By STAFF WRITER
Zanu PF Midlands provincial chairman Daniel Mackenzie Ncube on Monday raised alarm over rising political tensions in the province ahead of provincial elections.
The provincial elections were subsequently suspended at a Zanu PF extraordinary Politiburo meeting on Monday after a damning dossier detailing violence, vote buying and factionalism tearing apart Zanu PF during internal elections was handed to President Emmerson Mnangagwa over the weekend prompting him to pull the plug on the provincial elections.
Insiders say Mnangagwa is now weighing the option of co-opting individuals into Zanu PF chairmanship posts to avoid the fragmented party from further splitting ahead the 2023 election.
In a statement on Monday, Ncube who was set to face State Security minister Owen Mudha Ncube in the now suspended polls urged the party from voting for “a leader who is not associated with violence or criminal activities, a leader who is peace loving and a leader who is a unifier.”
“As we are going into the provincial elections, we need a steady hand to guide the Province. A leader who is not associated with violence or criminal activities, a leader who is peace loving and a leader who is a unifier,” he said.
“Yes, we need a leader for the province who is loyal only to the president not to any another individual…For those who are sowing seeds of division and disunity be warned. Your days in Zanu PF are numbered,” he continued.
“As we are faced with our internal elections we mustn’t lose sight of the bigger picture. In a few weeks time we are going to have our internal polls for Provincial leaders. Those are the leaders who are going to work in ensuring that the President achieves his vision.”
“Elections are usually characterised by high emotions and tempers however, we have to know that what unites us is much more than what divides us. What unites us is us being Zanu-PF. The Zanu-PF culture emphasizes unity more than individualism,” he said, adding: “As a provincial leader my emphasis has been and will be cohesion, unity, loyalty peace and development. We are our brothers keepers in Zanu-PF, united we stand divided we fall. We are Zimbabweans first as a provincial leader I have maintained and I still maintain and I will maintain that no to tribalism- this is the Midlands.”
The Zanu PF Midlands chairman urged the party to united behind a 2023 “undisputed win for President Mnangagwa”.
“We can only achieve that vision by mobilising and ensuring that the His Excellency. CDE Mnangagwa secures a landslide in the coming polls. For every Zanu PF cadre focus must be on ensuring that the President is handed a landslide victory,” he said.
Justice Mayor Wadyajena had also thrown his hat in the ring for the chairperson post of the province.
