A total of 18 former Zanu-PF members forfeited their membership in the party due to their decision to run as independent candidates in the National Assembly and local authority elections during the recently concluded August 2023 harmonized elections.
This information is outlined in the Central Committee report presented by President Mnangagwa at the 20th Zanu-PF National People’s Conference, which was subsequently adopted.
The National Chairman’s report, overseen by Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, who also chairs the ruling party’s National Disciplinary Committee, disclosed that the party invoked its constitutional legal provisions against individuals who defied party regulations.
The report stated, “During the 2023 harmonized general elections, some members contested as independent candidates in the National Assembly and local authority categories. As a result, the National Disciplinary Committee observed that these members had automatically expelled themselves from the party in accordance with Article 3, Section 17 (2), as well as Article 550 (11) of the Party Constitution.”
Furthermore, the report mentioned that these charged members, who stood as independent candidates, failed to attend the conflict management meeting presided over by the National Chairman prior to the nomination day. The purpose of the meeting was to reconcile dissatisfied members and discourage them from running as independent candidates. Consequently, the report recommended imposing an appropriate deterrent penalty for this open defiance of Zanu-PF’s constitution, rules, regulations, values, and ethos, sending a clear message to potential offenders considering independent candidacy.
Among those who ceased to be Zanu-PF members after running as independent candidates in the National Assembly are individuals such as Mr. Thomas Munjoma (Mutare West), Zivanai Peter Musanhu (Mt Darwin West), Eunice Mangwende (Murewa North), George Vhengere (Gutu East), Tafadzwa Shumba (Mwenezi West), Jeremiah Ndlukuwani (Gokwe Chireya), and Ms. Siphathisiwe Mathema (Nkayi North).
The party’s legal department also reported that it was tasked with editing the party’s constitution, as presented and adopted during the 7th National People’s Congress held in October 2022. New provisions included the establishment of diaspora structures, council of elders, Standing Committee of the Central Committee, and the codification of the party’s code of conduct and detailed disciplinary procedures.
In another report, the Education, Ideology, and Research department expressed concerns about certain teachers’ unions aligning themselves with a regime change agenda. The department noted that some teachers’ unions and civil society organizations were involved in promoting a Western-funded regime change agenda in the country, facilitated by hostile foreign embassies.
Illicit funding of these teachers’ unions created a financial disparity between their leaders and the people they represented, as they had not been negotiating in good faith with the government and were primarily focused on destabilizing the education sector. As a response, the department initiated ideological training for teachers to counter this trend.