Mugabe expels ex-minister from party

What you need to know:

  • Mr Mutasa, 79 was among over 10 ministers who were shown the door last December for allegedly supporting the ousted Vice-President Joice Mujuru.
  • Mr Mutasa has become the spokesperson of the disgruntled Zanu-PF top officials who fell victim to the purge, describing the party congress that gave President Mugabe a fresh five year mandate as illegal.
  • He has also threatened to drag Zanu-PF to court to have the congress declared null and void as he argues that the appointments and amendments giving President Mugabe more power were illegal.

HARARE, Thursday
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party has expelled one of his longtime allies, a former minister he accuses of plotting to kill him, as the battle to succeed the 91 year-old leader escalates.

Former Presidential Affairs minister Didymus Mutasa’s expulsion was recommended by a Zanu-PF committee that comprises President Mugabe’s wife, Grace who has been elevated to the party’s top decision making body – the politburo.

The First Lady returned home last Sunday after spending over two months in Singapore where she underwent an operation to remove an appendix and the expulsion was recommended at her first politburo meeting since her elevation last year.

Mr Mutasa, 79 was among over 10 ministers who were shown the door last December for allegedly supporting the ousted Vice-President Joice Mujuru.

President Mugabe’s wife pushed for Ms Mujuru’s removal claiming she was corrupt and incompetent.

However, it is widely believed that the president’s wife is trying to assert herself in the party at a time her husband is edging towards an exit from power.

ILLEGAL

Mr Mutasa has become the spokesperson of the disgruntled Zanu-PF top officials who fell victim to the purge, describing the party congress that gave President Mugabe a fresh five year mandate as illegal.

The former intelligence minister has appealed to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union to intervene in the party dispute.

He has also threatened to drag Zanu-PF to court to have the congress declared null and void as he argues that the appointments and amendments giving President Mugabe more power were illegal.

But today, Zanu-PF said the politburo had resolved to expel Mr Mutasa and another outspoken legislator Themba Mliswa from the party because they were unrepentant.

“The detailed report by the disciplinary committee was presented to the politburo, highlighting the disparaging remarks made by (Mr) Mutasa about the party leadership and his rubbishing of the congress held last December as illegal, null and void,” Zanu-PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo told journalists.

“He went further to write to SADC leaders appealing for their intervention,  among other things.

‘‘The committee treated his case as unique and extraordinary and determined that in terms of its rules as the national disciplinary committee, (Mr) Mutasa continues to be unrepentant and continues to issue statements which are not helpful to himself either.”

The politburo has, therefore, expelled (Mr) Mutasa from the party, which renders his seat in parliament vacant.”

The former minister was also removed from his post of Zanu-PF secretary for administration last December.