MASVINGO - Zanu PF national party chairman Simon Khaya Moyo and political commissar Webster Shamu are set to descend on Masvingo Province today for a mission that could leave Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa’s faction reeling.
Mnangagwa is reportedly engaged in a fierce battle to succeed President Robert Mugabe with bitter rival Vice President Joice Mujuru.
Khaya Moyo and Shamu were invited to Masvingo by a faction believed to be aligned to Mujuru.
Insiders say the faction has been calling for the expulsion of the Masvingo provincial executive led by Lovemore Matuke, who reportedly belongs to the Mnangagwa-led faction.
In a letter seen by the Daily News, Zanu PF Masvingo political commissar Trainos Huruva invited Khaya Moyo — who heads a crack team formed by the politburo to “unite” the party ahead of polls — to visit the province today.
Insiders in the former ruling party told the Daily News yesterday that Matuke’s days as the head of the troubled province could be numbered.
Among other allegations Matuke, who did not attend Independence Day celebrations, is accused of blocking aspiring candidates to stand in primary elections even though Zanu PF is yet to complete the primary elections guidelines.
He is also accused of barring candidates from a rival faction from campaigning, while his faction is publicly campaigning.
Matuke, who denies the allegations, confirmed that his executive will be meeting today with Khaya Moyo and Shamu but denied that they face dismissal.
“It’s true that there will be a meeting tomorrow and Cde Khaya Moyo and Shamu will be there. I do not know where this issue of dissolving our executive or suspending it is coming from but as far as I know they are coming to get an update on our state of preparedness for elections as a party in the province,” Matuke said.
But precedence in other troubled provinces such as Bulawayo and Mutare where chairpersons have been suspended point to a possible shake-up in the province where Zanu PF has been losing ground to the MDC.
- Godfrey Mtimba