adminMAKONI West legislator Cde Kudzi Chipanga has added another feather on his cap by becoming the first youth leader from Manicaland to land the powerful position of Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs.
Cde Chipanga will assume the office previously held by Cde Edison Chakanyuka in the Zanu PF Politburo.
Our Senior Reporter Samuel Kadungure (SK) caught up with the youthful legislator to get an insight into his fast rising political stock. In the wide-ranging interview, Cde Chipanga (KC)s blamed the shambolic youth conference preparations on the party’s bankrupt coffers. He believes vote-buying among youths can be nipped in the bud.
He also brushed aside the talk linking him to a Zanu-PF faction allegedly led by Vice President Cde Joice Mujuru, claiming that he backs the presidium in its entirety. He also rubbished accusations that he was Cde Didymus Mutasa’s “political son” and that he roped him in his campaign across the country to influence the outcome of the conference. Cde Chipanga also said he was “a poor youth” who lacked the financial muscle to bribe other youths.
Here are some excerpts of the interview:
SK: Congratulations, Cde Chipanga, on being voted the new Zanu-PF Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs. The election was tense, but you made it, what was the secret to your success?
KC: There is no secret, as you know; I have been in the youth structures for quite some time and I regard myself as a tried and tested cadre. I was elevated to this new post by the youths because I have a traceable record. I have grown among them and they gradually developed confidence in my leadership. This was a token of appreciation for my hard work in the league.
SK: What is your perception of the events that unfolded at the just ended conference?
KC: It was an historic conference, the first convention where people had to go to elections after failing to allocate positions consensually. The tradition has been that people are allocated positions through consensus, but there were deep-seated disagreements, especially on the two top posts.
SK: How were you feeling during the voting process and since you made history becoming the first cadre from Manicaland to land that post, how does it feel?
KC: Every election outcome is unpredictable. The intention is to win, but you won’t settle down until you are confirmed the winner. I want to give credit to the youths of Manicaland for speaking with one voice. We now need to work hard to keep our province on the map of Zanu-PF politics. We should not discredit the province. It should not be a one-man band; we must be united as Manicaland first and then create synergies with other provinces. We need team work, combined effort to achieve the goals and objectives of this constituency. Rume rimwe harikombi churu.
SK: Is it true that the youth conference was tension-filled as two rival camps emerged, jostling for the top two positions?
KC: Yes there was unprecedented tension. That was why people could not agree on the first two positions resulting in an election.
SK: What was the bone of contention?
KC: It is common in any democratic organization that stakeholders disagree. In politics when consensus fails you then go to elections. As Manicaland we were rooting for the post of Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs. Our argument was that every other province had assumed the post save for Manicaland. In the outgoing executive we had Cde Edison Chakanyuka from Midlands, in the preceding one we had Cde Saviour Kasukuwere from Mashonaland Central, at another point we had Cde Kembo Mohadi of Matabeleland South, the current Secretary for Youth Affairs Cde Sikhosana hails from Bulawayo. Cde Ernest Kadungure from Harare once held the position and so are Webster Shamu from Mashonaland West and Cde Tungamirai from Masvingo. Some cadres from Midlands, whom we supported to land the post in 2009, tried to foil our bid. They did not want the post to come to Manicaland. They wanted to retain the post and we opted for an election.
SK: Were these divisions not factional?
KC: No. No. No. Our position as Manicaland was very clear and based on the principle of fair play. We realized that our colleagues from Midlands were greedy and at the same time exuding a contemptuous attitude toward the youth leadership from Manicaland. We supported Midlands in 2009, not on factional lines, but on the understanding that it was their first time. Our support was genuine, but in 2014, when it was our turn, they repaid us by stabbing us on the back and plotting against us. They wanted another turn. When they realized that odds were against them, they went on a candidate shopping – all because they did not want someone from Manicaland to rise to that post.
SK: The preparations of the youth conference were described as shambolic and took the intervention of President Mugabe to rescue the situation? What exactly went wrong?
KC: Preparations for big events like conferences and congresses involve so many players, some of who slept on duty. The challenge is that Zanu PF has not been spared from the economic meltdown. We are facing financial challenges, the party coffers have dried up and in the end we failed to cope.
