Mafa vs Mliswa

The Zimbabwean has learnt that ousted provincial chairman, John Mafa, wrote to Mugabe asking for protection from party members, after being beaten up last month during a meeting where a number of party heavyweights tried to resolve the dispute. The matter was due to have been discussed at the Zanu (PF) politburo meeting in Harare on Wednesday, according to senior party sources here. However, party spokesman Joram Gumbo told The Zimbabwean that he was unaware of any politburo decision on the matter, implying that it had not even been discussed by the party’s Soviet-style supreme body.

“I’m not aware of what is going on at the moment. Talk to Comrade (Webster) Shamu. He’s the national commissar involved in some of these restructuring exercises,” Gumbo said. A meeting was scheduled to be held in Chinhoyi at the weekend, chaired by Shamu, to resolve the issue. But it could not be confirmed at the time of going to press if a resolution had been found. Shamu could not be reached by phone. Mafa is under fire from bigwigs in the party over the way he handled the suspension and subsequent removal of businessman and radical black empowerment activist Temba Mliswa from the influential post of provincial secretary for lands.

Mliswa, who has the backing of Zanu (PF) national secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa, has launched a campaign to have Mafa permanently removed and replaced by Robert Sikanyika, a member of the notorious ‘Top 6, a goon squad that has terrorized MDC supporters in the province. The ‘Top 6’ was set up and funded by former provincial chairman Phillip Chiyangwa, who is said to be anxious to snatch back the position he lost to Mafa when he was detained on espionage charges a few years ago. Mliswa is said to have threatened Mafa with unspecified action. This was after Mliswa and his colleagues were stopped in their tracks in their bid to seize the few remaining white-owned commercial farms in the province and also ‘repossess’ those given to party officials opposed to Mliswa’s faction.

Mliswa’s ruthless crusade is said to have also angered the Zanu (PF) national secretary for lands and local government minister, Ignatius Chombo, who is accused by the so-called ‘Young Turks’ of having amassed numerous farms and properties throughout the country. Chiyangwa’s name also features prominently among the list of people vying for the chairmanship. Sources claimed Chiyangwa wanted a political position in order to deal with growing allegations that he has improperly acquired many properties in Harare, Chinhoyi, Chegutu and Kadoma.