Zanu-PF disowns vigilante group

Zanu-PF has disowned the vigilante group calling itself the Zimbabwe Anti-Presidential Criticism outfit and warned that "action" will be taken against its leaders for engaging in unlawful activities while purporting to act in the name of the ruling party.

The shadowy group grabbed headlines in December last year after claiming it had "arrested" a man for allegedly criticising President Emmerson Mnangagwa before dumping him at Mbare police station in Harare.

Led by Andrew Pasinawako, the group has since posted numerous videos on social media, declaring its intention to intimidate and silence critics of Mnangagwa. Its activities have drawn widespread condemnation from lawyers, civil society organisations and political observers.

In December, the group reportedly clashed with members of Zanu-PF's commissariat department after being summoned to explain its conduct. Although it later issued an apology, the outfit continued to operate.

Zanu-PF national political commissar Munyaradzi Machacha yesterday told The Standard that the group was illegal and was abusing and tarnishing the ruling party's name.

"They are not an affiliate of Zanu-PF," Machacha said in a telephone interview.

"In fact, they were instructed by the director-general of the ruling party to cease operating in the name of the party and that of the President, but they seem to be going ahead and defying those instructions."

Machacha said any organisation seeking to affiliate with Zanu-PF must go through formal approval processes.

"No affiliate is an affiliate until and unless they have received official endorsement in writing from the secretary-general, and this vigilante outfit does not have any such," he said.

"I think some action will be taken against them… definitely some action is going to be taken."

Efforts to obtain a comment from the group's leadership were unsuccessful.

Critics have accused the group of attempting to usurp policing powers from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), warning that its actions amount to vigilantism.

Legal experts have also said the group's conduct has no basis in Zimbabwe's legal framework and constitutes intimidation and harassment.

Others argue that the outfit's activities represent a direct assault on freedom of expression as enshrined in the Constitution.

Zimbabwe has in recent years witnessed the mushrooming of shadowy groups identifying themselves as affiliates of the ruling party. Observers say many of these outfits are driven by opportunism, with some allegedly benefiting from financial and material support from wealthy Zanu-PF benefactors.

Within Zanu-PF, there are growing concerns that such groupings are sowing divisions by bypassing official party structures and being deployed by senior figures as tools in the ongoing succession battles.

Recently, the party's commissariat department submitted a first batch of 70 organisations seeking formal affiliate status with the ruling party, a move seen as an attempt to bring order to the proliferation of unofficial groups.