WAR veterans in Mazowe district have issued a strong warning to Zanu PF members who are fanning factionalism in the district.
This came out during the district Heroes Day commemorations held at Nzvimbo Growth point on Monday.
Speaking at the event, Mazowe district war veterans chairman Ephanos Mudzimunyi said as custodians of the party, they will not tolerate those causing divisions.
“We fought for the liberation of the country and are custodians of the party. We want the party to be united and those who are causing divisions will not be tolerated,” Mudzimunyi said.
The divisions are a mirror reflection of the broader provincial factional fights in which two heavyweights, Mazowe DCC chairman Tafadzwa Musarara and current Mashonaland Central provincial chairman Kazembe Kazembe are tussling for control of the province.
Kazembe controversially won the provincial election of December last year punctuated by allegations of rigging, violence and several other abnormalities.
His controversial victory left the province fractured and recently, his camp tried to suspend Musarara although the overtures were thwarted by the leadership of the party.
Mudzimunyi said war veterans stood with Musarara and will not allow anyone to disrupt the party.
“We stand with Cde Musarara here and anyone who want to disturb that will pay. We will do to them what we did to (the late former president Robert) Mugabe,” he said amid wild acclamation from the audience.
Musarara, in a subsequent interview, said he was focusing on ensuing the party and its presidential candidate, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, obtain 100 000 votes in the 2023 general election.
“The party is very strong here. This is the first lady’s district and we are working hard mobilising people and ensuring that the party and the president win resoundingly,” he said.
“The district presently has 80 000 voters and we want to increased that to at least 100 000 by next year. That way, we will have contributed decently to the five million votes which the party wants to mobilise for the president at next year’s election.”
On divisions, he said: “We are not really focusing on who is fighting who. All we want is to ensure the party wins and that we reclaim the one seat currently occupied by the opposition. The people of Mazowe had a strong attachment to the party, not only from the liberation war perspective, but also from a developmental perspective. For instance, last year, we managed to fill the Nzvimbo GMB depot with maize for the first time in 15 years.”
“We have a very rich geographical endowment in terms of the soils, the rainfall pattern and we are a food basket for other districts in the country. We have been in touch with the people on the ground trying to implement the party’s manifesto of 2018. We have managed to improve roads, schools and clinics,” he said.
Musarara also sponsored the participation at the event of man-of-the-moment, Sungura artist Mark Ngwazi, who kept thousands of fans spellbound with his scintillating performances.
Ngwazi, who also hails from the district, was supported by several other artists, including popular rhumba musician Juntal.
“We thought it was wise to bring the artist closer to his fans and it’s a great idea. It is also meant to empower the artists because they are performing here for a fee,” Musarara said.
