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Nduduzo Tshuma Senior Political Reporter
ZANU-PF Bulawayo provincial acting chairperson Cde George Mlala yesterday said the axed Professor Callistus Ndlovu led executive wouldn’t be allowed to hold any party meetings as they had plotted against President Mugabe.A vote of no confidence was passed on Prof Ndlovu and five members of his executive on Sunday for allegedly fanning factionalism, sabotaging First Lady Grace Mugabe’s rallies and misappropriating funds.

Prof Ndlovu held an emergency meeting on Monday and passed a counter vote of no confidence on Cde Mlala, deputy secretary for science and technology Cde Nacisio Makhulumo and secretary for lands and resettlement Cde Patson Parirenyatwa accusing them of fraudulently securing signatures to oust him a day before.

Addressing party members at Davies Hall yesterday, Cde Mlala dismissed Monday’s meeting as a nullity as the top six of the provincial leadership had been removed from office.

Cde Mlala said Prof Ndlovu wouldn’t be allowed to hold meetings at Davies Hall.

He added that no war veterans meeting would be held at the same venue unless sanctioned by the  new chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, Cde Chris Mutsvangwa.

Cde Mlala said the provincial war veterans’ executive had also been dissolved and Cde Mutsvangwa would soon announce a date for elections.

He called on party members and officers to disassociate themselves from Prof Ndlovu and the sacked executive members.

Cde Mlala said those who aligned themselves with the sacked former provincial leaders would confirm that they are working with a group that wants to assassinate President Mugabe.

Cde Mlala blamed the axed provincial executives for Zanu-PF’s loss in the province during the July 2013 harmonised elections.

He said when Vice- President Joice Mujuru boasted of having support in the provinces, she was referring to the same sacked executives.

“In a statement Vice President Joice Mujuru said she enjoyed the support of the provinces. I want to say that she has no support here in Bulawayo. The people that supported her and her efforts have been booted out,” he said.

He said Prof Ndlovu misled the First lady during her rally last month that there was no factionalism in Bulawayo yet the province was divided as a result of factionalism.

Cde Mlala said in 2008, the party almost suffered humiliating defeat as some within Zanu-PF had entered into an alliance with the MDC.

He said Zanu-PF failed to win a single seat in Bulawayo last year because the Prof Ndlovu led executive sidelined individuals who had the support of the people and brought in candidates that were not known to the party structures to representthe party.

Cde Mlala said many of those who were denied the opportunity to contest on the party ticket had been with the revolutionary party for many years.

He said the newcomers to Zanu PF wanted to destroy the party as they did not know anything about its ideology.

The war veteran said some joined the party towards the 2013 elections, got campaign vehicles and left the party after losing.

Cde Mlala said one of the mercenaries is Cde Bafana Dube, a former MDC member who lost in the Bulawayo South elections on the Zanu-PF ticket and went back to England after taking the party vehicle.

He said surprisingly, Cde Grace Dube, a bona fide Zanu-PF member who died this year, had her vehicle confiscated while her family was still mourning.

“The First Lady opened our eyes. We should thank her for that. Some of these people resigned from the party and we never saw their applications to be readmitted yet they found their way into the provincial executive,” said Mlala.

He said expelled war veterans leader Cde Jabulani Sibanda sold out the plot to unseat President Mugabe by threatening to march to State House.

“After yesterday’s meeting, I heard some members went on to meet Jabulani. I hear Japhet Phuthi was among those that attended the meeting. It shows that they are working in cahoots with those people who want to march to State House,” he said.

Cde Mlala said a scheduled accreditation exercise for delegates for the December congress to be held today might be deferred as they want to make sure undesirable elements are not included in the travelling party.