Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) War veterans fight for control of association

War veterans fight for control of association
by Lebo Nkatazo
03/03/2010 00:00:00

THE war veterans’ association has been thrown into turmoil following a bid to oust its leader, Jabulani Sibanda, by a rival group led by his deputy, Joseph Chinotimba.

Chinotimba, who is backed by the association’s secretary general Alex Mudavanhu, says 11 members of the national executive met and decided to pass a no-confidence vote in Sibanda.

Mudavanhu said of Sibanda: “I think power had over-powered him. He was going solo on almost everything, taking decisions on his own. We as national executive members heard some of the decisions through the grapevine. This is not right.

“The association has a constitution, which stipulates how it must be run. That was not being done. He was running it with four hangers-on, excluding the executive.”

Mudavanhu said Sibanda’s removal would stand up to any scrutiny because “he was dealt with in terms of our constitution”.

But confusion reigned this week when Sibanda, backed by at least five of the 10 provincial executives, rejected his purported ouster as “shadow boxing”.

He said as chairman, he was not aware of any national executive meeting which had voted to oust him.

Sibanda said: “It’s only you guys (in the media) who will be surprised by Chinotimba’s shadow boxing in the dark.”

Sibanda inferred Chinotimba and his rebel group had mental health problems.

The war veterans association indefinitely postponed its congress on January 27. Only the congress can make substantive appointments to the national executive, which means if Chinotimba wins the battle for control, he would only be an acting chairman.

Mudavanhu said Chinotimba had been tasked with convening a congress.

Labels: JABULANI SIBANDA, JOSEPH CHINOTIMBA, WAR VETERANS

posted by MrK @ 7:30 PM