Muchinguri In Trouble Over Leaked Tape
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Muchinguri In Trouble Over Leaked Tape

by Andrew Kunambura

THE ruling party’s second most influential woman politician, Oppah Muchinguri, is skirting on thin ice over a leaked audio clip in which she was tapped lambasting her opponents as the infighting in ZANU-PF takes a familiar turn whereby loose alliances are being forged to decongest the race to succeed President Robert Mugabe by eliminating rivals.

‘Beyond those mountains Manica valley .. there is over an African girl….. Eeeeh Oppah,’
‘Beyond those mountains Manica valley .. there is over an African girl….. Eeeeh Oppah,’


A case of fanning factionalism is being made against Muchinguri by her nemesis in ZANU-PF after they got hold of the audio recording that betrayed her misgivings against a coterie of senior politicians in Manicaland Province.
The bubbly politician now faces possible censure by the party’s highest decision-making organ — the Politburo — at its next meeting.
What has triggered the fallout between Muchinguri and the party’s leadership in Manicaland is an audio clip which gave away her alleged plots against sharp-tongued Provincial Affairs Minister Mandi Chimene; Makoni West Member of Parliament, Kudzai Chipanga; interim provincial chairman, Samuel Undenge and ZANU-PF Youth League members — Victor Saunyama and Mubuso Chinguno — among others.
Armed with the recording, Muchinguri’s adversaries are going for the jugular.
They want the former ZANU-PF Women’s League boss to be suspended from the party for fomenting divisions.
As it is, Muchinguri’s allies are under siege in what is meant to isolate her while bidding for the opportunity to strike.
Provincial youth chairman, Kelvin Manyengavana, who, in the tape, appeared to be receiving specific instructions from Muchinguri to go on the ground to execute the purging of rivals, was recently booted and replaced by his deputy, Chinguno.
Muchinguri is heard in the tape telling the youths that political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere was saying bad things about her to the First Lady, but boasted that she was a survivor.
“We want to control all the districts. We already have Chipinge under our control. Havachisina chavo ikoko vana Chipanga (those in Chipanga’s camp no longer have any control there). At the same time I will be working to control the Women’s League,” she is heard saying.
At that point, Manyengavana is heard saying he was ready to go on the ground if given enough resources.
In response, Muchinguri promised to find the resources for him, and the group bursts into applauses.
She also claimed to have control of police in the province, telling the youths that she influenced a recent promotion of a senior female police officer ‘so our person has been arrested, we will simply point to this,” her voice immediately drowned by the acclamation this attracts.
But those familiar with the infighting in the governing party say the allegations were merely a ruse meant to mask the real reason behind the current onslaught against Muchinguri.
They argue that Muchinguri has become the latest target in the long-drawn succession race in which ambitious politicians are ganging up to eliminate stronger opponents.
Former vice president Joice Mujuru has been the biggest victim of the ructions. At one point seen as President Mugabe’s heir apparent, Mujuru was hounded out of ZANU-PF and government on allegations of working against her boss.
Ironically, Muchinguri was one of those who worked tirelessly to dump Mujuru from the only party she had known since her liberation war days.
They had fought side-by-side during the war of liberation, emerging from the struggle to become familiar faces in President Mugabe’s party and government.
Mujuru had fought a fierce but divisive battle with current Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa in a nasty succession war until late last year when the scales were tipped against her.
Other senior politicians to fall by the wayside on similar allegations of plotting to topple the incumbent included Didymus Mutasa, once President Mugabe’s closest ally; Rugare Gumbo and Jabulani Sibanda, a former war veterans’ leader who staged the famed one-million-men march in 2008 in support of President’s Mugabe candidature.
While some postulate that Muchinguri’s days in the party could be numbered, observers say it will not be easy to nudge her out of the way without further weakening ZANU-PF.
Fighting in her corner is the influential Mutsvangwa couple of Chris and Monica as well as a clique of Mnangagwa hardliners.
Muchinguri herself is no push over as she has used her own political acuity to become a formidable political force in Zimbabwe.
Following Mutasa’s expulsion from the party, Muchinguri had risen to become the Godmother of Manicaland Province, a status that made her a marked politician among those who seek to exert their influence in the region.
The issue has exposed a fresh factional war that has broken out in ZANU-PF.
