Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party was wracked by further divisions on Tuesday when ordinary members briefly held hostage National Political Commissar Elliot Manyika.
Protesters, many of them from Zanu-PF’s Women’s League, blocked the entrance to Zanu-PF’s looming headquarters in downtown Harare, refusing to let Manyika leave the premises until he addressed them.
Attempts by Manyika’s driver to force his Mitsubishi twin-cab through the crowd failed as angry protesters swarmed the vehicle. Efforts by police to disperse the crowd failed.
Eventually Manyika, a fierce Mugabe loyalist, emerged from the car.
”I am not running away,” he claimed. ”I have been called to an urgent meeting by [Zanu-PF national chairperson] John Nkomo and I am coming back to attend to your grievances.”
Meanwhile, the Zanu-PF protesters said they are unhappy with the imposition of candidates for soon-to-be-held party primary elections.
Zanu-PF leaders have in recent days banned, barred and dropped several senior members, denying them the right to hold office in the ruling party.
The move, which has been described as the worst split in Zanu-PF since the 1970s, has seen the party divide into several factions.
Rural divisions have also erupted in recent weeks, with police having to quell fighting between Zanu-PF factions.
Recent skirmishes in the eastern district of Makoni have seen Agriculture Minister Joseph Made accused of fanning violence by ”hiring thugs” to disrupt meetings held by his opponent in the primaries, MP Gibson Munyoro.
The alleged violence prompted Munyoro to write to Zanu-PF leaders, complaining that his meetings have been disrupted.
”To my surprise, Dr Made has been hiring thugs in the form of workers from the local Grain Marketing Board depot in Makoni district to disrupt my peaceful meetings, despite warnings by the police in nearby Rusape to campaign peacefully,” Munyoro wrote in a letter to Zanu-PF’s Nkomo.
Made denies the allegations.
The intra-party violence follows similar charges that saw gangs of warring Zanu-PF thugs clash in the northern Lomagundi district last month. Supporters of Zanu-PF lawmaker Kindness Paradza and Leo Mugabe, the president’s nephew, clashed at Hombwe business centre, resulting in several arrests. — Sapa