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WE are appalled by the violent scenes which engulfed Davies Hall, the Zanu-PF Bulawayo Provincial headquarters where party youths clashed with war veterans and the provincial leadership yesterday. The mayhem which resulted in the assault and molesting of youth provincial chairperson Cde Anna Mokgohloa and Bulawayo Central District chairman Cde Magura Charumbira who was stabbed in the head and face during the brawl, shows the depths to which the ruling party has plunged in the city.

At a time when President Mugabe has been calling for unity and end to factionalism, the party appears not to be heeding his wise counsel and is hell bent on tearing itself apart instead of consolidating its stranglehold on the city. For the first time since 2000, Zanu-PF holds six constituencies in Bulawayo — a place once considered the opposition MDC-T’s stronghold and we find the constant bickering and fights within the party self-defeating, moronic and totally unacceptable considering the imminent 2018 harmonised elections.

Elsewhere on the these pages, we carry a story where the secretary general of the Progressive Teachers Union — an organisation considered anti-Government — Mr Raymond Majongwe is backing President Mugabe to sweep to victory by an even wider margin in next year’s presidential elections.

Mr Majongwe said Cde Mugabe would win the 2018 general elections with an even wider margin than before because he has managed to identify himself with the people while the opposition has been concentrating on bickering among themselves. He said the President would defeat opposition parties because none of the current parties and individuals had the stamina to match Zanu-PF.

While this might sound like sweet music to the ears of party apparatchiks, events in Bulawayo yesterday show that a lot still needs to be done to unite the party and ensure everyone is on the same page ahead of the crucial polls. Clearly Bulawayo is a divided province with factionalism allowed to take root due to the activities of certain bigwigs who are pushing their own agenda.

It is the only province which did not pass a vote of no confidence on under fire national commissar Cde Saviour Kasukuwere who stands accused of creating parallel structures and seeking to depose President Mugabe using unconstitutional means. Some youths and war veterans yesterday laid a six-hour siege at Davies hall while Central Committee members, Politburo members, provincial executives and legislators were holed up inside.

Riot police had to be called to the offices to control some youths who were trying to stop the executive from holding the meeting. The combative youths, who were chanting slogans, throwing stones into the hall and smashing windows, said they wanted to stop the meeting as they did not recognise the provincial executive.

During the melee, some youths sprayed pepper spray into the hall and in the process choking provincial executive members inside.

Provincial chairman Cde Dennis Ndlovu said Cde Charumbira and a group of youths have been disrupting meetings claiming they did not recognise him and his executive.

“We’ve cancelled a number of meetings following disruptions, threats and violence at Davies Hall by some of our youths. We even cancelled a meeting yesterday because of their threats. Today we decided not to abandon the meeting because we need to move forward as a party and were expecting Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko.

“We decided to call the police and continue with the meeting. My position is that I didn’t receive any formal communication regarding Cde Kasukuwere. I therefore can’t take any position or make any decision as the provincial chairman,” said Cde Ndlovu.

During yesterday’s meeting, the executive resolved to suspend the women’s league provincial chairlady Cde Eva Bitu and the secretary for transport Cde Nokuthula Sibanda as well as the deputy provincial commissar Cde Douglas Gangaidzo.

Cde Ndlovu said the three were suspended for organising a meeting while President Mugabe was  addressing the nation at the National Heroes’ Acre, calling for coordinating meetings without the chairman’s knowledge, destabilising the party and mobilising violent demonstrations to disrupt meetings.

Cde Mokgohloa said she sustained injuries on the forehead and on the leg after being attacked by war veterans. She said the war veterans’ chairman Cde Cephas Ncube accused her of being Cde Kasukuwere’s prostitute before attacking her.

“He called me Kasukuwere’s prostitute and said I’ll soon follow Cde Sandi before grabbing my breasts. He said he was looking for a knife that he claimed I was hiding between my breasts. He claimed I had given the weapon to Cosmas Ncube to stab Charumbira,” Cde Mokgohloa said.

We find the events at Davies Hall sad, unfortunate and regrettable and urge the party leadership to find an amicable solution to their differences. The warring parties need to smoke the peace pipe and forge ahead as a united front. Current divisions work against the party’s aspirations to retain seats in Bulawayo.