The Sunday News
Harare Bureau
ZANU-PF’S National Appeals and Review Committee convened last Friday amid revelations that the number of matters it has to deal with has ballooned to more than 60.
In May, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa said 36 party members had appealed against their suspension or expulsion from Zanu-PF. More than 200 cadres were expelled or suspended from 2014 in the wake of growing factionalism and ill-discipline largely linked to then Vice-President Dr Joice Mujuru’s plot to topple President Mugabe.
VP Phelekezela Mphoko chairs the appeals committee set up at President Mugabe’s instigation to review the cases of party members who felt hard done by verdicts against them. After last Friday’s meeting, VP Mphoko declined to answer questions from our Harare Bureau, saying the process required confidentiality.
Sources who attended the meeting said the meeting lasted the whole day and “the full list is now more than 60 people from the 36 that we previously presided over the first time we met”.
Sources said the committee would likely present a progress report at the next Politburo meeting. Party members understood to have submitted appeals include former Politburo members Cdes Webster Shamu and Nicholas Goche, who were suspended for aligning themselves to Dr Mujuru ahead of Zanu-PF’s 2014 Congress.
Scores of party members were given votes of no confidence, leading to their expulsion or suspension. However, it is alleged that in some cases procedures were not followed or disciplinary action was prompted by personal disagreements.
Addressing the National Consultative Assembly last month, President Mugabe said votes of no confidence should be passed for dereliction of duty and not for anything else.
