Joice Mujuru
Itai Muzondo
16 Feb 2017 – MASVINGO – In her first public address after kicking out party heavyweights, among them Dydmus Mutasa and Rugare Gumbo, ZimPF leader Joyce Mujuru said the duo made working together impossible through their ‘chauvinistic’ tendencies.
During a Provincial Executive meeting held at Lee’s Inn Hotel over the weekend, Mujuru said the two wanted to use her as a people-gathering machine and then dump her.
“When I was asked to lead People First, I said God, party iyi haina kutangirwa kuti vamwe vanhu vaite business nayo. Ipapo ndipo pandakatanga kuenda at crossroads with Gumbo and Mutasa and that’s why you heard of the Chirenje faction. All they requested in meetings were cars and other luxuries.
“As they saw my resistance, they told me they wanted me to be queen bee. Kundiita zimai reshwa kana zimai renyuchi rinoita basa rekungokandira mazai because they knew my strength of luring people. I then simply told them if they had used other women (before,) they would never do that with me and that didn’t go well with them,” Mujuru said.
“What am bringing across is that these guys wanted to lure people who loved my leadership and brand then later on dump me,” she said.
Describing Gumbo and Mutasa as ‘chauvinistic’, Mujuru also said the two politically ‘barren’.
“Some of them are coming out clear they don’t want to be led by a lady but please, let me tell you this, male chauvinism is bad. They even wanted to instruct me like their wife but at some point, I had to raise a voice and told them no one has brought his wife here and I simply asked for respect,” Mujuru said.
Mujuru also defended Dzikamai Mavhaire against recent criticism that he was causing divisions in the party.
Former People’s Democratic Party (PDP) vice president Samuel Sipepa Nkomo urged Mujuru to safeguard the party’s name from the fired members.
“I want to say Gumbo and Mutasa are gone but let’s not concentrate on them. We must focus on the future of ZimPF. What is going to be very critical is who will start a convention. They should not go ahead of us. Let’s have a preemptive convention.
“Once we get to the convention, let’s focus on the name because it’s not their name. It’s our name,” Nkomo said.politics
