By Costa Nkomo
THE MDC’s youth assembly has reacted angrily to claims by the Zanu PF youth league that the ruling party has a list of names of top opposition politicians involved in corrupt practices.
Zanu PF youth league deputy secretary Lewis Matutu in an interview on NewZimbabwe.com’s current affairs programme The Agenda on Monday threatened to make public the names.
Later that day, Matutu’s led his party’s youth national executive in announcing a list of top government and party officials they said were sabotaging the economy.
They however withheld names of opposition leaders they had threatened, indicating the time was not yet right, adding, “we must clean our house first.”
MDC youth assembly chairperson Obey Sithole told journalists at a press briefing Friday that the Zanu PF youth league was being used as a political pawn in the ruling party’s emerging factional wars.
“Firstly, the attention seeking drama is aimed at diverting long suffering citizens from focusing on rising prices and stinking poverty authored by the very same party.
“Secondly and more importantly to Zanu PF, is that this is an internal problem that is meant to purge remnants of the G40 (faction linked to former President Robert Mugabe) and those aligned to (ailing Vice President) Constantino Chiwenga’s factional camp,” Sithole said.
“In short, this is a factional battle at play which has nothing to do with the fight against corruption.”
Sithole said the Zanu PF youth league was unfit to lead the anti-corruption crusade arguing it had avoided naming President Mnangagwa, “the chief culprit”.
“It is an insult to the people of Zimbabwe, for the Zanu PF youth league to name and shame officials in the corruption ridden party, leaving a bigwig in the house. We all know that a fish rots from the head.
“It is absurd and insufficient to talk of corruption without citing Emmerson Mnangagwa’s shoddy mining cartels in the mineral rich areas around Kwekwe,” the MDC youth assembly leader charged.
“It is a public secret that Mnangagwa owns virtually all gold mines in Kwekwe in what is infamously referred to as ‘mhuu’ whereby his cartel collects 50% share from the illegal gold panners or amakorokoza.”
