(Last Updated on October 22, 2014 by Editor)
ZIMBABWE – THE Zanu-PF Politburo meeting which had been scheduled for today has been moved to tomorrow because the party’s First Secretary and President Cde Mugabe has other engagements.
Presidential spokesperson Mr George Charamba yesterday said President Mugabe will today be presiding over a graduation ceremony at the Harare Institute of Technology.
The Politburo meeting was initially pencilled for Wednesday, but had been moved to yesterday to pave way for Cabinet to meet. “Tomorrow (today) the President will have another programme at the Harare Institute of Technology which is having its 5th graduation ceremony,” said Mr Charamba.
Zanu-PF secretary for Information and Publicity Rugare Gumbo confirmed the postponement of the Politburo meeting. He said he was not yet aware of the agenda of the meeting, but party insiders intimated that several issues were up for discussion, including allegations of corruption, subversion and abuse of office being levelled against Vice President Joice Mujuru.
The allegations were made by Grace Mugabe during her “Meet the People” rallies that ended last week. Another hot debate is expected on the confusion surrounding the proposed alignment of the party’s constitution with the Unity Accord and the national constitution on how the two vice presidents assume their posts.
Another Zanu-PF insider said there was also a growing concern that party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo was now in the tendency of misrepresenting Politburo positions and the issue should be dealt with once and for all.
The party insider said that gloves were off in the ruling party and everybody felt it was a moment to tell each other the truth. “The moment of truth is now upon us and there are a lot malpractices that were just being swept under the carpet,” said the insider. “As a party, we want to thank (First Lady) Amai Mugabe for opening the debate on that issue and tomorrow (today) we will highlight several other ills that are being perpetrated by some senior members of the party.”
The official said another discussion would centre on the proposed amendments of the party constitution. He said it was unfortunate that some senior officials were advocating for selective amendment of Clause 32 of the party constitution which deals with the number of Central Committee members and election of Second Secretaries and the national chairman.
“There is this group which is pushing for the amendment of one section which deals with the number of Central Committee members because they want an expanded Central Committee, but they are against the amendment of the section on election of second secretaries and national chairman,” said the official.
“We are saying if we are to amend that Clause we have to amend it in its entirety.” Other issues that will be discussed include the rules and guidelines for the election of Central Committee members and other logistical issues relating to the National People’s Congress set for December.