{"id":1542,"date":"2025-12-29T08:30:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T08:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/?p=1542"},"modified":"2025-12-29T08:30:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T08:30:17","slug":"rusape-council-chair-denies-zanu-pf-defection-councillor-admits-taking-money-at-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/2025\/12\/29\/rusape-council-chair-denies-zanu-pf-defection-councillor-admits-taking-money-at-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Rusape Council Chair Denies ZANU-PF Defection; Councillor Admits Taking Money at Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Fanuel Chinowaita<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Rusape Town Council Chairperson Lovemore Chifomboti<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

RUSAPE, Manicaland<\/strong> \u2013 Rusape Town Council Chairperson Lovemore Chifomboti has publicly denied allegations he has joined the ruling ZANU-PF party, calling the claims \u201cfalse and misleading.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The denial comes amid circulating reports and video recordings suggesting local opposition councillors have attended ZANU-PF Rusape rally, part of a broader political realignment in Zimbabwe often referred to as the \u201cCome Home\u201d initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to The Wasu Post, Chairperson Chifomboti refuted claims that he had switched allegiance. \u201cI am being confused by ZANU PF members who said I joined their part. That is not true,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chifomboti shifted the focus to other figures, alleging, \u201cPishai joined ZANU PF and was promised a farm and a car. Teddy did go, but he did not join.\u201d He stressed the matter involved specific councillors and Pishai, insisting, \u201cThese are the people involved, not me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pishai Muchauraya, Tedius Chipere and other Councillors who attended Zanu pf Program<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the councillors named, Tedius Chipere, initially responded with hostility to a Wasu Post reporter, stating, \u201cDon\u2019t play with me\u2026 I\u2019m not someone to talk to if you want to twist my words.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Chipere later denied formally joining ZANU-PF but admitted to attending a gathering and accepting money. He did not dispute attending a \u201cJoin ZANU-PF\u201d event. In WhatsApp audio recordings cited by the publication, Chipere is alleged to have said he, Pishai, and four rural councillors attended and were each given US$200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attempts to reach Pishai for comment were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The allegations and admissions occur against a backdrop of reported ongoing political shifts in late 2024 and 2025, where some former opposition figures have rejoined ZANU-PF. While names like Muchauraya have circulated in related discussions, the Rusape claims highlight potential tensions and defections at the local government level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation raises questions about the nature of political participation and patronage within Zimbabwe’s current political landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Fanuel Chinowaita RUSAPE, Manicaland \u2013 Rusape Town Council Chairperson Lovemore Chifomboti has publicly denied allegations he has joined the ruling ZANU-PF party, calling the claims \u201cfalse and misleading.\u201d The denial comes amid circulating reports and video recordings suggesting local opposition councillors have attended ZANU-PF Rusape rally, part of a broader political realignment in Zimbabwe…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1542"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1546,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542\/revisions\/1546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}