ZANU PF has warned independent presidential candidate Saviour Kasukuwere that the country’s intelligence services, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), are keen on questioning him about “many” things.
Addressing journalists in Harare on Wednesday, ZANU PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa said Kasukuwere is out of the presidential race. NewsDay quoted Mutsvangwa as saying:
We are in the midst of our campaign and Kasukuwere is a non-existent candidate. I repeat he is a non-existent candidate.
There are many things he knows he has done and is a thug and the Zimbabwe intelligence services have many things to question him about.
There is no voting booth at the SABC. He appeared on the SABC to impress his funders. You see your image in the mirror of SABC, but you are not present in the country where our President Emmerson Mnangagwa is stamping the ground in Zimbabwe.
Kasukuwere has been in exile in South Africa since November 2017 when the military deposed the late former President Robert Mugabe in a popular coup.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi recently said Kasukuwere had two pending warrants of arrest for absconding court and failing to surrender his passport to the clerk of court.
But Kasukuwere’s chief election agent, lawyer Jacqueline Sande, dismissed the claims saying her client had no pending cases.
Last week, self-exiled former Cabinet minister Walter Mzembi told the media in South Africa that Kasukuwere was unmoved by the threats and will return to Zimbabwe soon.
Some political commentators say ZANU PF is afraid of Kasukuwere who has reportedly been making inroads into ZANU PF strongholds, especially in Mashonaland Central Province, targeting disgruntled members.
More: Pindula News