HARARE – Local government minister July Moyo has been asked to censure Fortune Charumbira, the president of the Zimbabwe Council of Chiefs, after he claimed that all traditional leaders were Zanu PF partisans, which would be in breach of the constitution.
Chief Charumbira attended the Zanu PF annual conference in Bindura last month where he declared that traditional leaders “will never leave Zanu PF.”
Section 281 of the constitution decrees that chiefs cannot be “members of any political party or… act in a partisan manner.”
The Election Resource Centre (ERC) has now written to Moyo asking him to take action, warning that his comments have “the potential to destroy rule of law and constitutional supremacy in Zimbabwe” befitting of “disciplinary proceedings.”
In a statement on Monday, the ERC said: “The latest comments come at a time the chief blatantly ignores a 2018 High Court order (Election Resource Centre v Chief Fortune Charumbira & Ors HC 1718/18) compelling him to withdraw partisan comments made, calling on traditional leaders to support Zanu PF ahead of the 2018 harmonised elections.
“The conduct of the chief, if left to fester, has the potential to destroy rule of law and constitutional supremacy in Zimbabwe. The minister of local government and all electoral stakeholders must resist the temptation to exempt the conduct of Chief Charumbira from necessary scrutiny on his conduct.”
The ERC said it sent its request to Moyo on November 3, and now awaits a response.
