SEVERAL Zanu-PF members who were forced out of the party, opposition and independent politicians are jostling to join the revolutionary party following an all-embracing approach adopted by the new political dispensation.
Since the collapse of factionalism within the ruling party – especially with the ascendancy of Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa as First Secretary and President of Zanu-PF and the demise of G40 – politicians are increasingly making a beeline to rejoin the revolutionary party.
Latest in the queue is former Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s National People’s Party (NPP) women’s assembly chairperson Ms Marian Chombo who claims she was forced out of the party by her ex-husband and former Finance Minister Ignatius Chombo.
Our Harare Bureau got sight of a letter written by Cde Marian Chombo to the Zanu-PF Mashonaland West chairperson in which she applied to be re-admitted in the party.
“I hereby request re-admission in Zanu-PF party. I was forced out of the party by the former President of Zimbabwe when he publicly denounced me in front of thousands who had thronged Chinhoyi Stadium in the run-up to the 2013 harmonised elections. Because of my differing views with my ex-husband, Dr I Chombo facilitated my unceremonious expulsion from the party,” reads the letter.
“I believe in the Zanu-PF ideology and pledge to work hard for Zimbabwe under the guidance of this revolutionary party. With the new political dispensation ushered in by the so-called Operation Restore Legacy, the party is surely poised for positive growth.”
Contacted for comment, provincial vice chairman Cde Keith Guzah confirmed that the Mashonaland West provincial executive was inundated with people from different political persuasions requesting to be readmitted to the ruling party.
“As a matter of fact, the provincial disciplinary committee, which I chair, is going through applications from former members who had been disgruntled or forced out of the party. With the current political leadership where our President (Mnangagwa) has shown his magnanimous and all-embracing approach as First Secretary and President of the party, jostling for political space is the order of the day,” he said.
“We are very excited as we engage and gear up for the 2018 plebiscite, which we will resoundingly win. We have registered over 520 000 voters in the province and we are expecting a landslide victory in next year’s elections,” he said.
Recently, former National Alliance for Good Governance president Dr Shakespeare Maya joined the bandwagon of politicians that are joining the ruling Zanu-PF party.
Former Zanu-PF Mashonaland West provincial chairman Temba Mliswa said he was ready and willing to retrace his footsteps to the ruling party. – Chronicle