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(TALKZIMBABWE) Revisit 1987 Unity Accord: Ndlovu

Revisit 1987 Unity Accord: Ndlovu
TC/TZG
Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:32:00 +0000
From Patrick Chitumba in Victoria Falls

ZANU PF Politburo member and Deputy President of the Senate, Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu, yesterday called for a revision of the 1987 Unity Accord signed by Zanu PF and PF Zapu in 1987.

Ndlovu who said he was not bitter about his failure to land the party post of Vice-President said the 1987 agreement should clearly spell out the issue of seniority in PF Zapu as he still felt he was the most senior member who should have landed the post automatically. He said no nominations should have taken place.

Ndovu, however, reiterated that he was not bitter about the nomination of National Chairman, John Nkomo for the VP post, but procedures had to be revisisted.

He lost the race for the post left vacant by the death of Vice-President Joseph Msika in August, who was from the former PF Zapu party.

Zanu PF and PF Zapu signed a Unity Accord in 1987 to form the new united Zanu PF led by President Robert Mugabe.

Speaking in an interview in Victoria Falls on the sidelines of the 6th Sadc Parliamentary Forum, Ndlovu said: “I accept the outcome and in fact there is no bitterness in me about it. It is like in the game of football, the losing team always tries to put the blame across but that is the essence of the game.

"However I feel that there were a lot of things that should have been done that were not done in the process, but whatever the outcome we should accept.

“There are lessons that we have learnt that are necessary for the democracy of our party," he said.

Ndlovu, who is also Insiza Senator, lost in the nomination process two weeks ago.

He added that it was time that the Unity Accord was revisited to clarify issues of seniority.

"If this is not done the next generation might not understand the spirit of the Accord and not comply with it. It is high time that we look into the agreement. There was a lot of confusion on the seniority of PF Zapu members at the time of signing.

“The question of seniority is subject to debate. We have never looked into the agreement visa-vis PF Zapu members.

"What I can see is that unless we look into that agreement there will be chaos in future. There might be a lot of people who might not understand the essence of the Accord."

Ndlovu was the National Chairman of PF Zapu at the signing of the Unity Accord on 22 December, 1987.

At the time, John Nkomo was the party's Secretary for Information and Publicity.

In the nomination process, Nkomo was backed by all of Zanu PF's 10 provinces although there was a split decision in Matabeleland North.

The province nominated both Nkomo and Ndlovu for the post of Vice-President and Second Secretary of the party.

Ndlovu said people should have agreed on the criteria and qualifications one needed to have before entering the race.

The Unity Accord, added Ndlovu, did not state who should occupy the post of the party's national chair and this might be a source of further confusion.

He indicated that the view that members from PF Zapu should occupy it was merely an assumption and was not written in the Unity Accord.

"The issue of the National Chairperson was not put in black and white. It was an assumption.

“Anything that is not written can be a problem.

“Anyone who is a spoiler can claim that there is nothing written. So we need to look at this before the current leadership or group of people that understand the issue calls it a day," added Ndlovu.

Zimbabwe's Ambassador to South Africa Simon Khaya Moyo was nominated as the party's National Chairman and is expected to join President Mugabe, Vice-President Joice Mujuru and Nkomo in the Presidium.

TC/TZG

Labels: 1987 UNITY ACCORD, NAISON KHUTSHEKHAYA NDLOVU

posted by MrK @ 5:59 PM