Kasukuwere’s fate to be decided on Wednesday
THE Zanu PF politburo is expected to meet on Wednesday to decide the fate of its underfire national commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, after Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda’s team presented a report of its findings to President Robert Mugabe last month.
he issue was deferred last month, as Mugabe was hosting the visiting Lesotho monarch, King Letsie III and commissioning two infrastructure projects — the Tokwe-Mukosi Dam and Harare-Chirundu Road dualisation project.
Kasukuwere has been walking a tight political rope since April this year after several Zanu PF provinces passed a vote-of-no-confidence against him over allegations of creating parallel party structures in a suspected plot to topple Mugabe.
Zanu PF sources said the politburo will also deliberate on the contested Masvingo provincial chairmanship recently won by Ezra Chadzamira after his rival Mutero Maunganidze pulled out, citing military interference in the electoral process.
Zanu PF spokesperson, Simon Khaya Moyo yesterday referred all questions to the party’s administration secretary Ignatius Chombo, whose mobile phone went unanswered.
Mugabe last month commissioned a fact-finding team led by Mudenda to investigate allegations levelled against Kasukuwere and the report is expected to be tabled at the politburo meeting.
Kasukuwere’s home province was the first to endorse his ouster, although the Local Government minister claims the campaign was funded by land barons and his rivals from Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Team Lacoste.
According to sources, the politburo will also discuss the possibility of holding provincial elections to elect substantive executives that will steer the party in next year’s elections.
Most provincial executives were appointed on an interim basis after the sacking of many members aligned to Mnangagwa’s faction.
Well-placed sources also told NewsDay Zanu PF will also deliberate on an election manifesto, as the party gears for next year’s general elections.
The sources said Mugabe has already set a committee that includes Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo to craft a competitive election manifesto that will see the party cruise to victory against an anticipated coalesced opposition next year.
by Everson Mushava
