Mugabe fires Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma

By Never Kadungure | Harare Bureau |

HARARE – President Robert Mugabe’s purge of senior party officials perceived as loyal to his Vice President Joice Mujuru continued on Monday with the Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma being fired after 25 years on the job.

Zvoma is reported to have resisted efforts to force him to retire arguing that the new constitution allowed him to serve another two terms. Parliament’s Standing Rules and Orders Committee chaired by the Speaker Jacob Mudenda however met to rubber-stamp the decision that had already been made by the President.

The Mugabe faction of Zanu PF claims Zvoma “is reaching 65 years old at the end of this month, the normal retirement age for all Government workers.” This is despite the fact that President Mugabe is himself 90 years old and his chief election rigger Registra General Tobaiwa Mudede (a civil servant) is over 70.

Deputy Clerk of Parliament, Mr Kennedy Chokuda, will now be in charge until a substantive appointment is made.

President Mugabe has so far instigated the dismissals of 8 Zanu PF provincial chairmen loyal to Mujuru ahead of the party elective congress. He also engineered the 5-year suspension of party spokesman Rugare Gumbo and is already said to be targeting police commissioner Augustine Chihuri for the axe.