Sikhanyiso Ndlovu in firing line…Veteran politician ‘risks expulsion’ Zanu-PF supporters march in the streets of Bulawayo yesterday in support of the First Family
Zanu-PF supporters march in the streets of Bulawayo yesterday in support of the First Family

Zanu-PF supporters march in the streets of Bulawayo yesterday in support of the First Family

Nduduzo Tshuma Senior Political Reporter
ZANU-PF politburo member, Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu risks suspension if he continues to interfere with the running of Bulawayo Province to protect elements that have been booted out, acting provincial chairperson Cde George Mlala warned yesterday.

Cde Mlala said Dr Ndlovu may face the same fate suffered by Cde Rugare Gumbo who was last week suspended from the party for five years by the Zanu-PF politburo.

Addressing Bulawayo residents who marched in solidarity with the First Family at the City Hall car park, Cde Mlala said Dr Ndlovu was a senior member of the party and was required to act as such.

Cde Mlala was responding to media reports that quoted Dr Ndlovu dismissing a vote of no confidence passed on provincial chairman Professor Callistus Ndlovu and five members of his executive as “cantankerous” behaviour.

Dr Ndlovu echoed Prof Ndlovu’s claims that Cde Mlala and his group forged signatures in Sunday’s petition that deposed the top six members of the provincial leadership.

“We say to Dr Ndlovu, please don’t interfere in provincial affairs. It’s the reason that got Cde Gumbo kicked out, it’s the reason that got Cde Dzikamai Mavhaire in the position that he is in,” said Cde Mlala.

“If you’re an elder, don’t play soccer with youngsters because they will dribble you and you will be embarrassed. He must stop interfering (in provincial affairs).”

Cde Mlala said as an elder, Dr Ndlovu knew very well how to handle party business rather than making unnecessary comments in the media. He said he was now in charge of the province and called on Dr Ndlovu to stop misleading people.

Cde Mlala said his executive had come up with a resolution urging Zanu-PF to amend its constitution in order to give President Mugabe powers to fill all positions at Congress.

In an interview, Cde Mlala said on Saturday, Dr Ndlovu met expelled war veterans’ chairperson Jabulani Sibanda and some senior leaders from the province to discuss their plot to destabilise the party. Dr Ndlovu was urged to recuse himself from the disciplinary matter involving Prof Ndlovu and members of his executive after he instructed an accreditation team in Bulawayo to register the six claiming that their case had been thrown out.

“We’re told that he called Davies Hall and said the members who had a vote of no confidence passed on them should be accredited as the disciplinary committee had sat and thrown out their case. We’re reliably informed that no disciplinary committee sat today and it is wrong to say they did,” said Cde Mlala.

“It shows that Dr Ndlovu is an interested party in this matter and therefore shouldn’t be part of the committee that looks into the matter.”

Cde Mlala said there was a member of the disciplinary committee who was related to Prof Ndlovu who should also recuse themselves from the case.

Politburo member Cde Joshua Malinga said it was not Dr Ndlovu’s duty to speak on behalf of the disciplinary committee as that was the mandate of national chairman Cde Simon Khaya Moyo.

Cde Malinga said it wasn’t possible for the disciplinary committee to throw out cases as claimed by Dr Ndlovu, adding the committee referred matters to the politburo which makes a decision.

“I’m a very senior member of the party and I’ve been hearing that there has been a vote of no confidence passed in Bulawayo, no one has told me anything. No member of the party has told me anything even the all-famous Sikhanyiso Ndlovu,” said Cde Malinga.

He said he had, however, heard that Dr Ndlovu had communicated that the vote of no confidence by Cde Mlala and group had been thrown out by the disciplinary committee.

He said Dr Ndlovu had no authority to speak on behalf of the disciplinary committee unless appointed by the national chairman.

“I’ve been informed that the national disciplinary committee hasn’t met. We’ve warned that there are some who want to act like they are more Zanu-PF than others. We’re against this type of leadership,” said Cde Malinga.

He said only the chairman and the politburo were mandated to talk about the matter.

“Dr Ndlovu has jumped the gun. He has leaked information to influence the decision of the disciplinary hearing,” he said.

Another politburo member Cde Nomthandazo Eunice Moyo who said she was in Mazowe when she got the news that a vote of no confidence had been passed.

She said Dr Ndlovu as a senior party member was not supposed to take sides.

She said the problem with some leaders was that some of them had become “factionalised” that they ended up siding with one grouping in cases of disagreement.

 

She said the political wave in the party was not led by anyone but members felt things were supposed to be done in a certain way.

“If you’re a leader, you don’t take sides. You bring the people together,” said Cde Moyo.

She echoed Cde Malinga’s sentiments that Dr Ndlovu was wrong to communicate on behalf of the disciplinary committee. “If he did that then he made a mistake. He doesn’t communicate on behalf of the disciplinary committee,” said Cde Moyo.

She said a vote of no confidence was not like a suspension but was about a majority of members expressing their feelings towards its provincial leadership.

She said the vote of no confidence was not disputable as it involved numbers of party members signing a petition and what matters are the issues raised and the number of signatures.

“The First Lady has done us a huge favour, now we can speak freely because there were some who felt they were more Zanu-PF and Bulawayo than others,” said Cde Moyo.

She said she had seen Dr Ndlovu commenting about the matter in the private media when he was not mandated to do so.

Dr Ndlovu denied that he said the disciplinary committee had thrown out a petition against Prof Ndlovu saying the disciplinary committee had not received it.

He said the disciplinary committee had only received the minutes and resolutions of Monday’s meeting where a counter vote of no confidence was passed on Cdes Mlala, deputy secretary for science and technology Cde Nacisio Makhulumo and secretary for lands and resettlement Cde Patson Parirenyatwa.

Dr Ndlovu said he only outlined the constitutional provisions to the head of security of the accreditation team following consultations with fellow politburo member Dr Sydney Sekeramayi, who said Prof Ndlovu and the five executive members should be accredited.

He said the Prof Ndlovu executive should remain in office until the politburo decided to uphold the vote of no confidence passed on them.

“No one should impose themselves and start functioning before the approval of the politburo,” said Dr Ndlovu.

He said he had nothing against Cde Mlala but was only outlining what was stated by the constitution.

He said a vote of no confidence was supposed to be passed at a fully constituted meeting with the presence of the chairman, his deputy and the commissar.

“As head of the province, I must guide the structure. I’m an interested party in the sense that I’m responsible for the province and have to make sure that everything goes according to the constitution,” he said.

 

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