Only a few months ago, the party thought it had exorcised factional demons after expelling Mujuru and her backers.
It is now an all out war as Muchinguri’s group is pushing for the ouster of Undenge and Chipanga to weaken the tide against the Water and Climate Minister.
“With the way things are developing, this issue will explode at the next Politburo meeting set for end of this month. The party cannot continue to ignore it anymore,” one party official said.
Undenge was forced to cancel a potentially explosive Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) meeting which was scheduled to take place on Saturday owing to the infighting.
Political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere had to make a hasty trip to Manicaland on Saturday despite the cancellation of the PCC meeting to engage senior party members on the issue.
He later proceeded to Nyanga where he commissioned road maintenance equipment in his capacity as Local Government Minister, sourced by Nyanga Rural District Council.
At the commissioning ceremony, Kasukuwere appeared to turn the heat on Muchinguri as he heaped praises on her foes, especially Undenge and Chimene without even mentioning Muchinguri.
“He (Kasukuwere) gave an apparently spiteful speech in which he praised Chimene and Undenge. He said he was encouraged by such developmental meetings as opposed to the midnight meetings that were being held in the province. This was read by many as an indirect reference to secret meetings that have been held in Nyanga among members of the Muchinguri camp,” a source said.
Muchinguri had combined with the trio of ZANU-PF secretary for science and technology, Jonathan Moyo, Kasukuwere and President Mugabe’s nephew, Patrick Zhuwao to form a lethal gang of four that lead a deadly onslaught on Mujuru and her allies ahead of the ZANU-PF congress in December last year hoping to be handsomely rewarded for their efforts.
But before the congress dust had settled, trouble started.
Muchinguri, who had been appointed secretary for transport in the party and Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, was moved to the Water and Climate Ministry last month. She is said to have regarded the deployments as demotions.
Before that, she headed the all powerful ZANU-PF Women’s League while doubling up as head of the influential Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development.
“What has shocked many is the fact that Muchinguri appears to be blaming the First Lady for her loss of fortune and has now resorted to using her seniority in Manicaland province to frustrate Generation 40 ambitions,” a ZANU-PF official said.
Generation 40 comprise like-minded young Turks in ZANU-PF who are eager to see the revolutionary party renewed from within.
The group reportedly wants First Lady, Grace Mugabe, to take over the presidency in the event that her husband exits the political arena.
Muchinguri’s opponents accuse her of plotting against the First Lady as well as frustrating Generation 40’s efforts despite playing a key role in her elevation to the current position.
One of the top ZANU-PF officials confessed to working against Muchinguri saying he was doing so in solidarity with the First Lady.
“What we won’t tolerate is someone coming to us and wanting to set us against the first family. Muchinguri has scores to settle with the First Lady and wants to co-opt everyone into her project but some of us will not agree to that. She is bitter because she feels betrayed by being given lesser positions and puts the blame on the First Lady. She has that tendency of shifting goal posts,” said the official.
High ranking ZANU-PF insiders said Muchinguri has been a subject of guarded Generation 40 caucuses since the tape was leaked a few weeks ago.
Angry youth league members aligned to Muchinguri have not wasted time in retaliating.
They met on Saturday and overturned Manyengavana’s suspension before turning the heat on Chinguno and other provincial executive members of the youth league.
On Monday, eight pro-Muchinguri youths visited the ZANU-PF national headquarters in Harare and presented a petition in which they want Chinguno suspended from the party.
The petition was signed by exactly the same people who signed for Manyengavana’s suspension.
The confusion forced youth league boss, Pupurai Togarepi, to call for an emergency inter-district meeting in Mutare on Tuesday where the youth league national leaders heard concerns from both sides.
The meeting was attended by all district chairpersons from the province, with reports that those aligned to Muchinguri travelled a day earlier, spending the night at one Grace Mutandi’s home where they were reportedly treated to free beer.
Togarepi, confirmed the meeting. “As youth leaders, we decided to go there on a fact finding mission. We are still digesting the details of that meeting and this will allow us to make a decision on the way forward,” he said.

This reported was first published in the Financial Gazette.

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