Tag Archives: Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party

Politics, Regional

Zimbabwe ruling Zanu-PF fires 11 Robert Mugabe allies from parliament

Maravi Post Reporter

HARARE-(MaraviPost)-Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party has fired 11 parliamentarians, friends of former leader Robert Mugabe, as President Emmerson Mnangagwa continues a purge of officials that publicly supported Mugabe and his wife, media reports said on Friday.

Mnangagwa, who came to power in November 2017 after 93-year-old Mugabe was forced to resign following a defacto military coup, has spoken against retribution.

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

However, local media reports say a ZANU-PF restructuring process around the country was targeting those who publicly backed Mugabe and Grace, whose tilt at power resulted in the military intervention.

According to a transcript of parliament procedures from Thursday, the Parliament Deputy Speaker, Mabel Chinomona, said that ZANU-PF had notified the house of assembly that the 11 no longer represented its interest, triggering their dismissal.

Some of the legislators were cabinet ministers in Mugabe’s government.

In November ZANU-PF fired five top Mugabe allies from parliament, including Jonathan Moyo, a fiercely combative mouthpiece for a faction that backed Grace Mugabe’s rise.

Many of Mugabe’s political allies were either arrested by the military in a series of spectacular raids in the early hours of Nov. 15 or fled to neighbouring countries.

In private, Mnangagwa’s allies worry that some of Mugabe’s supporters could regroup and campaign against the new president in elections that will be held in four to five months.

Moyo had said that the international community must help remove the “military government” that has taken power or risk the country descending into chaos.

Human Rights, Law and order, Politics, Regional, SADC, Top News

Mnangagwa reveals 30km walk while escaping Mugabe’s ‘hunting dogs’

Malawi News Agency (MANA)

Pretoria – Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has revealed how he walked for more 30km to cross the border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique in an apparent escape from his assassination by former president Robert Mugabe’s “hunting dogs”, reports said on Friday.

Mnangagwa said this on Thursday in Pretoria where he addressed Zimbabwean nationals , who fled economic decline and political turmoil in the southern African country.

“I came here to pay homage to my brother President Jacob Zuma. I spent a good 16 days as a ‘Diasporan’ here in South Africa after walking some 30km crossing the border into Mozambique. After I had been fired around 4 o’clock (on November 6), intelligence had made me aware of the next move intended to eliminate me,” NewsDay quoted Mnangagwa as saying.

“Fortunately, I found a [business] card in my wallet which bore the name of a colleague here, (Justice) Maphosa, whom I phoned and he picked me. I came here and I was well-looked after.”

Mnangagwa fled to South Africa after Mugabe dismissed him during factional fighting in Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party. The firing prompted a backlash against Mugabe and Mnangagwa returned to Zimbabwe, where he was sworn in as president.

Mnangagwa’s finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said that the president had been stripped of his security “both physically and at his house” immediately after his sacking from government.

“This showed his security was not guaranteed, hence, he had to become a refugee here [South Africa],” said Chinamasa.

Mnangagwa also revealed that he had been in “clandestine” communication with President Jacob Zuma during his stay in South Africa, a New Zimbabwe.com report said.

“I had good communication with the leadership here, not openly, you understand,” Mnangagwa was cited as saying.