Zanu-PF Mash West executive hits back

In an interview after an executive meeting last Friday, Mashonaland West provincial chairman Cde John Mafa said the executive had resolved to write to the party headquarters seeking clari­fication on how the decision was arrived at.
During the Gweru conference the party had announced initially that the province was rated fourth and received a plaque and party’s constitution.

It was later changed and the province was rated 10th.
Provinces were honoured for being well-organised and Mashonaland Cen­tral came first and received US$6 000 prize money and a trophy, followed by Mashonaland East which received US$3 000 while Midlands came third and got US$1 000.

According to the second rating Man­icaland was fourth, Harare fifth, Masvingo sixth, Matabeleland South seventh and Matabeleland North eighth. Bulawayo and Mashonaland West came ninth and 10th respectively.
Said Cde Mafa: “The plaque we received said that we were the most improved provincial performer and reconciling that with reports that we had come out last leaves us wondering if the principle of fairness was applied.”

The province, he said, went for about two years without a substantive execu­tive and chairperson owing to per­ceived squabbling and factionalism. Cde Mafa said the party in the province had managed 16 parliamen­tary seats and lost only six seats while registering five senatorial seats.
“There are provinces that barely managed to win a seat in the last elec­tions but are said to have done better than us,” he said.

The province has been sending reports of its restructuring exercise as expected and had covered more than 90 percent of districts, Cde Mafa said.
He said there were some leaders in the province who never accepted the current executive, adding they would stop at nothing to discredit his execu­tive. This outcome, he said, did not come as a surprise.

“They were the judges and we are not sure if we got a fair trial so we are writ­ing to them (party HQ) so that they explain the criteria they used to come up with the conclusion,” said Cde Mafa.
“It is time that some undercurrents that are affecting the party are dealt with so that we concentrate on strengthening the party ahead of elec­tions.” National Political

Commissar, Cde Webster Shamu, recently said Mashonaland Central came first because of its outstanding perform­ance.
“We rated the province first on restructuring. The province has made significant progress in capturing data, though they were last to be networked,” he said.Cde

Shamu said Mashonaland Central submitted reports regularly.
“The structures in the province con­form with the requirements of the con­stitution and the province excelled on holding of constitutional meetings and fostering unity among party cadres,” he said.

The commissariat department was looking at the restructuring and verifi­cation of party structures. It also looked into progress made in data capturing, submission of periodic progress reports and holding of meetings in line with the party’s constitutional requirements.