A Zimbabwean, who has filed a court order seeking the nullification of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s leadership of Zanu PF, says his elevation was illegal as the Central Committee that made the decision to remove the late former President Robert Mugabe from the post of party secretary was not properly convened.
In an exclusive interview with VOA Zimbabwe Service, Sybeth Musengezi, accuses the party’s secretary of administration and other senior officials of violating the Zanu PF constitution when they elevated the current Zimbabwean president to the post of party secretary.
“We want to go back to the 2017 November party structures. We convene a meeting with the legal Central Committee members so that the issue of choosing the secretary and other members has to be put on the agenda of that meeting and then we chose the person that we want to lead us as Zanu PF and not the current set up where an individual was imposed on us by his close allies.”
Musengezi said they are seeking the removal of Mnangagwa from the helm of the party despite the holding of presidential elections in 2018 in which Mnangagwa was declared the winner by the Constitutional Court after opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa, claimed that the poll was rigged.
“There was an illegality in 2017 on the 20th of November. So, we cannot justify an illegality by an achievement. Yes, they won an election in 2018 but he was representing the party illegally. So, what we will simply do as a party, if the court grants us the order, we will just recall him and then appoint a person that has been chosen by the people. He won that seat on a Zanu PF ticket and not in his individual capacity.”
Musengezi is seeking an order compelling Zanu PF to hold a congress to chose a new leader. He wants the High Court to declare the resolutions of that Central Committee meeting null and void.
Mugabe was toppled in a defacto military coup in a move dubbed Operation Restore Legacy.
Zanu PF’s Believe Gaule says Musengezi has a right to file such an application but he is confident that it does not have any legal merit.