Zanu-PF expels Joice Mujuru• Slew of allegations cited • Plots traced as far back as 2004

via Zanu-PF expels Joice Mujuru• Slew of allegations cited • Plots traced as far back as 2004 | The Herald April 3, 2015 by Farirai Machivenyika

Former Vice President Dr Joice Mujuru was yesterday expelled from Zanu-PF on the back of a slew of allegations, among them attempting to illegally remove President Mugabe from power, corruption, colluding with the party’s enemies and sowing divisions in the ruling party.

Addressing journalists after the Politburo meeting that lasted nine hours yesterday, Zanu-PF Secretary for Information and Publicity Cde Simon Khaya Moyo said the decision to expel Dr Mujuru was reached after presentations by various party structures.

“The Politburo today resolved to expel Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru from Zanu-PF after receiving a detailed report from the National Disciplinary Committee chaired by Vice President (Phelekezela) Mphoko. The Secretary for Legal Affairs Cde Patrick Chinamasa did of course present the report .

“This follows submissions from various structures of the party, particularly the Women’s League, the Youth League, the war veterans and war collaborators.”

Added Cde Khaya Moyo: “The grounds for Joice Mujuru’s expulsion from Zanu-PF include but not limited to the following; plotting to unconstitutionally remove the President and First Secretary of the party from office; orchestrating the ‘bhora musango’ campaign to the detriment of the party’s interests; orchestrating factionalism in the party thereby causing acrimonius divisions; abusing party structures to create a competing centre of national power; engaging in behaviour unbecoming of a Vice President and second secretary of the party; systematically collaborating and colluding with the enemy in a manner that undermines the party and risked bringing it into disrepute; engaging in activities that smack of corruption, engaging in criminal abuse of office, impugning, maligning and undermining the party and the President and providing leadership to the regime change agenda and Fifth Column politics within Zanu-PF.”

Cde Khaya Moyo said Dr Mujuru had exhibited serious lack of leadership qualities and was unfit to remain as a Zanu-PF member.

“The Politburo felt that she lacked the quality of strong moral principles, honesty and decency and therefore ceases to be a member of Zanu-PF from today (yesterday),” he said.

According to the National Disciplinary Committee report to the Politburo, Dr Mujuru began working against the party’s interests and President Mugabe together with her late husband General Solomon Mujuru ever since she was elected VP in 2004.

“From as far back as the 5th National People’s Congress, the party and Government was aware that Joice Mujuru was either leading or complicit in a plot to oust the President. She, then with the help of her late husband had plotted to thwart the President’s nomination at the 5th National People’s Congress, mainly through the agency of her cabal’s handpicked or imposed provincial chairmen,” reads part of the report.

The report said Dr Mujuru manipulated internal party primary elections, replacing provincial chairpersons with members of her faction, resulting in the abolition of the District Coordinating Committees in 2012.

The report added that the former Vice President had also hatched plans to illegally remove President Mugabe at the 6th National People’s Congress and/or have him assassinated.

“During the run up to the 6th National People’s Congress, multi-sourced intelligence exposed a plot to boo the incumbent First Secretary and President of the Party and therefore, purport to oust him by acclaim of the gathered delegates at Congress.

“Intelligence at hand also pointed to a subplot to assassinate the President in case the approach failed to oust him,” added the report.

Dr Mujuru was also accused of engaging in witchcraft and sorcery in her attempts to render the President unfit to govern.

The report also said Dr Mujuru together with the late General Mujuru was instrumental in the “bhora musango” phenomenon that saw Dumiso Dabengwa leaving Zanu-PF to form Zapu while Simba Makoni formed Mavambo-Kusile-Dawn, resulting in the revolutionary party nearly losing the 2008 harmonised elections, and leading to the formation of the inclusive Government.

“Much as Joice Mujuru claims she cannot be held accountable for the actions of her late husband, her actions after his demise in December 2011 have certainly been consistent with her husband’s strategic objectives, which sought to oust President Mugabe from power,” the report reads.

The NDC also said Dr Mujuru was at the fore of creating a competing centre of power and was systematically usurping President Mugabe’s power and arrogating them to herself.

“On more than one occasion, she and her cabal attempted to convene Cabinet and the Politburo in order to fast track their divisive putschist agenda while the President was out of the country. Quite often, she insisted that ministers and other functionaries of Government and the party must report to her whenever they received directives from the President.

“With increasing brazenness in the run-up to the 6th Congress, she would order the same ministers and functionaries to ignore the President’s directives and counsel even, at times, issuing her own countermanding directives,” the report added.

The report said her behaviour had increasingly become contemptuous of the President and First Secretary of Zanu-PF who is also Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

The report also said Dr Mujuru in her capacity as Acting President had clandestinely met with US ambassador Charles Ray in December 2009 and never reported to the party and/or Government the details of those meetings.

The NDC also said Dr Mujuru openly connived with the MDC-T’s Thokozani Khupe and Theresa Makone to manipulate parliamentary procedures that resulted in her favoured candidate Cde Beatrice Nyamupinga assuming the post of Women’s Caucus chairperson against the party’s nominated candidate Cde Monica Mutsvangwa.

Dr Mujuru was also accused of conniving with the MDC-T in the constitution making process resulting in the inclusion of several “sell-out clauses” in the document and also campaigned for the delay of the harmonised elections in the 2013.

The NDC report also says Dr Mujuru was involved in high level corruption including an attempt to sell Congolese gold to a Zurich (Switzerland) company called Firstar and her relationship with Emirs of Ras Al Khaima through which she allegedly laundered millions of dollars that were used to distort outcomes of the Youths and Women’s Conferences.

“Her denials pale into insignificance against the mountain of allegations that are coming to the fore. In the public view, Joice Mujuru is the Godmother of all the corruption, including that which has brought strategic parastatals like Air Zimbabwe, ZBC, NRZ, IDC and GMB to their knees,” the report added.

Dr Mujuru was accused of abusing her office with one case in point being where she used her power to alter records after her daughter Chipo Makoni was involved in a fatal accident that claimed two lives including that of the child of an Iranian doctor accredited to Zimbabwe.

The NDC also noted that the former VP had continued to undermine the authority of the President since her demotion.

“In all statements she has made through the private media since her demotion, Joice Mujuru has impugned and maligned the character and high office of the President and First Secretary, this bringing the party into disrepute,” the report added.

Dr Mujuru and her cabal that includes fired former party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo, and former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa were accused of impersonation as they continued to lay claim to positions in the party which they no longer hold.

“Impeccable intelligence at hand indicates that she is not only providing leadership to these negative forces but a group of lawyers who have a long association with the Mujuru family are providing legal advice to the effort, with the help from South African Legal Resource Centre and Advocate George Bizos,” the report added.

The NDC concluded that Dr Mujuru was leading regime change agents within Zanu-PF.

“There is growing evidence that Joice Mujuru is the leader of Fifth Columnists who have been working with the support of foreign intelligence services, the US in particular to destroy Zanu-PF from within, cause its overthrow and then form new ruling alliances with the sell-out opposition formations in a post-Mugabe era.

“If successful, they intend to constitute themselves into some kind of formidable Third Force, which aims to defeat and remove Zanu-PF from power during or before the 2018 harmonised elections,” further read the report.