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Zanu-PF provincial chairman Cde Amasa Nhenjana addresses supporters at Nemamwa Growth Point in Masvingo yesterday

Walter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent—
A ZANU-PF provincial meeting held in Masvingo yesterday was nearly abandoned when provincial youth secretary for legal affairs Cde Henry Chinovava was allegedly assaulted by Ward 7 chairperson Cde Paul Zimharo for chanting a slogan in support of the First Lady, Cde Grace Mugabe. The incident happened at around 1PM at Nemamwa Growth Point during a meeting called to drum up support for the youth wing’s one million man march slated for May 25 in Harare.

Cde Zimharo allegedly beat Cde Chinovava after he chanted: “Viva Dr Grace Mugabe” at the meeting. Zanu-PF provincial chairman Cde Amasa Nhenjana confirmed the incident.

“Yes I can confirm there was a minor hiccup before our meeting caused by one unscrupulous youth member. Ward 7 chairman Zimharo struck Chinovava with a fist following a dispute over a slogan, ‘Viva Dr Grace Mugabe.’ Zimharo was against the chanting of the slogan leading to a misunderstanding which saw him assaulting Chinovava” said Cde Nhenjana.

He alleged that the violence could have been caused by some members of the provincial executive who are sponsoring youths to disrupt the one million man march. “There are some individuals in the party here who don’t support the proposed one million man march to be held in Harare soon.

“These people are buying some rowdy youths beer to come and disturb our meetings accusing some executive members of belonging to a non-existent group called G40. There were spirited efforts to disrupt our meeting today but we managed to thwart those efforts as a provincial executive.

“There are people who are fighting the system but they’ll fall,” said Cde Nhenjana adding that the issue was later resolved and the meeting went ahead without further problems.

Cde Chinovava said they had resolved the problem with Cde Zimharo, who could not be reached immediately. “Yes I had a misunderstanding with Zimharo but the dispute has since been resolved and it was resolved amicably by senior members of the party,” he said.