Moyo: 'Tsholotsho people will hold Nkomo to account'

Moyo: 'Tsholotsho people will hold Nkomo to account'

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By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE'S Information Minister Jonathan Moyo escalated his public mudslinging match with Zanu PF national chairman John Nkomo on Monday as their war of words entered a second week.

After a weekend which saw Nkomo fire his own salvo in the direction of the information tzar, Moyo snapped back on Monday, using the Chronicle newspaper, which he controls, to barrage Nkomo with accusations of stifling development in Matabeleland and lying over his visit to Tsholotsho in the company of Dumiso Dabengwa last week.

Reacting to Moyo's accusations last week that he was a "primitive liar", Nkomo said his trip to Tsholotsho “had nothing to do with determining the outcome of the nomination process in the constituency.”

"That's a naked lie," Moyo snapped back Monday. "It assumes members of the public are stupid and will believe anything that he says when the truth speaks for itself."

Nkomo called Moyo "unbalanced", adding: "I will not let you or others who are similarly inclined destroy the party on our watch." He said Moyo was free to leave Zanu PF.

But Moyo hit back: “Nkomo makes claim that 'Tsholotsho was the scene of crime and therefore cannot escape (his) attention as the custodian of discipline in the party'. What crime is Cde Nkomo talking about? If there was any crime in Tsholotsho, why are the police not involved? How did Cde Nkomo suspend six provincial chairmen on December 21, 2004 for a crime he alleged was committed in Tsholotsho before going there until January 12, 2005?

“If Cde Nkomo imagines that he will stigmatise Tsholotsho by conveniently labelling it the “scene of crime’’ for personal political purposes and get away with it, then he has some serious thinking to do because he is going to be held accountable not just in the courts but also by the public, particularly the people of Tsholotsho who have suffered from the tragedy of political stigmatisation before."

On Monday, Nkomo and the Zanu PF elections director Elliot Manyika were expected to go to Tsholotsho in a bid to calm the situation but were expected to meet hostilities from Moyo's followers.

Moyo enjoys popular support in Tsholotsho after orchestrating a stunning development drive -- getting the roads tarred, computerising schools and hospitals, getting street lighting installed and luring banks to the district.

He said of Nkomo: “Thanks to Cde Nkomo, the Zanu PF manifesto has become “discipline, discipline and discipline” and if you take a closer look at what is meant by this commandist mantra, you see that it is all about using, actually abusing, senior positions to settle personal scores to the detriment of the party and public good some 25 years since independence during which a new generation of Zimbabweans has emerged with more dynamic and more values that need to be recognised and respected.

"Nkomo is going to be held accountable not just in the courts but also by the people of Tsholotsho who have suffered from the tragedy of political stigmatisation before"

PROFESSOR JONATHAN MOYO

“As a result of Cde Nkomo’s selfserving approach to discipline, we are witnessing attempts to block committed and hard working people like Cdes Andrew Langa in Insiza and Abednico Ncube in Gwanda from contesting primary elections or from running for elections on Zanu PF tickets. What is going on? This is only happening in Matabeleland and not in other provinces across the country where senior leaders in the party have been more accommodating and understanding despite the existence of obvious political differences,” he said.

“Cde Abednico Ncube is one of only two comrades in Zanu PF who won a parliamentary seat in 2000 in Matabeleland when all the others, including many who now see themselves as heroes, were tumbling down. Cde Andrew Langa had the guts and leadership to win back Insiza from MDC and has since then shown what can be done to bring development in Matabeleland as a Member of Parliament.

“Cde Nkomo says, 'History has taught us that some amongst us belong to Zanu PF as long as it furthers their personal ambitions and interests only'. Well, this can only refer to him since he apparently knows first hand what he is talking about. As far as I’m concerned, since 1999 when I worked for the Constitutional Commission, I have specifically and selflessly done my bit in the national interest and in defense of my country’s sovereignty without fear or favour and I have not gained anything personally from this.

“It is notable that Cde Nkomo did not deny in his statement published today that he said he would rather have Tsholotsho lost to MDC than have me as a Zanu PF candidate. Well, he knows who the MDC candidate might be and it’s certainly not me!”
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