ZANU PF Central Committee member Tafadzwa Shumba has accused Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) Director General Isaac Moyo of ordering a hit on him in an ongoing fight for Mwenezi West's parliamentary seat against the spy boss' wife, Priscilla.
Shumba's Toyota GD6 was hijacked at gunpoint by suspected CIO operatives working under Moyo's order on Wednesday before being torched just outside Chirindi Township.
He claimed those who executed the attack told onlookers and one of his employees that they were looking for him.
Shumba unsuccessfully challenged Priscilla at Zanu PF's chaotic primaries, later opting to go independent after alleged Forever Associates of Zimbabwe (FAZ) and CIO operatives engineered his loss.
"My car was hijacked at gun point 40 minutes ago at Tsungirirai Secondary School by what we suspect to be CIO operatives sent by their boss," said Shumba moments after losing the vehicle.
"Mwenezi seems to have become a thorn in their flesh. I am safe and sound but they were heard saying they are looking for me specifically, they drove the vehicle towards Marhanda where gunshots rang."
The car was later found burnt beyond repair.
Moyo disputed Zanu PF primary election results that placed him second behind Priscilla and wrote numerous letters to the party's leadership raising complaints over CIO-backed FAZ's operations to her benefit.
Priscilla's vehicles were allegedly used on polling day to threaten polling agents, forcibly take registers and bar voting in some areas.
Shumba is one of the few who have braved Zanu PF's wrath to stand as an independent candidate after 'losing' primaries.
Late Gutu West candidate Christopher Rwodzi who had decided to go it alone under the banner Independent4ED was killed in an accident on his way to the rural constituency.
He was set to contest the party's preferred John Paradza.
Ndinyarei Mupukuta who was contesting the Maramba-Pfungwe National Assembly seat under an independent ticket withdrew his candidature citing personal reasons last week.
His move followed a stern warning from President Emmerson Mnangagwa to disgruntled Zanu PF members deploying themselves as independent candidates.
"No one of you formed Zanu PF. Remember, you joined an already existing party. If you want to remain a Zanu PF member, follow its rules. Kana ukafunga kuita pidigori, ndiwe unopidikuga muZanu PF. Isu takakuriramo, over 64 years tiri mu Zanu PF asi hatina kumboti Zanu PF ndeyangu.
"Ndikarota Zanu PF yave yangu ndinopepuka kuti hope dzabvepi mudzimu yoda kundirasha. So, to you all, I say let us unite. If you are a sincere member of the party, you get deployed, you do not deploy yourself," Mnangagwa warned.
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