War Veterans minister Christopher Mutsvangwa and his wife Monica were on Wednesday hauled before a Zanu PF disciplinary hearing facing a plethora of allegations ranging from fanning factionalism and disrespecting the First Family, among other charges.
BY XOLISANI NCUBE
The hearing was conducted at Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko’s Zanu PF headquarters offices.
Mutsvangwa yesterday confirmed that he appeared before the party’s disciplinary committee chaired by Mphoko in the company of a lawyer he refused to name.
War Veterans minister Christopher Mutsvangwa
“They wanted to charge me with treachery, saying I made comments that are rebellious to the party leadership,” he said.
“But after explaining to the committee and interrogating some of the members of the committee especially Cde (Saviour) Kasukuwere whom I told that what was alleged to have been said by me, was a response to his statement and I never attacked the First Family at all.”
Mutsvangwa added: “After consideration of what I said, it was agreed that I had no case to answer and the committee agreed that charges be dropped. It is only (Patrick) Chinamasa who tried to push that matter, but he lost it on a vote. This is because Kasukuwere denied ever saying what was alleged to have been said by him, that which I was responding to. So it was difficult to carry on with a hearing under such circumstances.”
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The War Veterans minister said he went with a lawyer given the charges that were being levelled against him.
“When we enquired who the complainant in the matter was, we were told that it was based on a newspaper article which has no basis, the charges could not stand the test,” he said.
According to the charge sheet gleaned by NewsDay, Mutsvangwa was accused of coveting the commissariat post, yet there was no vacancy for it, in contravention of a November 25 Zanu PF politburo convention. On the accusations of bringing disrepute to the First Family, Mutsvangwa is accused of telling Kasukuwere not to conflate the institution of marriage with the State.
“What is self-evident is that Mutsvangwa’s utterances deliberately and mischievously intended to insult the First Family, with the consequence of undermining the authority of the President and bringing the party into disrepute. This is gross indiscipline,” the charge sheet read. “We find Cde Chris Mutsvangwa’s statements about conflating the institution of marriage with that of the State to be exactly the same in their meaning and import as the outrageous ‘bedroom coup’ remarks that got Jabulani Sibanda expelled from the party.
“Cde Chris Mutsvangwa’s shockingly and widely publicised statements should, therefore, attract the same judicial review in terms of the party constitution and he must suffer the same consequences as did Jabulani Sibanda.”
The disciplinary committee recommended that Mustvangwa be found guilty of gross misconduct and disloyalty or treachery.
To appear next was Mutsvangwa’s wife Monica, who was suspended from being the women’s league spokesperson after she was accused of insubordination when she openly threw her weight behind under-fire allies of Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Manicaland — apparently against First Lady Grace Mugabe’s wishes.
She was booted out together with the league’s secretary for administration, Esphenah Nhari, also on charges of undermining the First Family.
According to insiders, Monica’s hearing could not kick off as she had not been furnished with charges, hence they postponed the matter. But it was not the same for Nhari who, according to insiders, faces a five-year suspension as she was found guilty of undermining the First Family.
The Zanu PF disciplinary committee comprises of Mphoko (chair), Pupurai Togarepi (youth), Grace Mugabe (women), Kasukuwere (commissariat) and Chinamasa (legal). Kasukuwere refused to comment on the matter while Chinamasa’s phone was unavailable.
