A SENIOR official in the Parliament of Zimbabwe who was
entrusted with the custody of former president Robert Mugabe’s forced resignation
letter has been dismissed from work for gross negligence after the historic
document vanished.
Zimbabwe Independent’s sources disclosed this week
assistant clerk of parliament Johannes Gandiwa was relieved of his duties in
June after a hearing presided over by clerk of parliament Kennedy Chokuda
resolved he be dismissed for carelessness.
Sources said the matter came to light after the Office of
the President and Cabinet (OPC) requested the original copy of the letter. The
letter could not be located.
Mugabe resigned under pressure from the military on
November 21, 2017, bringing an end to his 37-year rule. The resignation letter, a culmination of a week of
sustained military pressure and street demonstrations, was read out by the
speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda as parliament was in the process
of discussing a motion for his impeachment.
In the letter, Mugabe said the decision was voluntary even
though he quit under military siege. He said he wanted to allow a smooth
transfer of power.
The news abruptly halted an impeachment process that had
begun against him and heralded the beginning of what was at the time thought to
be a new era in the governance of the country. The Mnangagwa administration
has, however, so far failed to deliver and finds itself preserving in the same
autocratic system of governance which characterised the Mugabe era, along with
a crumbling economy.
Gandiwa, who was third in the Parliament of Zimbabwe
hierarchy after Chokuda and his deputy Helen Dingane, was tasked with the
responsibility of keeping the letter safe.
“Gandiwa was fired in June after the OPC requested for the
original copy of Mugabe’s resignation letter from parliament at the end of May.
The letter could however not be located. He even confessed that he could not
find the letter despite having filed it as he normally does with other
records,” a senior parliament official said. “The fear was that if the letter
could not be found, there was a realistic risk that Mugabe or his supporters
could turn around and say he never resigned and the government would not have
anything to prove otherwise. Talk is rife here that Gandiwa’s dismissal was
ordered from the OPC. It was all very fast. I don’t think he was even subjected
to a proper hearing. It was just a brief meeting presided over by Chokuda at
the end of May and within a week, he was gone.”
Gandiwa confirmed his sacking from parliament in a
telephone interview with the Zimbabwe Independent this week, but declined to
give details over the phone.
“Yes it is true that I am no longer a Parliament of
Zimbabwe employee, I left in June. I, however, cannot give details over the
phone. I would have wanted to do so in person, but I am out of Harare at the
moment,” he said.
Chokuda also confirmed the story, but flatly refused to
discuss the matter, saying he does not have authority to discuss internal
parliament issues with the Press.
“Yes, that is true,” he said when asked to confirm
Gandiwa’s departure. “But I have an obligation to ensure that internal issues
are kept within the institution. In other words, we don’t talk to the media
about internal parliament issues.”
Sources also said Gandiwa was being accused of sympathising
with Zanu PF’s decimated G40 faction which had coalesced around former first
lady Grace Mugabe. Zimbabwe Independent
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