The Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial executive has annulled the election of bigwigs such as former provincial Governor Willard Chiwewe and Provincial Affairs Minister Dr Paul Chimedza to the Central Committee during recent elections held in the province.
The elections had been held in five of Masvingo’s seven districts by the provincial executive led by acting chair Amasa Nhenjana, but they could not be completed in Mwenezi and Masvingo after the Zimbabwe Defence Forces stepped in to stop a sustained purge by a G40 cabal targeting Zanu-PF officials with liberation war credentials.
Provincial chairperson Ezra Chadzamira and members of his executive were barred from participating in the primaries by Nhenjana and his team. Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial vice chairman Ailess Baloyi on Tuesday said the recent Central Committee elections in the province were null and void.
“The Central Committee elections held in Masvingo recently are null and void, their results do not hold because in the first place they were not elections at all, people were just hand-picking each other. We cannot even call what happened an election because most of the party members were barred from contesting, so the outcome does not hold at all,” he said.
Chadzamira
Baloyi said legitimate Central Committee elections were only due in 2019 when the mandate of the organ’s members elected in 2014 expired.
“Central Committee members who were elected in 2014 are the ones who will attend the Extra0rdinary Congress to be held next month. Their mandate expires in 2019 when new elections are due,” he said.
Besides Dr Chimedza, others who had been elected into the Central Committee in Gutu during last week’s sham elections were Gutu West legislator Tongai Muzenda, Retired Colonel Mutero Masanganise and Patricia Gama. In Zaka, ex-Masvingo Governor Chiwewe had been elected together with Professor Bonface Chivore and Jonas Chindanya.
Chiwewe
As for Bikita, Pamushana High School head Johnson Madhuku had also been elected into the powerful Zanu-PF organ, together with Jeffreys Murire, Veronica Dzika and Watson Maguraumwe. In Chiredzi, Retired Brigadier- General Callisto Gwanetsa, who is the Chiredzi South legislator, had also been voted into the Central Committee, together with his Chiredzi North counterpart Robson Mukwena.
Also elected in Chiredzi were Jerry Makuni, Samson Makonese and Mavis Dhemba. In Chivi, Mathias Vutete, the Chivi South legislator had been voted into the Central Committee, together with Tranos Huruva and businessman Wellington Mapuvire.
