Zanu-PF Youth League Legal Affairs Secretary Phineas Makombe Tuesday warned ‘renegades’ against soiling President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s name amid rising suspicion that there is trouble within the ruling party’s leadership.
This follows remarks made by former ZanuPF members, Jim Kunaka and Godfree Tsenegamu who alleged that Mnangagwa’s time was up and should leave the reign to his deputy, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.
Makombe noted that the allegations of power struggles between the two are false and being spread by people who are unaware of his party’s constitution.
“The spurious claims, therefore, that His Excellency is forming parallel structures detached from the Party show a clear lack of knowledge of the Party’s constitution,” he said.
“For the avoidance of doubt all these affiliates after forming themselves and approaching the party to become affiliate members and work with the party
Makombe dismissed Kunaka and Tsenengamu as political mercenaries for hire.
“The utterances by these impersonators where they approach politics not with loyalty or ideology … but with a mercenary, a business mindset which sacrifices principles on the altar of expediency will not move the masses away from the Party that brought about the independence of this country,” he said.
“They (Kunaka and Tsenengamu) formulate commentary from their stomach, not the minds and hearts of our masses. It is sad that political irrelevance, greed and stomach politics have led them to such deplorable lows.
“Let me warn these two reprobates that the Youth League shall not sit and watch whilst our president and First Secretary Comrade Dr ED Mnangagwa is attacked left right and centre,” he said.
Zanu-PF will go for its elective congress later this year to choose the party’s candidate for the 2023 elections.
