Zanu PF in humiliating U-turn over Kereke
By Staff Reporter
HARARE – Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party has been forced into a humiliating U-turn that saw them agree to an out of court settlement which now allows rebel politician Dr Munyaradzi Kereke to remain the MP for Bikita West.
Zanu PF attempted to expel Kereke from Parliament claiming the party had expelled him and under electoral laws he should lose the seat. Kereke however approached the Constitutional Court challenging his ejection arguing he had ceased to be a Zanu PF member by the time he was elected on July 31.
The out of court settlement on Wednesday allowed the full bench of the Constitutional Court led by Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausika to nullify the purported expulsion which saw Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda two weeks ago asking Kereke to leave Parliament claiming he was no longer an MP.
Although Zanu PF had disqualified Kereke from contesting on a party ticket in the controversial July 31 election, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission accepted his nomination because district leaders had signed his papers.
In that election Zanu PF fielded two candidates in Kereke and gospel singer turned politician Elias Musakwa. Kereke won the contest with 7,270 votes to Musakwa’s 6,052. The MDC-T’s Heya Shoka polled 3,863 votes. In his court papers Kereke argued 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.
It’s thought 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. It would appear the Mnangagwa faction has prevailed on the issue.
