Report by Clayton Masekesa in Mutare and Philemon Jambaya in Harare
The ruling party ZANU PF is reeling under pressure following concerns raised by local and international organisations over the alleged looting of donations towards the Cyclone Idai victims by some of its members compelling the party’s Manicaland leadership to call for an emergency meeting on Tuesday where it discussed the issue that has been deemed as ‘evil’.
The meeting attended by party heavyweights and youth leadership was aimed at summoning the named party members that have been at the forefront of looting the donations.
Said an insider:
“There was a closed door meeting held at the party office where the Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister, Ellen Gwaradzimba, expressed her concerns over the allegations of looting of the donations by some party members.”
“The racket include named ministers and bigwigs including MPs and the members of the youth leadership who have been taking advantage of their positions to direct the operations in terms of distributing the donations especially food items and groceries,” added our source.
“A list has been drawn out and all the named persons will be summoned and disciplinary measures will be taken against the perpetrators,”said the source.
Zanu PF party 4×4 vehicles and lorries have been used to ferry the looted donations to various destinations.
Efforts to get a comment from ZANU PF proved fruitless as the Manicaland executives’ mobile phones were not getting through.
However, ZANU PF national spokesperson Simon Khaya -Moyo said he was not aware of the meeting and referred back all questions to the Manicaland provincial leadership.
“I am not aware of the meeting but keep trying them, they will give you the comment you want,” he said.
Deputy Youth affairs secretary Lewis Matutu said: “The issue is that the opposition is fighting for space after realising that ZANU PF youth league is on the ground assisting the victims of cyclone Idai.
“Our vehicles were used to transport donations and personnel during the operation and the opposition is not settled by that. Let’s not politicize this crisis but rather concentrate on assisting the situation if we really care about the victims,” he said.
