Ncube appears all set to launch new political party???

LINK!!!!

 

 By Our Correspondent

 

HARARE, September 19, 2007 - Former Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube is reported to be finalising the modalities of forming a largely Ndebele-based political party to challenge President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF in the parliamentary and presidential election scheduled for early next March.

 

While still embroiled in devastating allegations of sexual scandal, Ncube appears set to challenge his nemesis, Mugabe, for the presidency. The name of former Defence Minister Enos Nkala, once a right hand man, but now an avowed enemy of Mugabe, has been linked to the formation of the proposed party. Nkala said yesterday that he would respond to questions today.

 

Sources told The Zimbabwe Times that Ncube, who resigned last week from his position in the Catholic Diocese of Bulawayo had indicated in closed door meetings with regional politicians that there was an urgent need for a new political party to represent the interests of the marginalized Ndebele people in the western regions of Zimbabwe.

 

Ncube, a fierce critic of President Mugabe, was unavailable for comment. He was earlier in the day quoted in reports in London as having said he would soon issue a statement on this development with ramifications beyond Matabeleland. The social communications officer with of Roman Catholic Church in Bulawayo, Sister Henri Nyathi, said she could neither confirm nor deny that Ncube - until last week the head of the Bulawayo Catholic Archdiocese - had advanced plans for the launch of a new political party.

 

An outspoken critic of the Mugabe regime, Ncube was stopped dead in his tracks last month by a volley of adultery charges, following what is widely believed to have been a sting operation by the government-owned media. Previously, he had vowed to lead mass protests against Mugabe, "guns blazing".

 

The sensational allegations of adultery levelled against Ncube were accorded unusually extensive coverage in the state-controlled media.

 

Ncube resigned last week after state television and newspapers published graphic photographs of the prelate in various stages of having sexual intercourse with a married woman. The pictures and footage were immediately followed by a Z$20 billion adultery lawsuit filed against Ncube by the woman's husband - a soldier serving with the Zimbabwe National Army - for the alleged affair with his wife.

 

Ncube's social standing noise-dived following the sensational details of the sex scandal, although critics maintained he was set up in a sting operation masterminded by the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO).

 

A defiant Ncube, in a statement issued last week after the Vatican indicated it had accepted his resignation stated: "I have not been silenced by the crude machinations of a wicked regime. I am committed to promoting the social teachings of the church, and to working among the poorest and most needy in Zimbabwe."

 

Sources close to the planned political party said Ncube had consulted senior officials of Bulawayo-based political parties, the Patriotic Union of Matabeleland (PUMA) and ZAPU Federal Party (FP) to sponsor a single candidate in next year's presidential polls. Given his profile, Ncube was likely to emerge the sole candidate who will stand against Mugabe from Matabeleland .

 

PUMA spokesman Leonard Nkala was not immediately available for comment. But Enos Nkala, a card carrying member of PUMA, who also served in Mugabe's Cabinet in the early 80s, declined to comment on the ongoing consultations about the united Ncube-led political front set to emerge from Bulawayo .

 

"I am afraid I can't comment on that. Maybe you can call me back at 8 am tomorrow after I have consulted," Nkala told The Zimbabwe Times last night.

 

Repeated efforts to obtain comment from ZAPU (FP) president Paul Siwela were futile.

Sources close to the proposed opposition political party said they hoped to have new party, dubbed the "Pius Ncube Solidarity Coalition" up and running by the time of the harmonised elections, expected to be called by the end of March, according to a constitutional amendment that sailed through its second reading in Parliament Tuesday. More than 60 civic groups in and around Matabeleland and Midlands have reportedly bought into the idea.

"There's a new committee which is being formed which has some people with vast experience in politics. This will form the steering committee with former Archbishop Ncube most certainly tipped to be at the helm," said our source.

 

He added that the aim was to stop politicians using Bulawayo residents as a "political football" to be hoodwinked with empty promises during election time and.

The official, a senior ex-combatant with the Post Independence Survivors' Trust, said Ncube envisioned a party that would represent Christian interests without excluding other faiths.

"The whole idea is to promote fairness across the board and specific values, such as honesty and dignity and equality," said our source.

 

Gorden Moyo, the director of Bulawayo Agenda, a civic group agitating against what they perceive as the marginalization of Matabeleland, said Ncube was losing the plot.

"If this is true it would be a futile exercise," said Moyo. "Ncube is a respected man and I believe he can do great work outside party politics. Being identified with political parties will certainly reduce his impact."

 

Moyo said he believed Ncube would be stronger as a voice for all people across the political divide, especially in civic society.

 

Bishop Ncube caused uproar in recent months when he openly admitted to praying for 83-year-old President Mugabe's death as a means to end Zimbabwe's political and economic crises. He also sparked controversy when he said Western nations would be morally justified to invade Zimbabwe and topple Mugabe.

 

The relationship between Mugabe and Catholic bishops has soured after the clerics slammed his ruinous handling of the economy.