Published: 25 June 2025

The ruling Zanu-PF party's popularity appears to be waning in Mashonaland West Province, with low turnout and growing discontent surfacing during the ongoing cell verification exercise meant to prepare for internal central committee co-option elections.

The party is currently conducting verification activities in districts including Makonde, Hurungwe, and Sanyati to reorganize its grassroots structures and identify replacements for several central committee posts left vacant due to expulsions, appointments, or legal troubles.

However, the process has been marred by poor attendance, factionalism, and lingering dissatisfaction over candidate selections from the 2023 elections, casting a shadow over the party's internal cohesion in a region once regarded as a key stronghold during the late Robert Mugabe's presidency.

In Sanyati, the party is seeking to replace former central committee member Blessed Geza, who was expelled after publicly calling for President Emmerson Mnangagwa's resignation. Leading contenders in the race include Mines Deputy Minister Polite Kambamura, businessman Jimaya Muduvuri, and Kudakwashe Nduya.

In Hurungwe, former provincial heavyweights Reuben Marumahoko and Ability Gandawa are vying to fill the post left vacant by jailed ex-deputy finance minister Terrence Mukupe. Meanwhile, in Makonde, four candidates—Phineas Makumbe, Tommy Mwanza, Simba Ziyambi, and Locadia Gwati—are in contention to replace Kindness Paradza, who was recently appointed a commissioner at the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission.

There will be no co-option process in Chinhoyi, where Mike Chimombe, the previous officeholder, is currently in remand prison awaiting trial.

In a letter seen by NewsDay, Mashonaland West Zanu-PF provincial chairperson Mary Mliswa-Chikoka expressed concern over the slow pace and underwhelming turnout of the verification process. She attributed the setbacks to unresolved tensions with sitting MPs and ineffective communication or planning.

"Elsewhere, we noted low attendance, which indicates either poor communication or poor planning. In both cases, the work will be redone to ensure no one is left out," wrote Mliswa-Chikoka. "Some absences were due to unresolved issues with sitting MPs. This is unfortunate, but let it be clear that this process is about the party and its structures; therefore, it must proceed."

She also condemned disruptive behaviour by party officials in certain districts, particularly Chegutu, accusing them of attempting to sabotage the verification exercise.

"Worse still, some attempted to incite disunity and rebellion against this vital exercise. Let this be a clear warning to the Chegutu administrative leadership that this behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," she warned.

Sources on the ground said attendance in some areas was alarmingly low, with Bumi Hills reportedly recording no participants and Cheuchi in Mhangura drawing just eight attendees. Ward 4 in Chinhoyi, by contrast, registered the highest turnout, with 550 people taking part.

The muted response has raised questions about Zanu-PF's current standing in Mashonaland West, a province long viewed as a party bastion but which has seen growing cracks since Mugabe's ouster in the 2017 coup that ushered in Mnangagwa's leadership.
- newsday

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