HARARE - A defiant Temba Mliswa, the expelled former Zanu PF provincial chairperson for Mashonaland West, went on with his normal duties as a ruling party legislator yesterday, saying he had still to be officially notified about his reported expulsion.
Mliswa told the Daily News yesterday that he was “completely in the dark” about the allegations that had been levelled against him, and why he had not been summoned to attend any party hearing — having only learnt “through the media” that he had been expelled.
In that light, the firebrand politician said, he would carry on his work and remain a loyal cadre of the ruling party, as “politics runs in my blood”.
Speaking to the Daily News soon after chairing the parliamentary portfolio committee on Sports and Education yesterday, Mliswa said he was not moved by all the reports about him, including those that said he had been expelled from the ruling party.
“I don’t know the reasons why it is said that I was expelled from Zanu PF as I have only read about it in the Press. There was no disciplinary hearing against me or any charge laid against me.
“People can also kick Temba out of politics but they cannot take away politics from me. I want to thank my party for giving me the opportunity to work for it and I will remain serving it,” Mliswa added.
Asked further why he was still attending Parliament given that his party had expelled him, he said as he was yet to receive an official notification from Zanu PF, he could not stop working for his constituency.
“There are formal procedures to be followed, and the Speaker of the National Assembly is yet to receive the letter stating that I am fired from the party and that I am no longer an MP, just as I have also not received any expulsion letter,” Mliswa said. He added that his portfolio committee members had asked him to continue chairing the committee as he was still the legitimate chairperson.
Pressed further about what the future had in store for him, Mliswa said he would take a back seat and rest at his farm in Hurungwe West, if his expulsion was confirmed, but would continue to support Zanu PF. “I am not going to stand as an independent candidate in the event of a by-election in my constituency. The people in the constituency will decide, but I am going to remain with them and work with them.
“I am not the first politician to be expelled as it has happened to many others, but one can always come back in the future,” Mliswa said.
Announcing Mliswa’s expulsion on Wednesday, following a politburo meeting that was held in Harare, Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said the former Mashonaland West chairperson was fired for disrespecting the party’s national leadership and interrupting meetings in his province.
“On Cde Temba Mliswa, the former chairman of Mashonaland West, he has also been expelled from the party on an array of charges ranging from insubordination, denigrating national party leaders, interfering with the running of the Youth and Women League in Mashonaland West, extortionist behaviour and continuing to interrupt party meetings in that province. “His expulsion from the party (also) renders his seat in Parliament vacant,” Moyo said. Confusion continued to abound yesterday as to when Zanu PF’s disciplinary committee had met to reach its decisions on Mutasa and Mliswa, amid conflicting reports from lickspittle State media — raising much speculation and serious doubts about how the much-debated decision was arrived at.
Daily News
Mliswa told the Daily News yesterday that he was “completely in the dark” about the allegations that had been levelled against him, and why he had not been summoned to attend any party hearing — having only learnt “through the media” that he had been expelled.
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| It's business as usual for 'expelled and defiant' Temba Mliswa |
In that light, the firebrand politician said, he would carry on his work and remain a loyal cadre of the ruling party, as “politics runs in my blood”.
Speaking to the Daily News soon after chairing the parliamentary portfolio committee on Sports and Education yesterday, Mliswa said he was not moved by all the reports about him, including those that said he had been expelled from the ruling party.
“I don’t know the reasons why it is said that I was expelled from Zanu PF as I have only read about it in the Press. There was no disciplinary hearing against me or any charge laid against me.
“People can also kick Temba out of politics but they cannot take away politics from me. I want to thank my party for giving me the opportunity to work for it and I will remain serving it,” Mliswa added.
Asked further why he was still attending Parliament given that his party had expelled him, he said as he was yet to receive an official notification from Zanu PF, he could not stop working for his constituency.
“There are formal procedures to be followed, and the Speaker of the National Assembly is yet to receive the letter stating that I am fired from the party and that I am no longer an MP, just as I have also not received any expulsion letter,” Mliswa said. He added that his portfolio committee members had asked him to continue chairing the committee as he was still the legitimate chairperson.
Pressed further about what the future had in store for him, Mliswa said he would take a back seat and rest at his farm in Hurungwe West, if his expulsion was confirmed, but would continue to support Zanu PF. “I am not going to stand as an independent candidate in the event of a by-election in my constituency. The people in the constituency will decide, but I am going to remain with them and work with them.
“I am not the first politician to be expelled as it has happened to many others, but one can always come back in the future,” Mliswa said.
Announcing Mliswa’s expulsion on Wednesday, following a politburo meeting that was held in Harare, Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said the former Mashonaland West chairperson was fired for disrespecting the party’s national leadership and interrupting meetings in his province.
“On Cde Temba Mliswa, the former chairman of Mashonaland West, he has also been expelled from the party on an array of charges ranging from insubordination, denigrating national party leaders, interfering with the running of the Youth and Women League in Mashonaland West, extortionist behaviour and continuing to interrupt party meetings in that province. “His expulsion from the party (also) renders his seat in Parliament vacant,” Moyo said. Confusion continued to abound yesterday as to when Zanu PF’s disciplinary committee had met to reach its decisions on Mutasa and Mliswa, amid conflicting reports from lickspittle State media — raising much speculation and serious doubts about how the much-debated decision was arrived at.
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