Zanu-PF official name-drops Mnangagwa, G40

VICE-PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa and the G40 faction have been dragged into a case in which Zanu-PF Bulawayo youth chairperson Magura Charumbira is charged with impersonation.

Charumbira is alleged to have visited Save The Nation Building and masqueraded as a police officer to a private tutor, Maxwell Kandiero, before ordering him and all the occupants to vacate the premises.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate, Batanai Tuwe on Wednesday.

Charumbira claimed the complainants were sent by the G40 faction to tarnish his image.

He said G40 members in Bulawayo always accuse him of belonging to the Mnangagwa faction.

"The truth is I never misrepresented as a police officer. They were sent by Antipas Banda and his team, who call themselves G40," Charumbira told the court.

"They want to undermine my image because I want to be over all as chairman (sic)."

He alleged his rivals in the ruling party wanted him to relinquish his chairmanship, but he had refused to do so, resulting in them cooking up allegations against him.

Charumbira said G40 members hated him because of his popularity in Bulawayo and the help he offers to many people in the city.

"They say I am affiliated to Mnangagwa and that is not possible. They wish to have me fail, as I want to run as a member of the National Assembly," he said.

But Kandiero insisted Charumbira visited his workplace and claimed to be a police officer before ordering him and his students to vacate the building.

The matter was remanded to November 18 for continuation and Charumbira is out of custody.

The court heard that Kandiero of Pumula North, a private tutor, was teaching his students at Save The Nation Building on September 16 this year when Charumbira and Andrew Munyoro visited.

They allegedly identified themselves as police officers from Bulawayo Central, saying they had come to evict the occupants from the property.

Kandiero asked them to produce their identity particulars, but they refused before he allegedly turned violent.

Charumbira allegedly ordered all the students out of the building and demanded the keys from the complainant.

The students complied with the order and Kandiero called Efeso Mumera, who rushed to the property and discovered that the alleged police officers were known Zanu-PF members.

Mumera enquired, since when had they became police officers, but they allegedly became violent. Kandiero reported the matter to the police, leading to their arrest.