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coming up with a position on problems bedevilling the party in the province, party spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo has said. In a wide-ranging interview with The Herald, Cde Gumbo said the Politburo was expected to come up with a position on the issue next week.
He said the problems in Manicaland stemmed from the fact that there were people who may have different agendas, adding other forces were also behind the problems.
“Yes it may not be Cde (Didymus) Mutasa or Cde (Oppah) Muchinguri but it may be other forces which we cannot identify,” said Cde Gumbo.
“That is what we want the report to do. To find out exactly what was said by the people of Manicaland because only the people from there can tells us.
“We can’t guess what they want and we also can’t base our arguments on hearsay or rumour. I don’t think that will be acceptable.
“Let’s wait for the report to see what the people of Manicaland tell us exactly what they want. The party will then make a decision on the recommendations that would have come from Manicaland.”
He said the Politburo would as it did with Bulawayo province take recommendations of the Manicaland province in pursuit of lasting solutions to the problems there.
Cde Gumbo defended Cde Mutasa’s inclusion in the investigation team that was headed by party national chairperson Cde Simon Khaya Moyo.
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Other members of the team included national political commissar Cde Webster Shamu and deputy secretary for security Cde Kembo Mohadi.
He said Cde Mutasa had always been a member of the team that also investigated the Bulawayo problems that resulted in veteran nationalist Cde Callistus Ndlovu being appointed chairperson for the province.
He said the problems in Manicaland could be easily dealt with adding that the team had broad consultations to hear the views of all the people in the province.
“I personally see no difficulty in bringing the people of Manicaland together.
“The key thing is, can we connect with the people? Can we relate to the people?
“The bone of contention in Manicaland is not the party. They may be individuals. It is not just Cde Mutasa, there are a number of people who are being mentioned in that context.
“I think this is solvable and when the Politburo meets it will decide on a course of action.
“What we are doing as the Politburo is that once a decision is made it must be followed.
“When the report is tabled at the Politburo and once we make a recommendation we want everyone to follow it,” said Cde Gumbo.
The investigation team separately met Politburo and Central Committee members, war veterans and ex-detainees at Marymount Teachers College on Friday and Saturday in a “no-holds barred meeting”.
The meeting started at 10am on Friday and ended at 2am on Saturday.
After Mutare, the team is expected to descend on Harare province as the revolutionary party seeks to strengthen itself ahead of the harmonised elections to be held soon.
Cde Gumbo said the party was ready to deal with factionalism within its rank and file adding that what was identified as factionalism were just contradictions.
“First of all we must identify the source of this factionalism. Once we identify the source, then half the problem is solved. From a political point of view, contradictions in the party are going to be there whether you like it or not.
“You have to identify whether they are antagonistic if so then of course banish certain elements which you think are creating problems but if they are non-antagonistic as they happen to be the case in our party, you solve those problems through talking, dialogue and ideological orientation.
“You don’t just lump contradictions, antagonistic and non-antagonistic together and hope that you will find a solution. You won’t find it.
“All I can say the party is paying full attention to it. We are all studying the causes of this factionalism.
“We are examining how we can handle this thing. The biggest problem in the party at the present moment, the way I see it, is that we are not tackling the fundamental issues. We need to tackle these issues,” said Cde Gumbo.
“We have to eliminate indiscipline. We have to diffuse the power distribution in the party.
“We can’t have all centres of power. We have one centre of power. That is what we have to work on. If we do that kind of thing then it will solve all the problems,” he said.
Online Reporter