ZANU PF has certified the former Public Service Minister Prisca Mupfumira fit to run for a seat in parliament even though she once evaded trial over alleged US$95 million pension fund embezzlement citing insanity.
Mupfumira, who is the current Makonde senator won a ZANU PF ticket to defend her seat in elections set to be held later this year.
According to ZimLive, in allowing Mupfumira to contest in the primaries, ZANU PF violated its own pledge not to allow party officials facing criminal charges to contest elections on party tickets.
Last month ZANU PF spokesperson Chris Mutsvangwa told journalists that the party approved all CVs from those who were aspiring to contest in the internal polls except where a candidate faced criminal or violence charges.
Mutsvangwa said “there is zero tolerance against tolerance and violence” in the party.
In a post on Twitter, prominent journalist and government critic Hopewell Chin’ono, said by allowing Mupfumira to contest as an MP, ZANU PF has proved that it is a “criminal enterprise”. He wrote:
What more do you need to see to know that criminality is the main ingredient to rise in ZANUPF!
Prisca Mupfumira presided over the looting of over US$100 million leaving pensioners destitute.
Mupfumira was the first cabinet minister to be sacked by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who assumed office in 2017 following the military coup that ousted the late former president Robert Mugabe.
Her sacking came after the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) had arrested and charged her for diverting NSSA funds to finance her political campaigns and fund a relative’s lavish wedding.
Mupfumira was also expelled from the Politburo.
However, she made a surprise comeback into the ZANU PF Central Committee via the December 2022 elections.
During her criminal abuse of office trial for alleged embezzlement of funds, Mupfumira claimed she could not stand trial anymore as she was suffering from mental illness.
More: Pindula News