ZANU PF members in Masvingo District are reportedly dissatisfied with the return of former politburo member Dzikamai Mavhaire to the party.
Mavhaire, who previously served as Minister of Energy and Power Development, along with his son Lawrence and former MDC-T MP for Gutu Central Oliver Chirume, was among several people paraded at State House last month in the presence of party leader President Emmerson Mnangagwa as new members of the ruling party.
However, Mavhaire’s reintegration into ZANU PF has sparked discontent, with the Masvingo District Coordinating Committee claiming that proper procedures were not followed, as they did not recommend his return.
Sources within the party, as reported by TellZim News, indicated that Mavhaire’s readmission was imposed by the Provincial and National executive, bypassing the usual protocol where the district makes a recommendation to the Provincial Coordinating Committee, which then forwards it to the national executive. Said the source:
We were shocked to just see pictures of Mavhaire with the President and the provincial leadership. Protocol was not observed as we at the district are supposed to receive a letter from an appellant who is seeking re-admission. We then recommend or decline. If we accept the appellant we then recommend it to the province and then national.
When reached for comment, Masvingo DCC Chairperson Tawanda Dube said that Mavhaire has not yet been introduced to the district, as his readmission originated from the national executive. Said Dube:
Yes, Cde Mavhaire is back in the party but procedurally he is yet to be introduced to us as the district. His admission came from the national executive. However, we are happy as a district that he is back.
ZANU PF Masvingo Provincial Chairperson Robson Mavhenyengwa said there is nothing wrong with Mavhaire’s readmission coming from the national executive, considering he is a former Politburo member. Said Mavhenyengwa:
Cde Mavhaire was a politburo member and that is why his admission came from the top. It is normal and if the President or any other authority asks us to welcome a returnee then who are we to refuse? In fact he had been a member of ZANU PF and he had just decided to come back home to others.
Other sources within ZANU PF suggested that Mavhaire was hesitant to approach the district executive, fearing it would undermine his stature.
There was a possibility that his appeal would be rejected, which is why he opted to approach the national executive instead. Said the source:
Mavhaire is a threat to many in the province so he saw that the district would mock and block his return considering his proximity to former Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Nelson Chamisa. Many feel threatened by his return, even other provincial executive members.
Mavhaire gained notoriety in 1997 after publicly calling for President Robert Mugabe’s resignation in parliament, which resulted in his expulsion from ZANU PF.
Following his departure from the party, he reportedly became a vendor in Masvingo, selling oranges from a rundown vehicle.
After some time, Mavhaire was readmitted to ZANU PF, and in 2012, he had a dispute with fellow party member Paul Mangwana regarding the implementation of the Indigenisation law.
He argued that the law, which required foreign-owned companies to transfer 51 per cent of their shares to locals, should not apply to Bikita Minerals, where he was already a shareholder.
This disagreement led Mugabe and then-Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere to postpone the community share ownership scheme.
Allegedly involved in a plot to oust Mugabe, Mavhaire subsequently lost his position in the ZANU PF Politburo.
He was expelled from the party on May 21, 2015, after being dismissed from his role as Minister of Energy, along with six other senior members.
In the lead-up to the March 2022 by-elections, Mavhaire remarked that ZANU PF did not have a “divine right” to govern indefinitely and encouraged voters to support the opposition CCC.
Having recently joined CCC, he claimed that voting for ZANU PF was tantamount to ruining the country.
More: Pindula News