SEVERAL Zanu PF Mashonaland West Provincial Executive Council (PEC) members have disowned a petition that was used to pass a vote of no confidence in acting chair Ziyambi Ziyambi alleging their signatures were forged.
BY SILENCE CHARUMBIRA
The PEC members, some of whom have already signed affidavits bearing apparently different signatures from those on the petition, said they were at a loss as to who signed the petition on their behalf.
Apart from the fraudulent signatures, some officials also allege that they signed under duress as they were told to sign by some Central Committee and Politburo members who allegedly told them that First Lady Grace Mugabe had directed that everyone should sign the petition.
Grace’s name has been used prominently in the Zanu PF factional fights after her entry into politics and her appointment as Women’s League boss.
She has increasingly become powerful with party members and even seniors, the likes of the two vice-Presidents, Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko now consulting her frequently.
In an affidavit seen by The Standard, provincial youth league secretary for administration Ignatius Marufu said he never attended any PEC meeting and the one where the motion [to oust Ziyambi] was moved.
“I am at a loss as to who forged my signature as I never saw or signed any petition of the sort,” he said in the affidavit. Deputy Secretary for Lands in the province Prince Jowa said: “That petition is a farce and a sham and I totally and unequivocally dissociate myself from it”.
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The claims throw into disarray the efforts to sack Ziyambi as two thirds of the executive are required to support a motion to pass a vote of no confidence.
The petition was required to have 34 signatures out of a possible 54, but the bid is crumbling with about 14 of the members already contesting its credibility.
Ziyambi yesterday refused to comment, only saying he was “just watching from the sidelines”.
Keith Guzah who has been appointed as the new acting chair was also not available for comment yesterday.
Zanu PF provincial commissar Simon Solomon said he would only be able to speak after the provincial coordinating committee meeting initially scheduled for today.
The meeting is however said to have been cancelled after the faction responsible for Ziyambi’s ouster withdrew their petition from Zanu PF Headquarters.
The province has reportedly become a problem for national commissar Saviour Kasukuwere who is said to be under pressure from Mugabe to sort out the mess.
Kasukuwere was also not available for comment yesterday.
