replace him with his former deputy Mujuru. Bhasikiti took an unprecedented step and approached
the High Court challenging his expulsion from Zanu PF arguing that the Politburo did not have the
power to expel him and had also not accorded him his right to defence. On the 25th of June he
successfully applied for the Constitutional Court to bar President Robert Mugabe from declaring
Mwenezi East constituency vacant pending the finalization of his High Court case. Information and
Media Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo was on the 23rd of June 2015 axed from his position as
cabinet minister. There was speculation on the reasons behind this ouster with some analysts
arguing that this was a technicality arising from his assumption of a legislative role while other
schools of thought argued that this was part of the factional fights within Zanu PF. In a tragic turn of
events in the Zanu PF factional purges, on 9 June 2015 the former Zanu PF Harare Provincial
Chairperson Ambassador Amos Midzi is alleged to have committed suicide. Midzi was a strong ally of
the ousted Vice President Mujuru and a week before his death he had been suspended from Zanu PF
for five years on allegations of fanning factionalism in the capital. The purges in Zanu PF heighten
political tensions and have the effect of fanning violence across the party structures as indicated in
numerous cases in this report.
The Zimbabwean opposition movement has been disintegrating as power struggles and factionalism
intensified. On 3 June 2015, Elton Mangoma one of the key architects of the breakaway Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) Renewal party formed yet another opposition outfit named the
Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe. The Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe was formed by activists
who were disgruntled with what was termed institutional stagnation within the MDC Renewal party.
The disintegration of the opposition is largely not driven by ideology but by political careerism and
petty personality squabbles. The splits in the opposition weaken the parties and erode the
confidence of the electorate in them since the splinter parties are not widely accepted or taken
seriously. The fragmentation also dilutes the opposition’s ability to voice demands on national
issues. Violence has been pervasive in the factional fight, the number of perpetrators from the MDCT more than doubled from 15 in May 2015 to 39 in June 2015.
In June the Auditor General Mildred Chari presented a report in parliament which highlighted gross
mismanagement and incompetence across various government departments which led to the loss of
over US 180 million in public funds. The audit revealed among other issues that the Grain Marketing
Board (GMB) was failing to ensure food security. GMB has been failing to maintain a strategic grain
reserve at the stipulated minimum of 500 000 metric tonnes. The Auditor General also observed the
poor management of the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM). BEAM has been delaying
paying school fees for vulnerable children and inadequate monitoring has resulted in undeserving
children accessing the funds. ZPP has previously reported on discrimination in the distribution of
both food aid and BEAM support and it is anticipated that the findings of the Auditor General will be
considered in making policy changes.
On 19 June 2015 the Prosecutor General Johannes Tomana was reported to have made shocking
remarks which most saw as effectively endorsing child marriages and child consent to sexual
relations. Although PG Tomana later reported he had been misquoted the report which put the age
of consent for sex at 12 years surprised many activists fighting child marriages as well child sexual
abuse. Coming just three days after the Day of the African Child, Tomana’s remarks were received
with shock across the country. Women from all walks of life took to the streets to demonstrate their
displeasure.
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