It’s good to be back in Zanu PF, says Khumbula
WHEN the list of newly elected Zanu PF Central Committee members was released this week, one of the names could have caught the attention of many.
The name is Wilson Khumbula, who was appointed by President Mnangagwa to represent Manicaland province in the Central Committee.
Cde Khumbula built his reputation after independence in 1980 as a member of the opposition Zanu Ndonga led by the late national hero Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole.
At one time he was a deputy to Rev Sithole and then after his death, Cde Khumbula became the leader of the opposition.
But now he is in the Zanu PF Central Committee.
“I traced my way back to Zanu PF because the past is now buried and President Mnangagwa represents the new,” said Cde Khumbula while explaining the move.
‘’ The constitution of Zanu Ndonga and Zanu PF are similar in many respects. Ndabaningi and (the late former President) Mugabe were nemesis and it is not for us to perpetuate the ignominy of hate.
“I believe that President Mnangagwa is wise and we have to go beyond hate if the country can be developed by its people.’’
As the 2023 elections beckon, the new member of the Zanu PF Central Committee said now was the time for the people of Zimbabwe to rally behind President Mnangagwa as his Vision 2030, to make Zimbabwe an upper-middle-income economy, through the NDS1, was about to come to fruition.
‘’If people say I am a sell out, then they must think twice. I had my own assets when I got into Zanu PF and I did not join to get rich. There is no reason to run away from facts on the ground,’’ he said while dismissing the notion that he wanted personal benefits by joining Zanu PF.
Cde Khumbula, affably said: “It’s good to be back.’’
He said if Father Zimbabwe, Cde Joshua Nkomo, was able to join hands with the later former President Mugabe, there was no reason for him not to humble himself and join the ruling party.
His journey in politics spans more than five decades.
Some say he is a political flip-flopper, but Cde Khumbula is adamant that the country’s well-being and vision come first.
He was born in 1950 and did his education at Mount Selinda Institute.
His roots are in Chipinge and he is an astute businessman who has several awards bestowed upon him by the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce.
It is at Checheche Growth Point that his business is headquartered.
Recently, the President and First Secretary of the ruling party, Zanu PF, President Mnangagwa, appointed the man who at one time was Zanu Ndonga vice president and later president after the demise of the founding president Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole, to the Central Committee representing Manicaland.
‘’I started being active in party politics way back in the 60’s as a teenager,” Cde Khumbula said from his base at Checheche Growth Point, Chipinge. “We would go to Chipinge to protest against some white supremacist laws and at times we would be beaten by the police.
“We would go with teachers and at one time, police threw teargas at us resulting in us having chest and eye problems.”
After his Standard 6, Cde Khumbula was trained at Ranche House College in Salisbury in Office Administration. His zeal for the liberation of Zimbabwe did not ebb.
‘’In the early 1970’s, the internal leadership of Zanu galvanized us into campaigning against the Pearce Commission after the Rhodesians had proposed a constitution where there would be parity in parliament,” he said.
“We wanted majority rule, not parity in parliament. Consequently, the people voted ‘NO’ and I was part of the organizers.’’
In that campaign, some of the senior party members such as Edson Sithole, Morton Malianga and others facilitated their movement around the country.
‘’As the youth, we disguised by naming ourselves ZY (pronounced zai) which could mean Zimbabwe Youth or Zanu Youth,’’ Cde Khumbula, who is also known as Kujokochera, said.
After the war heated up and South Africa felt the pinch as the whole country had freedom fighters fighting against the Smith regime, Smith said he wanted to meet a united leadership of his belligerents and a détente was the result.
There were two leaders of the liberation forces namely Cde Ndabaningi Sithole and Cde Joshua Nkomo. The then Prime Minister, Ian Douglas Smith, demanded to have face to face talks with one leader of the liberation parties and not two.
During the Pearce Commission, Bishop Abel Muzorewa led the combined parties for the purpose of the constitutional referendum exercise. However, on the side of Zanu, the youths felt their party was on the weak side because they did not have structures in the country.
‘’ZAPU was formed in 1960 and was banned after two years which compelled it to have structures in all parts of the country. ZANU had been banned soon after the Gwelo Congress and had not gained ground to form structures. At the end of the day, we refused to be part of a united party at the time,’’ Cde Khumbula explained the reason why the détente and subsequent unity did not materialize at the time.
Cde Khumbula had a car allocated to him as the youth leader in order to work for ZANU in mobilizing the youths to go and join the liberation war.