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Temba Mliswa

Felex Share and Tendai Mugabe
The Mujuru putschist cabal’s ties with MDC-T have been exposed after one of its members, Mr Temba Mliswa, yesterday implicitly confirmed the embattled opposition MDC-T was already campaigning for him in the Hurungwe West by-election set for June 10.

The expelled Zanu-PF Mashonaland West provincial chair told journalists in Harare that more details on the collaboration would emerge soon.

This comes as the Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe (ACCZ), an umbrella body that represents apostolic and Zion churches, dumped the cabal’s leader, Dr Joice Mujuru, saying they did not want to be associated with people plotting to depose or assassinate the President.

Dr Mujuru has been the matron of the organisation for the past four years.

Mr Mliswa, who was on Sunday arrested for disrupting a Zanu-PF meeting in Hurungwe, said he would not set his foot in Hurungwe West until after the by-election as the MDC-T and other opposition parties were on the ground campaigning for him.

“If I can tell you, work is at a different level,” he said. “We shall be making further announcements with other colleagues of something that will assist in moving forward.

“I am proud of the co-ordination of the campaign teams. We have co-ordinated well with the MDC-T and other opposition parties.”

Mr Mliswa’s remarks vindicated Zanu-PF’s decision to fire members of the cabal who had since 2008 been working on a nefarious plan to unseat President Mugabe unconstitutionally.

Added Mr Mliswa: “If they (Zanu-PF) think MDC-T’s withdrawal means a free constituency they are joking. They will be tested and contested. Every by-election there will be somebody.

“We know who controls these constituencies and we will dialogue with them freely and openly. If it is MDC-T, we will talk to them. It is a game of numbers at the end of the day. We shall be making that very clear. Most of the issues are pretty much underway.”

The MDC-T has threatened to boycott all the by-elections on the pretext that the playing field is uneven.

Mr Mliswa, who together with his uncle Mr Didymus Mutasa had imposed themselves as spokespersons of the cabal, also directed his tirade at traditional chiefs saying they “did not own the people”.

“Chiefs do not vote for me, they do not control the people but areas,” he said.

“You cannot just take it that because people are in your area you control them. The Minister (Ignatius Chombo) thinks that bringing in chiefs will change any- thing.”

This comes in the wake of protests by traditional leaders in Hurungwe on Tuesday that Mr Mliswa should leave the area because he was brewing confusion and denigrating them.

Without proffering evidence, Mr Mliswa labelled Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration Cde Chombo and National Commissar Cde Saviour Kasukuwere “thieves”.

“For the first time today, Chombo can sue me. I can call him a thief. And even Kasukuwere, and I am prepared to prove it. They have not accounted for their wealth. He (Kasukuwere) is building a house where engineers are coming from China.”

Efforts to get a comment from Cde Kasukuwere yesterday were fruitless as he was said to be out of the country, while Cde Chombo’s mobile phone went unanswered.

The cabal’s manoeuvres were dealt a huge blow by the apostolic and Zion churches after they dumped Dr Mujuru as their leader.

ACCZ president Archbishop Johannes Ndanga said Dr Mujuru had done nothing to improve the welfare of their members, save for two crates of eggs that she donated to him.

Archbishop Ndanga said apostolic and Zion churches were disturbed by the fact that Dr Mujuru and her cabal were disgruntled by their expulsions from positions they were never voted for.

He said President Mugabe was the appointing authority and centre of power in Zanu-PF and as such he could choose to appoint anyone in any brief.

“You cannot tell us what to do,” he said.

“You cannot tell us about ‘people first’ because this country was liberated in 1980 through the ultimate sacrifice of blood and no one can tell us of any liberation today that can surpass the blood that was shed during the war.”