I am ready to work with Zanu PF — Kereke

via I am ready to work with Zanu PF — Kereke NewsDay October 24, 2013

BIKITA West MP Munyaradzi Kereke yesterday said he was still ready to work with Zanu PF.

Speaking after the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) ruled as null and void the bid by Zanu PF to have him expelled from Parliament, Kereke said he would work with Zanu PF as it was the only party that could carry Zimbabwe into the future.

“We are working things out with Zanu PF,” Kereke said.

“There is no loser in this matter and there is no winner. It really was a matter of establishing equilibrium as engraved in the Constitution of the country. Let us move forward and work for our motherland. I am going to Parliament to check for my mail in my pigeon hole.”

Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo on Tuesday said he was still consulting within the party to make a clear pronouncement on Kereke’s fate.

“I cannot comment on that. We are still consulting on the way forward,” Gumbo said.

The ConCourt ruled that Kereke was still Bikita West MP.

The ruling came after Kereke and Zanu PF had already reached an out-of-court settlement setting aside the court challenge.

The party had initially disowned Kereke and written to Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma asking him to declare the seat as vacant, prompting Kereke to launch a ConCourt challenge.

Zanu PF accused Kereke of defying party directives compelling him to stand down and allow its chosen candidate Elias Musakwa to contest the July 31 parliamentary election.

“The termination of the membership of Parliament of the applicant by the first respondent dated 3rd October is null and void and is hereby set aside,” head of the ConCourt Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku ruled.

“The applicant is a member of the National Assembly.”

In its letter to Zvoma, Zanu PF argued that it did not recognise Kereke as its MP.

But Kereke approached the ConCourt challenging his dismissal on the basis that he could not be expelled twice as he ceased to be a Zanu PF member on July 10 this year, long before he was elected on July 31.

He argued that the law both Zanu PF and Zvoma had wanted to use to expel him from Parliament did not apply to his situation.