Mujuru ‘has presidency in her handbag’
By Lance Guma
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Vice President Joice Mujuru effectively bagged the support of 9 out of 10 Zanu PF provinces in her long running battle with Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa to take over from President Robert Mugabe at the next elective party congress in December 2014.
In provincial elections held on Saturday, Mujuru loyalists took control of Harare, Bulawayo, Mashonaland East and West, Masvingo and Matabeleland South provinces in addition to the Midlands, Mashonaland Central and Manicaland provinces she tied up in the first batch of chaotic elections held last month.
So confident are some of her loyalists they are already claiming “the party presidency is now in her handbag.”
Last month elections held in the Midlands, Mashonaland Central and Manicaland provinces saw Mujuru loyalists Jason Machaya, Luke Mushore and John Mvundura respectively winning amid chaos and accusations of massive vote rigging from the rival camp led by Mnangagwa.
Efforts to conclude the elections in the remaining seven provinces collapsed last week as the fierce infighting spilled over into the state media with Information Minister Jonathan Moyo and his permanent secretary and Mugabe spokesman George Charamba taking sides with Mnangagwa.
On Saturday Zanu PF was attempting to repair the damage and conclude the elections without incident but again shortages of voting material and allegations of cooked up voters rolls were made by several losing candidates.
Five incumbent chairpersons retained their positions.
Four of these Ray Kaukonde (Mashonaland East), Amos Midzi (Harare), Andrew Langa (Matabeleland South), Professor Callistus Ndlovu (Bulawayo) belong to the Mujuru faction. Only Richard Moyo (Matabeleland North) supports Mnangagwa.
In Mashonaland West former fitness trainer turned politician Themba Mliswa garnered 9 185 votes in defeating businessman Philip Chiyangwa who managed 7 621 votes.
In Masvingo, Chiredzi South MP Callisto Gwanetsa romped to victory with 11 474 votes against Ailes Baloyi (7 362) from the Mnangagwa faction. Baloyi however complained the vote had been rigged.
“I do not accept the results because there were a lot of irregularities in the election process, for example there are some party structures in areas such as Gutu and Bikita that were arbitrarily disbanded, meaning that some people who were supposed to vote ended up not voting,” Baloyi claimed.
“The voter registers that were used in the elections were not the correct ones, they were tempered with and, therefore, I do not accept the outcome and I will soon be writing a letter to the national party leadership expressing why these results should not stand,’’ Baloyi added.
Its widely acknowledged that whoever controls the most Zanu PF provincial structures has an edge in terms of winning Zanu PF’s elective poll next year in December. Mugabe who will be approaching 91 years at that time is not likely to stand for re-election as party president.
This is how the power equation currently shapes up
| Province | Chairperson | Faction | |
| 1 | Mash Central | Luke Mushore | Mujuru |
| 2 | Mash East | Ray Kaukonde | Mujuru |
| 3 | Mash West | Themba Mliswa | Mujuru |
| 4 | Harare | Amos Midzi | Mujuru |
| 5 | Bulawayo | Callistus Ndlovu | Mujuru |
| 6 | Manicaland | John Mvundura | Mujuru |
| 7 | Midlands | Jason Machaya | Mujuru |
| 8 | Mat South | Andrew Langa | Mujuru |
| 9 | Masvingo | Callisto Gwanetsa | Mujuru |
| 10 | Mat North | Richard Moyo | Mnangagwa |
Below are the winners of the weekend provincial elections:
Bulawayo
Provincial Chairman- Callistus Ndlovu
Women’s League- Evah Bipu
Youth League- Khumbulani Mpofu
Mashonaland East
Provincial Chairman- Ray Kaukonde
Women’s League- Aquelina Katsande
Youth League- Luckson Kandemiiri
Matabeleland South
Provincial Chairman- Andrew Langa
Women’s League- Alice Dube
Youth League- Washington Ngomo
Harare
Provincial Chairman- Amos Midzi
Women’s League- Angeline Matambanadzo
Youth League- Godfrey Gomwe
Matabeleland North
Provincial Chairman- Richard Moyo
Women’s League- Mediline Bhebhe
Youth League- Tamuka Nyoni
Masvingo
Provincial Chairman- Callisto Gwanetsa
Women’s League- Shyllet Uyoyo
Youth League- Oliver Huruva
Mashonaland West
Provincial Chairman – Themba Mliswa
Women’s League – Constance Shamu
Youth League – Vengi Musengi
