Nkomo has of late been touted around the country as the next possible vice president, replacing the late Joseph Msika. Amid confusion on the nomination of the candidate for the vice presidency, the Zanu-PF politburo set Wednesday as the date for the close of nominations for the post.
The leadership of the three political provinces in Matabeleland region had earlier endorsed Nkomo’s nomination for the vice president’s post. But pressure from the Zanu-PF grassroots, coupled with murmurs of discontentment from other sections of the party on his nomination, pushed the politburo into reversing his nomination.
Such an incident was bound to happen as there are reports of inhouse fighting in ZANU PF as politicians jostle for the closest seat at Robert Mugabe's side. Minister of Mines, Obert Mpofu is believed to be the brains behind de-campaigning Nkomo and his name has also been linked with the sodomy case that was raised against Nkomo.
Sources say, the "sodomy story" was meant to discredit the veteran politician and have Mugabe discard of him as Mugabe is known for his unflinching hate for gays and lesbians. It is widely believed that, because's of Mugabe's stand on gays, when the country's first president, Canaan Banana, passed away, he was not buried at the national shrine, The Heroes Acre, because of revelations of his sodomy coated life during and after his life as a head of state.
At a press conference in Bulawayo Tuesday, members of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), the Zimbabwe Liberation War Collaborators Association (ZILWACO), and the Zimbabwe Ex-political Prisoners, Detainees, and Restrictees’ Association (ZIPEDRA) outrightly rejected Nkomo’s nomination.
The former freedom fighters claimed Nkomo did not represent a national outlook to hold the post of vice president. They also claimed Nkomo was powerless to challenge Zanu-PF if the need arose within the party.
Bulawayo war veterans’ leader Themba Ncube said the earlier decision to nominate Nkomo for the post was not made freely by the party’s Bulawayo province. He said the provincial leadership of Zanu-PF and the war veterans did not make a unanimous decision but were forced to endorse Nkomo’s nomination.
Said Ncube: “We were forced into making that decision (to endorse Nkomo). It was not a people’s decision. It was made because there are some who believe they are powerful and they could force people into making decisions out of their own choice.”
He highlighted that the generality of the Zanu-PF membership felt the party’s politburo was now regionalization of the vice presidency debate, portending an outcome that did not reflect the national picture.
“The question that we ask is – why should the three provinces of Matabeleland be the ones to be forced to select a national leader? We want the entirety of the Zanu-PF membership to have a say on who should be the vice president,” Ncube said.
Asked to choose names of best-placed candidates, the former liberation fighters said they favoured three candidates for the job. These include Senate deputy president Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to South Africa, Simon Khaya Moyo and retired army official, Brigadier Ambrose Mutinhiri.
Zanu-PF members say although Mutinhiri lives in Harare, his roots can be easily traced back to Zapu as he played a crucial role in the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA).
The former combatants said they would push for a meeting where the issue of the vice presidency would be discussed. They also said should the politburo go ahead and impose a candidate on them, they would campaign for the rejection of the candidate at the party’s congress in December.
-thezimbabwetimes and Simba Nembaware
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