Mandiwanzira, Mliswa in clash at AAG meeting

Tempers flared at a meeting called yesterday to discuss the state of affairs of the Affirmative Action Group with the empowerment lobby’s former president Supa Mandiwanzira and his deputy Temba Mliswa engaging in a furious verbal exchange.

The meeting was organised to discuss the body’s state of affairs after some provincial leaders passed a no confidence vote in the national executive. Mandiwanzira later excused himself and left the meeting.

AAG founding president and interim leader Philip Chiyangwa chaired yesterday’s meeting. The meeting started with Chiyangwa narrating to delegates drawn from the country’s provinces the history of the AAG and the vision they had when they formed the organisation.

The meeting then went into a closed session, before the media were allowed to return when AAG chief executive officer Davison Gomo read out the letter in which the provinces passed a vote of no confidence in the Mandiwanzira-led national executive.

Interim secretary-general, Tendai Savanhu, then said a fact finding committee made up of lawyers, accountants and AAG founder members would be set up to establish the authenticity of the allegations made against the ousted executive.

When the meeting was opened to the floor Mliswa made a number of allegations against his colleagues in the former executive. The Mandiwanzira-led executive was also accused of embarking on foreign trips that were not beneficial to the AAG and of using the group to defend personal interests that were not in line with the body’s objectives.

“The probe is important so that those who are leaders should be held accountable to people because when you don’t account there will be a crisis. However, Mandiwanzira denied that he had abused AAG’s resources, saying he had sacrificed a lot for the organisation’s cause.

“The issue here is not about finger pointing, this is not an investigation but a fact finding mission and the facts will speak for themselves.  There is a perception that that we are supposed to have stolen money from AAG yet there is no single day I have asked for a cent from AAG. If there is anyone with information that I received money please bring it to Mr Savanhu,” he said.

Mandiwanzira said the AAG operated from his business premises but he did not ask for any rentals or contributions to pay bills. It was at this point that the Midlands province secretary-general raised a point of order that the meeting was not a platform for people to defend themselves.

The return of Philip Chiyangwa to the helm of the Affirmative Action Group (AAG) has been linked to the muffled Zanu PF succession debate with young turks led by Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere cultivating the empowerment lobby as their power base.

Some Zanu PF politburo members told the Zimbabwe Independent this week that the ouster of Supa Mandiwanzira was part of Zanu PF’s complicated succession matrix.

Chiyangwa, who was re-admitted into Zanu PF as an ordinary member in Mashonaland West, is reportedly working closely with the ambitious Kasukuwere in the succession race.

Kasukuwere is reportedly spearheading a third force in the battle to succeed Mugabe. For over a decade, Vice-President Joice Mujuru and Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa have been at the forefront of the succession race, and it was only recently that the military and its chief General Constantine Chiwenga displayed a deep interest in the succession debate.

“The young, rich and ambitious politicians in Zanu PF led by Kasukuwere want to build their political empire using the AAG and the indigenisation programme. They calculate that the indigenisation policy could give them a leap over other factions and that is why there is drama at the AAG. It’s all about the Zanu PF succession race,” said a senior Zanu PF official.

Kasukuwere, who is the driving force behind the controversial indigenisation policy, was exposed by WikiLeaks as one of the young turks who wants Mugabe to step down. Kasukuwere reportedly told former US ambassador to Zimbabwe Tom McDonald in November 2000 that Zanu PF required urgent leadership renewal.

Among those also reportedly working with Kasukuwere is fellow politburo member Tendai Savanhu. Savanhu, who is the AAG’s founding secretary-general, has been tasked by Chiyangwa to investigate corruption allegations levelled against the ousted AAG executive led by Mandiwanzira. The Herald/Zimbabwe Independent