Ambitious Kasukuwere sparks war among Zanu-PF rejects
THE National Patriotic Front (NPF), a grouping of Zanu-PF rejects has hit turbulent waters with its chief architects trading insults and accusations of betrayal and treachery.
The fight among members of the infamous G40 cabal has been reportedly sparked by alleged plans by former minister Mr Saviour Kasukuwere to return to Zimbabwe and take over the leadership of NPF from Retired Brigadier General Ambrose Mutinhiri.
However, his colleagues Professor Jonathan Moyo and Mr Patrick Zhuwao have accused the former Zanu-PF political commissar of having negotiated a soft return with the country’s leadership and security organs.
The trio fled the country in November last year after the launch of Operation Restore Legacy that put a stop to manoeuvres by the G40 cabal to unconstitutionally grab power in what could have led the country into a crisis.
In the explosion of what has been simmering tensions over the leadership of the NPF, Mr Kasukuwere has also been accused of setting up parallel structures.
Prof Moyo yesterday posted on Twitter attacking Mr Kasukuwere’s planned return to the country sensationally claiming that the former minister had held negotiations for his return.
“The term new dispensation to define period after illegal ouster of Pres Mugabe was coined & first used in a tweet by @Hon_Kasukuwere on 21/11/17 shortly after Pres Mugabe’s forced resignation. Last 5 months he’s been negotiating with ED, Chiwenga & CIO’s Isaac Moyo to return!” read Prof Moyo’s tweet.
Prof Moyo’s tweet was preceded by an article, part of a series under the name Zhuwao Brief Reloaded (ZBR), by Mr Zhuwao posted on an online news site attacking Mr Kasukuwere.
“Kasukuwere has been reported at some meetings of the real NPF as either having arrived in Zimbabwe or as being on the verge of landing in Zimbabwe in an effort to tie his supposed leadership of the copy-cat ZNPF junta project with the real NPF.
“This ZBR is being written for the express purpose of putting on the record that I, as Patrick Zhuwao, am not part of Kasukuwere’s current political shenanigans and manoeuvring,” said Mr Zhuwao.
“…I do not support nor subscribe to the notion that Kasukuwere should lead the real NPF.
“Having politically interacted with Kasukuwere since joining the Zanu-PF Youth League’s National Executive over one and a half decades ago, I am not convinced that he is an appropriate person to lead the real NPF.”
Mr Zhuwao who claimed to be a co-founder of NPF further charged, “Some of the reasons for my taking such a position include the fact that Kasukuwere has been actively discouraging efforts towards the establishment of the real NPF up to a point where I stopped engaging him on the progress of that endeavour.
“Kasukuwere’s dogged determination to return to a Zimbabwe that is under the yoke of the military junta has also left me questioning his motives.
“The only way in which someone walks into a dangerously fatally situation is if they have been given assurances for their safety. Given the threat that the real NPF poses to the military junta, it is conceivable that such a guarantee can only have been secured by way of a commitment to derail the real NPF.
“This is why I am taking seriously the reports of a copy-cat ZNPF under the leadership of Kasukuwere as a junta project to derail the real NPF.”
In a tweet responding to his colleagues Mr Kasukuwere hit back saying he does not need their permission to return to the country.
In what sounded like an indirect attack on Prof Moyo, Mr Kasukuwere said he had no criminal charge to worry about.
Prof Moyo was arrested by Zimbabwean authorities on November 2, 2016 for alleged abuse of office and misappropriating over $400 000 in Zimbabwe Manpower Development (Zimdef) funds.
“Zim is my country. When I decide on my own to go back to my country, I will. I don’t need to seek permission from anyone. No criminal charge to worry about,” posted Mr Kasukuwere.
According to sources, the party, formed barely two months ago made up of Zanu-PF expellees and reportedly enjoys the blessing of former President Mr Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace, has been set on a rough sail and is on course to collapse due to infighting.
In a statement confirming that all was not well in the NPF, the party’s spokesperson Mr Jealousy Mawarire accused some officials of imposition.
“Attempts by some cadres, identified and appointed to specific roles by the party’s founders, to arrogate themselves powers to impose leaders of their choice is patently unconstitutional as these appointed officials have not been subjected to any electoral process themselves,” he said.—@tshuma584 @nqotshili.