Zanu PF VP ‘deal’ thrashed

ONE of the contenders for the vice-presidency has rubbished a deal by former PF Zapu members to back Zanu PF chairman Simon Khaya Moyo for the post, saying there was no one more senior than him in the race for the post.

ONE of the contenders for the vice-presidency has rubbished a deal by former PF Zapu members to back Zanu PF chairman Simon Khaya Moyo for the post, saying there was no one more senior than him in the race for the post. STAFF REPORTERS Former PF Zapu and Ex-Zipra member Phelekezela Mphoko said he qualified for the post and no one had the right to stop him. Mphoko has had to fight claims that he was ineligible for the top post as he had only recently acquired a Zanu PF card.

“Who is saying that rubbish? I am a central committee member of the party. How would I have become a central committee member without a party card?” he asked yesterday.

Mphoko said he planned to submit his curriculum vitae for the post as nobody had a right to bar him from contesting.

“I qualify for that post and no one has a right to deny me that,” he charged.

“I fought for this country for 16 years and no one can deny me any position unless that person is (former Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian) Smith.”

Despite reports that Moyo was a shoe in for the top post, Mphoko, Home Affairs minister Kembo Mohadi and Senator Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu have all expressed interest in succeeding the late Vice-President John Nkomo in deputising long-time ruler President Robert Mugabe.

Mphoko’s remarks come amid an outcry by senior Zanu PF officials in Bulawayo, lamenting the continued jockeying for the vice-presidency and second secretary of Zanu PF post traditionally reserved for ex-Zapu members, saying this was likely to weaken their influence at the national elective congress set for December.

A top Zanu PF official said former Zapu members in the ruling party must be prepared to pay the price for going to congress divided and wasting time on a position that is reserved for them instead of concentrating on the chairperson post that could be lost.

The official claimed Mphoko only became a card-carrying member of Zanu PF late last year, saying Mohadi was a war veteran, but not a senior ex-Zipra commander.

Party officials say with two months before congress, Zapu members must have already settled on two candidates for VP and chair instead of waiting for congress to decide for them.

According to a resolution of the former Zapu leadership meeting held on September 22 2013 at Twin Peaks in Gweru, gleaned by Southern Eye, 23 politburo, central committee and national consultative assembly members agreed that Moyo was their candidate for the second VP.

The meeting was chaired by former Zapu secretary-general Cephas Msipa and was attended by vice-president aspirants Mohadi and Ndlovu. Mphoko did not attend.

Three other officials skipped the meeting, but sent their apologies.

Some ex-Zapu members had questioned Moyo’s rise arguing that he was not in the party structures, but an employee of the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo, as a personal assistant.