THE opposition MDC party says it will be grabbing \u201cpopcorn and chairs\u201d for front row seats in what appears to be factional fights playing out in the ruling Zanu PF, where officials are tearing each other apart over alleged corruption.<\/p>\n
Party leader Nelson Chamisa said the MDC would not disturb its opponents as they tear each other apart, and neither would they join the game, but instead watch and cheer from the terraces.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not disturb our opponents as they tear each other apart, in what is clearly political and factional fights. These people are cruel and do not care about anything, but just
\npower alone,\u201d Chamisa said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a fight against corruption, but a fight for political power within the party using the youth. If this was a genuine fight against corruption, where are the police? Do you
\nmean the Zanu PF youth league has more intelligence than the police and Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission?\u201d
\nThe MDC joined Zanu PF in Parliament and on the streets for a march to oust then President Robert Mugabe from power through impeachment and mass demonstrations following the November
\n2017 coup<\/p>\n
After Mugabe was pushed out, Zanu PF claimed the spoils and kept the opposition at bay, saying this was an internal issue and had nothing to do with opposition political parties.<\/p>\n
Chamisa said recent events in which the Zanu PF youth league fingered top party bosses and ministers in corruption was an attempt to divert the attention of the majority from the real
\nissues.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk yourself why some people known for being behind corrupt activities are missing from that list. It\u2019s a high sounding nothing from an ostrich government which buries its head in the sand at the sign of a crisis, but the problem with burying your head is you will hear or see nothing,\u201d he said.
\nChamisa said if President Emmerson Mnangagwa was serious about fighting corruption, he would let the police do a professional job while he concentrated on ending the economic crisis, which he said had its roots in political circles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a crisis too long. We do not deserve a day longer in this crisis and what hurts is the time wasted for the youth and hardworking people who lose pensions and savings to this
\ncruel government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But Zanu PF deputy youth secretary Lewis Matutu said his team was just warming up and would soon name MDC leaders who were also part of the corruption bandwagon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a Zanu PF fight. Everyone should be involved and we are going to name more. We are going after even the MDC leaders who are corrupt and even journalists who are receiving
\nmoney to cover up corrupt deeds,\u201d he said.
\nHowever, MDC youth assembly boss Obey Sithole yesterday described the anti-corruption drive as nothing, but a diversionary tactic to stop Zimbabweans from focusing on the pressing
\nsocio-economic issues.<\/p>\n
Sithole said the country is reeling under the ever-worsening economic scourge, which has seen prices of basic commodities spiralling beyond the reach of many.<\/p>\n
He accused Zanu PF of authoring and perpetuating corruption in Zimbabwe, while urging the country to resist being swayed from the main issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an insult to the people of Zimbabwe for the Zanu PF youth league to name and shame officials in the corruption-laden party, leaving a big elephant in the house, for we all know
\nthat a fish rots from the head,\u201d Sithole said in a Press statement, adding that most Zanu PF officials had been implicated in some corruption cases.<\/p>\n
Sithole maintained the naming and shaming was nothing, but a ruse.
\n\u201cIt is clear that the anti-corruption facade by Zanu PF is meant to achieve two things, which are not in any way interlinked to the war against corruption.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirstly, the attention-seeking drama is bent on entertaining and diverting the long-suffering citizenry from focusing on souring prices and stinking poverty authored by the very same
\nparty. Secondly, and more importantly to Zanu PF, is that this is an internal detonation that is meant to purge remnants of the G40 and those aligned to Vice-President Constantano
\nChiwenga\u2019s factional camp,\u201d Sithole said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn short, this is a factional battle at play which has nothing to do with the fight against corruption. If anything, the Zanu PF youth league\u2019s so-called anti-corruption drive exposes
\nand portrays the corrupt nature of State institutions like Zacc [Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission] and ZRP [Zimbabwe Republic Police].\u201d<\/p>\n
The opposition has been threatening to take to the streets to force the Zanu PF-led government to deal with the economic mess.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE opposition MDC party says it will be grabbing \u201cpopcorn and chairs\u201d for front row seats in what appears to be factional fights playing out in the ruling Zanu PF, where officials are tearing each other apart over alleged corruption. Party leader Nelson Chamisa said the MDC would not disturb its opponents as they tear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8,12],"tags":[38,113,152,88],"class_list":{"0":"post-10659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-head-lines","9":"category-policy","10":"tag-zanu-pf","11":"tag-chamisa","12":"tag-crisis","13":"tag-mdc"},"yoast_head":"\n