adminMunyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
SIMMERING tensions exploded on Sunday during a Midlands Zanu-PF provincial meeting in Gweru where the provincial leadership was expected to deliberate on outstanding issues on the election of the provincial executive held recently.The end of a tense provincial meeting was punctuated by several scuffles, including one between a member of the youth league, Cde Simbarashe Mutukuse and losing National Assembly candidate for Mkoba constituency, Cde Dzingiso Zifungo, where the latter assaulted the former with open hands.
The meeting had to be abandoned before the provincial leadership could pass a resolution on the way forward regarding the directive from the commissariat instructing the province to include members who were elected into the provincial basket to participate in the executive elections.
Zanu-PF secretary for Information and Publicity Cde Rugare Gumbo, said the provincial executive elections held during the inter-district meeting in Gweru were deemed unconstitutional by the party leadership after members who had been elected into the basket failed to participate.
“I can confirm that emotions ran high during a Midlands provincial meeting where we were supposed to decide on who should and should not participate in the provincial executive elections.
“We realised that most of the people who were elected into the provincial executive were not in the basket. Therefore, it was unconstitutional.
“We got a directive from the commissariat instructing us to allow only members who had been elected into the provincial basket to participate in the provincial executive elections.
“It was these resolutions that resulted in emotions boiling over into public outburst,” he said.
Cde Gumbo said the Politburo was going to convene a meeting and deliberate on the matter so as to map the way forward.
“We were supposed to abide by the party rules and regulations. The elections were supposed to be legal and constitutional. We need to rebuild the party and unite it. The Politburo will convene a meeting to deliberate on the matter.
“There are members of the party who became violent and unruly during the meeting resulting in a member of the youth league assaulting a senior member in the party.
“Those who became violent would appear before the disciplinary committee. We do not condone violence in the party,” he said.
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