via Midlands trio still guilty: Kasukuwere – NewsDay Zimbabwe January 26, 2016
ZANU PF national commissar Saviour Kasukuwere has trashed the “not guilty” verdict on the party’s three Midlands executives accused of terrorising three ministers and accused the provincial disciplinary committee of rushing to pronounce the verdict instead of submitting its findings to the party’s national disciplinary committee.
by XOLISANI NCUBE
Kasukuwere told NewsDay yesterday that as far as he was concerned, Midlands provincial youth chairman Edmore Samambwa, Gokwe-Kana MP Owen Ncube and Gokwe-Nembudziya MP Justice Mayor Wadyajena were guilty of tormenting Sports minister Makhosini Hlongwane, Labour deputy minister Tapiwa Matangaidze and Tourism deputy minister Anastancia Ndlovu.
He said the trio’s fate would only be decided by the party’s national disciplinary committee chaired by Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko, adding the verdict passed by the Daniel Mackenzie Ncube-led committee was null and void.
“People must learn to follow party procedure and processes. The provincial disciplinary committee can only go as a far as making recommendations to the national disciplinary committee, which also recommends to the politburo, for debate and adoption. The politburo too, sends its findings to the central committee for adoption. So, for people to say that they have been exonerated or not, is very premature,” Kasukuwere said.
“It’s the office of the political commissar which sanctioned the hearings and, as such, we will take the provincial disciplinary committee report to the national disciplinary committee and from there, that is when we will know the way forward.”
According to the disciplinary committee’s findings, the misconduct allegations levelled against Ncube, Wadyajena and Samambwa were unsubstantiated.
“The allegations are lacking in substantiation. The complainants sat down and connived to fabricate these allegations to paint a very negative picture of the Midlands province in the eyes of the First Family. There was a clear and desperate attempt by the complainants to try and involve the names of His Excellency, the President, Cde Robert Mugabe, and the First Lady, Dr Grace Mugabe,” the committee ruled.
COMMENTS
Kasukuwere … said … that as far as he was concerned ….. they were guilty…
and there you have the zanu pf attitude towards due process — if the big wig doesn’t like the outcome, then due process must be brushed aside.
there is nowhere in the article where kasukuwere said they are guilty…at law one is innocent until proven guilty.
Kasukuwere wanted a certain outcome to these trials. The trials may not have been conducted correctly, but Kasukuwere should have attacked the process, not the verdict. He should have ordered fresh hearings, and should not have pronounced the suspects guilty. If I were Wadyajena and others, I was going to resist new hearings on the basis that they are not going to be fair, as the national PC has already declared a verdict, which fact is certainly going to influence any future disciplinary committee.