The ruling party Zanu PF’s much awaited solidarity march organised to affirm support for President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been postponed for the second time amid reports of serious factional fights in the youth league, 263Chat can reveal.
The intended march had been organised to show support for President Mnangagwa amid local and international condemnation of his administration over human rights abuses including the 1st of August shootings that left six people dead as well as the recent military clampdown on opposition and civil society leaders allegedly involved the national shutdown protests.
In a telephone interview with 263Chat, Zanu PF national Youth Secretary Pupurai Togarepi revealed that the solidarity march has been postponed amid a clash of events he said are choking the party.
“We don’t have an event this weekend. We will be telling you when we are going to have it. There are too many events that are in between so we felt that this may then overburden us. Of course people are mobilizing, they are ready to come but I think because of other commitments we would not able to do it. We will notify our members on the new date,” Togarepi said.
Zanu PF national spokesperson Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo said his office was not aware of the postponement, a pointer to misunderstandings that could be reigning in the party’s youth league.
“I have not been advised about the postponement yet. The secretary for youth should be able to give you a position on this,” Moyo said.
He described the youth league’s initiative to march in support of President Mnangagwa as commendable saying the party is fully behind the program.
“It’s for solidarity with the President on the good leadership he is displaying in this country and the party fully supports that,” Moyo said.
A party source who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that disorder in the youth league is the reason why the march continue being postponed from one date to the other.
“There is no clarity on the postponement issue because of friction in the youth league,” the source said.
Youth League spokesperson Tendai Chirau and National Commissar Godfrey Tsenengamu could not be reached for a comment as their mobile phones were not reachable.
Of late, the Zanu PF youth league has been marred in factional fights that saw the Secretary for Youth Affairs and his deputy Pupurai Togarepi and Lewis Mathuthu respectively being booted out only to be saved by the National Disciplinary Committee.
This saw deputy minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Energy Mutodi throwing his hat into the ring to lead the youth league while another youth member Tafadzwa Mugwadi had his name being thrown around to lead the communication department amid accusations that the current leadership was failing to defend the party and President Mnangagwa.
Meanwhile, 263Chat has also established that the ruling party’s solidarity march had a budget of more than half a million dollars earmarked for fuel alone with each province mandated to bring at least 30 000 participants.
