Zapu evicted over rent arrears

By Jeffrey Muvundusi

The Dumiso Dabengwa-led Zapu has been evicted from its Bulawayo offices over $11 000 rental arrears.

The High Court here granted the eviction order against the opposition party.

“We occupied the offices in January 2015, having paid in cash nine months in advance, including a deposit,” Zapu deputy spokesperson Iphithule Maphosa told the Daily News.

“After our coffers ran dry due to economic hardships . . . it became extremely difficult to raise the rentals of $1 000 every month. As a result, we accumulated arrears and it became difficult for us to settle,” he said, adding “that is why we didn’t contest the eviction”.

He, however, further accused State security agents of interfering in the party’s search for a new affordable home.

“We have a case where our would-be landlord had to withdraw the deal after having allegedly been threatened but that won’t derail the people’s project,” Maphosa said.

He said they will not allow the financial crisis to derail their mission to remove the Zanu PF government.

“We will soldier on, with or without the offices; we will never be diverted from our goal of delivering a free Zimbabwe through pushing the Zanu PF dictatorship out.”

Maphosa further noted that the party solely depended on its loyal members for bankrolling its day-to-day operations.

He accused Zanu PF of suffocating the party by refusing to return its properties confiscated at the height of the post-independence civil war.

Government seized numerous properties belonging to PF-Zapu, then led by nationalist and former vice president Joshua Nkomo, alleging that it had discovered arms caches.

This is not the first time Zapu has been rendered ‘‘homeless’’.

In 2012, the party was evicted after failing to pay rent for over a year.

Zapu has been dogged by financial problems since May 2009 when Dabengwa announced that the party was pulling out of its unity pact with President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party. Daily News