Zimbabwe Ruling Party MPs Targeted by 'Fake Letter'

Zimbabwe's ruling party has dismissed a letter purportedly written by a Tafadzwa Manyika, who claims to be Zanu-PF's interim secretary-general, asking for the recall of 70 of its legislators from parliament because they have ceased to be members of the party.

Farai Marapira, Zanu-PF's acting director of information, told the BBC that Mr Manyika was not known in the party.

"We have a constitution, our structures are known [unlike the CCC]; we have an elected secretary-general, and we don't do interim officials," he said.

The letter mirrors an earlier one that saw 15 members of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party ejected from parliament last week and their seats declared vacant.

Sengezo Tshabangu, who had claimed to be CCC interim secretary-general, wrote that letter saying that the 15 legislators were no longer CCC members.

The CCC dismissed him as an impostor acting on behalf of the ruling party with the intention of reducing the number of opposition MPs so Zanu-PF could enjoy a two-thirds majority in parliament.Parliamentary Speaker Jacob Mudenda, a senior Zanu-PF member, went ahead with the recalls despite a letter from CCC leader Nelson Chamisa advising him that all the recalled MPs were still members of the party.

Zimbabwe's constitution provides for the recall of an MP if they cease to belong to the party under which they were elected to parliament.

However, it does not say who is authorised to do so. The recalls trigger by-elections.

This article was originally from BBC News

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