ZUNDE kicks out interim president

By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |

The Zimbabweans United for Democracy (ZUNDE) party has offloaded its Zimbabwe-based interim president, Farai Mbira, accusing him of pursuing a personal agenda.

Mbira, said ZUNDE in a statement, was a founding member of the party and “played a significant role” in the establishment of the party but was no longer fit for the job.

“We have no time for a self-promoting leader. Unfortunately, Farai Mbira has demonstrated that he has his own agenda and he has been using his position in ZUNDE to pursue it, unilaterally making executive decisions without first consulting the ZUNDE team.

“Zimbabwe has seen too much of that style of leadership and ZUNDE will never accept it,” read the statement.

It was jointly signed by Benjamin Paradza (interim vice president), Moses Chamboko (interim secretary general) and John Huruva (interim secretary for external affairs) who are all based abroad.

They added: “We thank him (Mbira) for his past contributions and wish him well as he goes off in his own direction to pursue his own goals.

ZUNDE has been largely dormant, save for appearances at joint fora set up to discuss a grand political coalition and electoral reforms.

Party sources accused Mbira of turning the party into a personal fiefdom through the appointment of his relatives to senior positions.

His younger brother, Charles, is part of the senior leadership in Zimbabwe and the two were always seen together on party business.

Despite the expulsion of Mbira, ZUNDE said it remained committed to creating a democratic and prosperous Zimbabwe.

It was not immediately clear when ZUNDE plans to hold a congress to elect a substantive leadership. Nehanda Radio