Back from exile… former Mugabe loyalist urges rebels to rejoin Zanu PF

By Clayton Masekesa

MUTARE – Former Zanu PF youth leader Mubuso Chinguno has urged party rebels to swallow their pride and rejoin Zanu PF.

Chinguno, a former First Lady Grace Mugabe ally, was toppled from his post as Zanu PF Manicaland youth chairman and top provincial executive member when Emmerson Mnangagwa assumed the presidency via a military intervention in November 2017.

The Chipinge-based former provincial youth boss was a vocal Mnangagwa critic during the late former President Robert Mugabe’s era.

After the military intervention, Chinguno skipped the country, going into self-imposed exile in Lesotho but is now back in the country.

The former youth leader has since apologised to Mnangagwa.

“What happened during the Mugabe-era was contestation, but it’s now water under the bridge. It is now a closed chapter. I want to urge all the rebels to rejoin the party under President Emmerson Mnangagwa,” Chinguno said in an exclusive interview with Zim Morning Post on Monday.

“A lot happened during the November 17 change of leadership. We saw some Zanu PF members joining MDC, NPF and other parties, but l remained a Zanu PF party member because l know what it stands for,” Chinguno said.

He said he was not bitter over his downfall.

“I have no bitterness and l am not angry with anyone. I don’t follow individuals in the party. Leaders come and go, but the party remains,” Chinguno said.

“I supported Mugabe during that time because he was the leader of the party. Now l am supporting President Mnangagwa because he is the current leader,” he said.

Chingono urged party rebels to rejoin the party and support its programmes. Zim Morning Post