women’s Affairs.

Cde Kasukuwere notified the meeting that Mashonaland Central had been allocated 34 Central Committee seats based on its performance in last year’s harmonised elections and urged them to prepare for the provincial conference that will be held at a date yet to be announced.