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Walter Mswazie Masvingo correspondent
The ZANU-PF leadership in Masvingo has set tough conditions for candidates wishing to contest in the party’s primary elections to guard against attracting leaders with a chequered past. Ruling party Masvingo provincial chairman Cde Ezra Chadzamira said only candidates with an impeccable and clean record that were loyal to Zanu-PF would be allowed to contest the primaries and subsequently the election on a Zanu-PF ticket.

Cde Chadzamira said in an interview, that the ruling party’s leadership in the province wanted candidates with a track record to avoid the party’s capture as what the vanquished G40 cabal tried to do.

He said Masvingo was expecting to field candidates with an appreciation of the values and ethos of the revolutionary party in the harmonised elections this year.

“We have made it clear that we will only accept to work with candidates who know the values of Zanu-PF and have clean track records.

“We will not tolerate divisive leaders who are known enemies of the party,” said Cde Chadzamira.
He said some aspiring candidates in this year’s harmonised elections had soiled their image by wining and dining with enemies of the party, particularly those who belonged the ousted G40 cabal.

“This time around, we will not tolerate leaders who create problems for the party once they are in power. To achieve this, we will thoroughly vet all aspiring candidates ahead of primary elections to be held anytime this month.
“The greatest fear that we have is to be led by G40 members who had captured our structures before we were saved by

“Operation Restore Legacy”,’’ said Cde Chadzamira.
“There is no crime in developing one’s area and we will not stop those who have started engaging in developmental projects.
“However, it should be incumbent on all aspiring candidates that they should have clean records, otherwise the party will not accept their CVs.”

Addressing a Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial coordinating committee meeting recently, the ruling party national deputy political commissar Cde Omega Hungwe hinted that the party was going to only accept CVs from members who would have undergone orientation at the revolutionary party’s Hebert Chitepo School of Ideology.

The school is spearheaded by the Zanu-PF commissariat department and seeks to inculcate values, principles and ethos of the liberation struggle to create true party cadres.