Political Reporter

All is not well in ZAPU with reports that the party’s interim president  Isaac Mabuka has unilaterally postponed the holding of the elective congress that was due end of August without informing other leaders.

ZAPU’s elective congress to elect a substantive leader to replace Dumiso Dabengwa who passed away in May 2019, was initially scheduled for 30 April but was postponed to August 31 this year. It has since been postponed again by Mabuka to end of October this year.

A source who spoke to this publication said Mabuka was afraid of the elective congress hence his manoeuvres to scuttle plans for an elective congress so that he could continue clinging to the presidency of the party.

Some presidential aspirants such as incumbent secretary general Strike Mkandla, current treasurer general Mark Mbayiwa, late Vice President Joshua Nkomo’s son Sibangilizwe Nkomo and Bernard Magugu are reportedly not happy with the postponement of the congress and are accusing Mabuka of turning ZAPU into his personal project as he makes decisions without discussing with other leaders.

“At ZAPU, we have been toiling to build an institutional organisation whose existence rests on the foundations of constitutionalism. However, Mabuka is shredding our constitution by making decisions that are not approved by the party. The postponement of the congress is Mabuka’s decision not the party’s and this is one reason he should be removed as president because he is arrogant and he thinks that he is more ZAPU than the others,” said the source.

According to the same source, Mabuka knows that he will not retain the presidency at the congress and he is using every tactic to remain at the helm while squandering party funds.

“Mabuka knows that he is a spent force who is no longer wanted in ZAPU. Chances of him winning the presidency at congress are very slim and he is now employing some silly tactics so that he remains as the leader of the party while squandering party funds,” said the source.

The source added that it was possible for that party to conduct a virtual elective congress because it cannot continue with an interim president while elections are fast approaching.

Last week, Mabuka announced that the congress had been pushed to end of October this year due to Covid 19 lockdown restrictions and directed that all delegates that would attend the congress should have been fully vaccinated.