MASVINGO Zanu PF provincial leadership got a rude awakening last week, when Chiredzi district chairpersons revealed that they had stopped wearing party regalia in public places for fear of being shunned by community members.
BY GARIKAI MAFIRAKUREVA
This was revealed after Masvingo provincial spokesperson Ronald Ndava questioned why they were not putting on party regalia at an inter-district meeting held at Chitsanga Hall.
One chairperson, Natala Chauke, from Makondo township in Tshovani, shot back from the gallery, saying the ceremonial dress attracted the ire of community members, and anyone seen wearing it risked being ejected from either commuter omnibuses or private cars.
His counterparts shouted in unison that he was on point, much to the chagrin of the district war veterans chairperson, Killer Makuni, and the Zanu PF provincial chairperson Ezra Chadzamira, who berated them for the their cowardly behaviour.
Makuni said they should note down and hand over the list of commuter omnibuses involved so they could deal with them or take them off their routes.
“How could you be ejected from a kombi by someone who is not Zanu PF? You are just cowards. Instead, you are the ones who are supposed to eject someone without party regalia from those kombis, not vice versa. I am so disappointed with you,” he said.
Chadzamira, who is also Masvingo Provincial Affairs minister, accused the provincial leadership of sitting on the fence, further fuelling speculation of ongoing factional fights within the ruling party.
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“I can’t believe what you are saying. Maybe you are now shy to wear our regalia. We know that there are some people who are now sitting on the fence. If you are that kind of a person, let me tell that the party has no room for you. We want people who know what they want,” he said.
Zanu PF won resoundingly all four constituencies in Chiredzi, with Chiredzi North recording the highest votes in the July 31, 2018 election, beating Uzumba, which traditionally posted the highest number of votes in previous elections.
Chiredzi came under the spotlight last year after Zanu PF councillors voted for their MDC counterpart for the chairmanship and an independent candidate as deputy.
