Dzikamai Mavhaire Rejoins ZANU PF
Former Energy and Power Development Minister Dzikamai Mavhaire, his son Lawrence, and former MDC-T MP for Gutu Central Oliver Chirume have officially rejoined ZANU PF.
They were welcomed back to the ruling party by President Emmerson Mnangagwa during an event at State House in Harare on Wednesday, September 18.
Mavhaire said that he was drawn back to ZANU PF by the country’s promising growth trajectory under the Second Republic. He said:
I just decided as a thinking being, the development being led by President Mnangagwa is very good.
Also speaking to the media after a closed-door meeting with Mnangagwa at State House, Chirume expressed admiration for the ruling party. Said Chirume:
I was convinced by Lovemore Matuke [ZANU PF security secretary] to join ZANU PF so that we all work for the development of the country.
I once contested against my brother, Cde Lovemore Matuke, but I saw it fit to join the party that is doing well in developing Zimbabwe.
Over the years, numerous former opposition members and officials have defected to ZANU PF amid a leadership crisis within the opposition ranks.
Currently, the only opposition party represented in Parliament, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), has fractured into several factions vying for control.
The party’s founding leader, Nelson Chamisa, resigned in January 2024 after state institutions effectively transferred control to a relatively unknown activist, Sengezo Tshabangu.
Tshabangu went on to recall several CCC MPs and this significantly diminished the party’s representation in Parliament, effectively enabling ZANU PF to secure a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, Mavhaire became popular in 1997 after openly calling for the resignation of President Robert Mugabe in parliament.
This led to his expulsion from ZANU PF. Following his fallout with the party, Mavhaire allegedly became a vendor in Masvingo where he was said to be selling oranges.
At that time he was said to be driving a ramshackle vehicle from which he sold fruits and vegetables.
Mavhaire was later readmitted to the party and in 2012, he clashed with his ZANU PF colleague Paul Mangwana over the implementation of the Indigenisation law.
He said that the law, under which all foreign-owned companies are forced to cede 51 per cent of their shares to locals, should not apply to Bikita Minerals as he is already a shareholder there.
This prompted Mugabe and the then Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere to postpone the community share ownership scheme.
After having been fingered in the plot to oust President Robert Mugabe he went on to lose his post in the central committee and the Politburo.
Mavhaire was expelled from the party on 21 May 2015. This followed his initial dismissal from cabinet as the minister of energy. He was expelled together with other 6 senior members.
More: Pindula News
