PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe yesterday pleaded with aggrieved Zanu PF members to desist from taking the party to court and seek internal recourse.
Addressing journalists in Harare after a Zanu PF politburo meeting, the party’s national spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said Mugabe emphasised that internal party disputes should be resolved internally.
This was in apparent reference to a case where former Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa has threatened to challenge the ruling party’s December congress resolutions in court.
“His Excellency, the President, opened the meeting with a clear message that every member of the politburo must be thoroughly familiar with the provisions of the party constitution. The emphasis was that no one is above the party and that the party is supreme and no one should consider themselves above the party,” Khaya Moyo said.
“He said the party has principles, rules and values that are not subjected to higher courts as some believe and if you are a party member, there are structures you must use to get your concerns addressed, but not through the High Court or other institutions outside the party,” he added.
Khaya Moyo said Mutasa’s case would only be dealt by a seven-member national disciplinary committee set up by the politburo recently.
The team is yet to meet as some of its members are still outside the country.
First Lady Grace Mugabe, presumed as the deciding factor on Mutasa’s fate, is still recuperating in the Far East where she underwent an operation early this year.
She is expected back in the country next week.
According to Khaya Moyo, the politburo will stand guided by the committee’s recommendations.
This comes as several top party officials, including the Manicaland provincial executive members, have called for Mutasa to be expelled from the party and recalled from his Headlands constituency.
In the meeting, Mugabe is also said to have emphasised the need for unity in the party that was left shredded after the December congress that saw party bigwigs, among them former Vice-President Joice Mujuru, at least 16 ministers and nine provincial chairpersons, relieved of their posts on allegations of fanning factionalism.
Yesterday’s meeting also received reports from Zanu PF national commissar Saviour Kasukuwere who had been tasked to restructure the party following its shake-up in the run-up to the congress.Newsday
