Kasukuwere should face criminal charges from the past -Zanu PF

Harare (New Ziana) -The ruling Zanu PF is not shaken by the candidature of Presidential aspirant and former party stalwart Saviour Kasukuwere as he is a “phantom candidate” who must not be taken seriously, a senior official has said.

Addressing the media at the party headquarters in the capital on Thursday, Zanu-PF secretary for information Christopher Mutsvangwa said Kasukuwere also has disturbing and serious criminal hurdles that he should clear before he can contest in the upcoming polls.

He said detractors had planted Kasukuwere in the hope of trying to flicker a light of opposition in the country but that would be in vain, as President Emmerson Mnangagwa has already made headway and is headed for a landslide victory.

“We have a young man who leads CCC (Citizens Coalition for Change) and knows nothing. We are trying to find him on the campaign trail but we can’t see him, he is not visible,” he said.

“That is why the detractors have resorted to creating a phantom candidate because they feel that there is a yawning gap in the ranks of the opposition, and that is none other than Saviour Kasukuwere. He is being touted as a candidate, we are saying until you start to put your feet on the ground and start campaigning in Zimbabwe we do not view you as a candidate. Appearing in the South African press and campaigning there is not appealing to the voter in Zimbabwe, there is no voting booth at SABC in South Africa.”

Kasukuwere, who is in self-imposed exile in South Africa where he fled in 2017 to avoid standing trial on charges of criminal abuse of office as a public officer, has filed papers to contest in the Presidential part of the August 23 harmonised elections as an independent candidate.

He has indicated that he would be returning to the country soon to launch his campaign but appears hesitant to do that apparently out of fear of the long arm of the law.

Mutsvangwa said by going to the South African press, Kasukuwere was creating a diversion not for the Zimbabwean voters, but to impress funders with regime change machinations such as the Open Institute of Southern Africa.

“He then sees his image in that press but he is not being present on the ground in Zimbabwe, he is absent. And you beat yourself on the chest and say “I’m campaigning, and I have been given mileage”. He is wrong. Our President is stamping the grounds in Zimbabwe and meeting the electorate in person. You saw the crowds in the previous rallies that turned up, I do not know of any crowds that you will see turning up at SABC,” he said.

He said it was on record that Kasukuwere had some violations he committed, and the law would not lie idle on the issues.

“Remember the young man Gift Tandai who was shot in 2007, whose remains were stolen and buried in Mt Darwin after an altercation between the MDC and Zanu-PF?” asked Mutsvangwa.

“Kasukuwere’s footprints seem to have been there and I am talking about the evidence of the American embassy which went public when the then ambassador Bruce Walton labelled him a thug. I am sure the Zimbabwean Intelligence services must have good records of all those things.

“This is among the many things the law enforcement and peace enabling agents of this country may have on him, so before he may even think of many things he has a lot of hurdles to clear with the laws of this country.”

Mutsvangwa said the CCC was not a credible opposition and has been greatly weakened by internal strife, a situation which leaves Zanu PF a strong contender.

“Chamisa is in the country but fighting internal wars of his party. He is fighting his top rank, he is fighting the fielding of double candidates in his party because his selection of candidates was not open and democratic, there are a lot of disgruntled people.

“He is busy with the courts trying to sort all that mess and at the same time he wants to be busy with the electorate. Where is his vote, with the judges or the electorate? He is just too occupied and that leaves the only party, Zanu PF that is campaigning smoothly.”

He urged party supporters to throng in numbers for Saturday’s rally in Mashonaland West province, adding the call by President Mnangagwa for a non-violent election should be heeded.

Mutsvangwa said President Mnangagwa brings in an institutional memory of the party and the liberation struggle and in hindsight, has been able to assess the performance of top leadership which made him confer hero status to the late Ndabaningi Sithole, whose history could not be rubbed out.

He added that under the Second Republic, Zimbabwe has witnessed a gradual transformation in infrastructural development as well as liberalizing several sectors of the economy, including mining.