Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
In-fighting in Zanu-PF’s Harare province escalated yesterday with the Women’s League provincial chairperson, Cde Angeline Matambanadzo slamming party members for organising meetings behind her back.
Cde Matambanadzo’s remarks were in apparent reference to a meeting held in Highfield on Sunday by the province’s Zone 2 to affirm their support for the appointment of First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe as the Secretary for Women Affairs.

However, Politburo member Cde Cleveria Chizema, who presided over the Sunday meeting fired back at Cde Matambanadzo, saying she (Matambanadzo) was being used by a clique of men pursuing factional politics.

Addressing journalists at party provincial offices in Harare yesterday, Cde Matambanadzo described people holding such meetings as “wolves in sheep’s skin” who pretend to love the party and President Mugabe more than others.

Cde Matambanadzo said such people were pursuing personal agendas which were causing divisions in the party.
“As the chairlady in Harare province, I am the leader of the Women’s League in the province,” she said.

“I am surprised that our youths were beaten up at a meeting, which I say was unconstitutional because it was organised without my knowledge as the chairperson.
“These are meetings that are being organised using names of party leadership.

“I was surprised when I read today’s (yesterday) paper that there was such a meeting that I was not aware of.”
Cde Matambanadzo said she would take the matter up with the party’s leadership.

“There may be a woman with a senior position in the party but she does not have the right to call for meetings of the Women’s League in the province without my knowledge. That is unconstitutional.

“I was told that people were bussed from housing co-operatives to come and endorse the First Lady yet we have already done that as Harare province.
“It is us who requested that the First Lady be appointed as Secretary of the Women’s League at our congress in December kuti Amai vamiririrewo madzimai . . . zvinove zvakazogarwa pasi kumusangano watakaita musi wa25 July.”

She said the recommendation was endorsed by both the Women’s and Youth League’s conferences held earlier this month.
The Sunday meeting that Cde Matambanadzo slammed was also attended by Central Committee member Cde Sabina Thembani and a national member of the Women’s League Cde Agnes Musarurwa.

Cde Matambanadzo said there were some people in the province who were pretending to be super patriots.
“Muno hamuna munhu anotaura kuti ndini ndinoda VaMugabe kudarika vamwe. We are all here as Zanu-PF members and we all love the party and the President.

“Kwakuuya mapere akapfeka dehwe rehwai vane maagenda avo atisiri kuziva kuti ndeei victimising others saying you do not love the President. Wazonyanya kuvada zvakadii kudarika vamwe vese tiri muno?

“As women, we are not going to allow people with their own ambitions to divide our party.”
Cde Chizema stood her ground insisting the Sunday meeting was legitimate and that there was nothing amiss with her (Matambanadzo’s) absence.
“Ngaandiratidze chapter (muconstitution) inotaura kuti you cannot have a meeting in the absence of the Women’s League chairperson.

“She (Cde Matambanadzo) is being used by men, unlike me. I act in my own way as a woman. Little education is very dangerous.
“In any case, she was invited by a member of the National Women’s League Cde Agnes Musarurwa and she said she was accompanying her mother for medication in Banket.”

Cde Chizema said the meeting was organised by Zone 2 and those who came from other zones were not invited, but friends who came to support to them.
Earlier on at a media briefing at party offices, Harare provincial chairman Cde Amos Midzi also said they were fully behind the First Lady’s candidature.

“We would like to confirm that as Harare province leadership, we have already dealt with the matter of supporting the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe for the position of National Secretary for Women’s Affairs,” he said.

“This position is contained in a letter that we wrote as a province to the national chairman, Cde Simon Khaya Moyo, who is also the chairman of the National Election Directorate, on 13th August 2014.”

In the same letter, Cde Midzi said, they confirmed that Amai Mugabe was a member of the party in Robert Mugabe district under Harare province.
A member of the Women’s League in Harare, Cde Elizabeth Bwanya, denied reports that provincial Youth League deputy chair Cde Edison Takataka, was assaulted at a development meeting held in Mbare on Saturday.

She said Cde Takataka opted to leave the meeting after he refused to retract his statement that he “does not respect” anyone in the party except President Mugabe.
A member of the Youth League in Highfield district Cde Peter Mushonga said he was assaulted at the Sunday meeting after he voiced concern over the agenda of the meeting, and his case was recorded at Machipisa Police Station under case number RRB 2133831.

 

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