Zanu PF heavyweights fight over DCC

CHENGETAI ZVAUYA

Zanu PF bigwigs are imposing candidates ahead of the District Coordinating Committee (DCC) elections amid revelations of infighting in the governing party, Business Times can report.

The DCCs are making a comeback, eight years after they were disbanded for allegedly fanning factionalism in Zanu PF.

So far Zanu PF has managed to hold successful DCC elections in Harare and Bulawayo Provinces.

Harare is now being chaired by Godwills Masimirembwa and deputised by Godfrey Gomwe.

Former Kuwadzana legislator Betty Kaseke was elected provincial chairperson for the Women’s league.

However, it is in other 8 provinces that other powerful provincial leadership had been imposing preferred candidates to be in the leadership of the DCC resulting in chaos in the provinces, according to Zanu PF national commissar Victor Matemadanda.

“There are a lot of problems and factionalism taking place in the various provinces as we are having senior politicians trying to impose candidates to be leaders in the DCC and this is causing problems as some of them are not popular with the electorate.

We had to move in and stop everything and demand that every candidate who wants to contest submits his or her CV for vetting at the party headquarters,” Matemadanda said.

Since the ouster of former President Robert Mugabe in 2017, factionalism in Zanu PF has not subsided with the party recently expelling two senior members for allegedly fanning factionalism, three years after the party said the G40 faction had been vanquished.

In August, Zanu PF expelled former politburo member Cleveria Chizema and Tendai Savanhu for allegedly causing divisions and factionalism in the party and province.

In June, former Chivi South legislator Killer Zivhu was expelled from the party for breaking party protocol after he pushed, through social media, for a dialogue between First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa and MDC-Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa’s wife Sithokozile.

He said the duo would push their husbands to the negotiating table and help end the political and economic crisis.