Kereke lawsuit reveals ongoing ZANU PF infighting

via Kereke lawsuit reveals ongoing ZANU PF infighting | SW Radio Africa by Alex Bell on Thursday, October 10, 2013

Ongoing factionalism in Robert Mugabe’s party has been further revealed this week, with an expelled member taking ZANU PF to the Constitutional Court.

Munyaradzi Kereke, who was expelled from the party in early July for ‘insubordination’, has approached the Constitutional Court to challenge his ejection from Parliament.

This ejection was announced last week by the Speaker Jacob Mudenda, who said that Kereke ceased to be the Bikita West legislator because he had been expelled from ZANU PF.

But Kereke is arguing that his expulsion in July was done before he won his seat as an independent candidate in the elections that followed, and therefore his ejection from parliament is unwarranted.

In his papers Kereke is arguing that: “The party did not give me any sponsorship. I financed my own campaign whilst the party sponsored one Elias Musakwa, who got a new motor vehicle, regalia and other campaign material. I did not get similar support from the party given that I had been expelled. The moment the party advised me to stop using party regalia, I complied and discontinued the use thereof.”

Kereke, who was a chief adviser to Gideon Gono as Reserve Bank Governor, is reportedly widely associated with Emmerson Mnangagwa, who in turn heads one of two rival factions fighting for control of the party.

The Kereke issue once again provided the platform for the factionalism to be played out, with the competing Joice Mujuru faction backing Kereke’s expulsion. Conversely, the Mnangagwa faction insisted on Kereke’s candidature.

Political analyst Maxwell Shumba told SW Radio Africa that all eyes will now be on the ConCourt to see what decision is made. He explained that a clear picture of the justice system’s allegiance will be revealed by a decision on Kereke.

“This will be a good indication of which direction the power play is going. What will be interesting to know is if the judges are united as usual behind ZANU PF or is there a clear dominant faction,” Shumba said.