SK: How come then that huge sums of money exchanged hands as the rival camps, one of which you belonged to, outdid each other in buying votes prompting, President Mugabe to castigate the evil practice? Why have people stopped channelling money towards party activities and at the same time sponsoring certain candidates within the party?
KC: I am the Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs, not the Presidential spokesperson. I am not qualified to comment on what the President said. I heard it from him. The President has various means of getting information, which I do not have. All I can say is I was voted to that position on merit. I never greased anyone. I do not believe in vote-buying. I am a very poor young man, who cannot provide everything that my family needs. I lack the means to pay someone to vote for me. I just appeal for votes without exchanging khaki envelopes. However, I cannot tell what my rivals were doing. I do not know who among them was doing what.
SK: You were nicknamed Cde Didymus Mutasa’s “political son” after the two of you allegedly went on a crusade across the country canvassing for your support. Is he your political godfather?
KC: Cde Mutasa is a national leader who hails from Manicaland. He is the Zanu PF national secretary for administration and any normal party cadre cannot disassociate from such a high ranking official. Protocol dictates that I, like any other youth, subscribe to him, then the national chairman Cde Simon Khaya Moyo, then Vice-President Cde Joice Mujuru and above them all President Mugabe. I am proud to be under such leadership. These are my leaders. I follow their footsteps.
SK: What is your working relationship with Cde Mutasa?
KC: We are both MPs in Makoni district of Manicaland. I respect him as my senior. I am his subordinate. There is no way I can disassociate myself from my leaders. We have a very good working relationship.
SK: Your rivals accuse you of roping him in your campaign across provinces where he was allegedly threatening youths to vote for you. What is your response to assertions by your critics that the victory you are celebrating is as a result of interference by him?
KC: It is unfortunate that some people have stooped so low as to add a regional dimension to it, thereby belittling a party business, organized by the outgoing national youth organization, led by Cde Sikhosana, to a Chipanga-Mutasa business. All aspiring candidates — including Cde Tongai Kasukuwere — were involved and present at these meetings, which were addressed by Cde Mutasa and Cde Francis Nhema. This initiative was pioneered by our leaders Cde Sikhosana and Cde Chakanyuka. There was nothing sinister about me attending the meeting together with Cde Mutasa. Cde Mutasa has a lot in his plate. He played no role in youth politics. He never campaigned for me.
SK: Your detractors accuse you of leading a faction of youths aligned to a faction in Zanu PF purportedly led by Vice President Cde Mujuru. Is this the faction that backed your candidature at the conference?
KC: That is a figment of their imagination. In Zanu PF our conduct is constitutional, not factional. There is a clear leadership structure that is led by President Mugabe who is deputized by Cde Mujuru followed by Cde SK Moyo and then Cde Mutasa. That is our party hierarchy, our leadership. I observe that leadership, and I do not know if that adds to belonging to a faction in Zanu PF. I am a subordinate to this leadership of President Mugabe, Vice President Mujuru, the national chairperson Simon Khaya Moyo and the secretary for administration Diydmus Mutasa. That is the structure that I know, nothing more.
SK: Before July, 2013 you were an ordinary Central Committee member and you wormed your way and contested the harmonized election and won Makoni West seat and a year down the line you have made it into the politburo? What’s next?
KC: This is my last term in the youth league, and I am looking forward to graduating into mainstream politics, in the main wing. The most important thing is being in the party and contest for positions when they arise. I will contest any post in Zanu PF that I feel I can make the grade, once it is declared vacant. It is my right because I am a bona-fide member of Zanu PF. My immediate task is to represent the youths so that they get a fair share of the national cake. I want to motivate and challenge youths to participate in national politics. They should not be cry-babies. Kudzi Chipanga and Batsi Pemhenayi set the examples by taking the bull by the horns in the 2013 election and we want to see more of them coming on board in the 2018 elections. Youths must never expect the old guard to invite them. They must penetrate the shield. It is possible.
SK: What has been your experience as a youthful legislator for Makoni West and how have you managed or failed to cope with the demands from your constituency?
KC: Things are tight. The economic meltdown is having a toll on our grassroots supporters to the extent that they expect the MP to provide solutions to their problems. They expect you to meet their needs whether or not you have the means, and in some cases I have managed to address the issues while parking other complicated challenges pending availability of resources. We are struggling as a constituency but we shall get there.
Online Reporter