Mudenda recommended for Speaker

Harare Bureau
Zanu-PF has recommended that the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission chairperson Cde Jacob Mudenda be elected Speaker of Parliament when the Eighth Parliament opens business.When elected, Cde Mudenda would be taking over from outgoing Speaker Mr Lovemore Moyo who is also the MDC-T national chairman.
Mr Moyo lost the Matobo North National Assembly constituency to Cde Never Khanye of Zanu-PF.

Speaking to journalists after the party’s Politburo meeting in Harare yesterday, Zanu-PF secretary for information and publicity Cde Rugare Gumbo said the party also recommended the retention of Cdes Edna Madzongwe as Senate president and Joram Gumbo as the party’s chief whip respectively.

“The Politburo will be recommending obviously the appointment of Speaker in the name of (Cde) Jacob Mudenda and the Senate will have (Cde) Edna Madzongwe as its president.

“We will retain (Cde) Joram Gumbo as chief whip of the National Assembly and Mrs Tambudzani Mohadi as chief whip of the Senate. Generally that is the case.

“These are just floating thoughts which have been put out by the Politburo. There is need to therefore confirm with them.”
The proposed names by Zanu-PF are aptly tipped to land the posts.

This is largely because Zanu-PF now has the controlling stake in Parliament after clinching 197 seats in the recent harmonised elections.
Zanu-PF lost its control of the august House in 2008 when the party lost majority seats in the House of Assembly to the MDC formations.

The revolutionary party garnered 99 seats in 2008 against 110 constituencies for the combined MDC formations.
Cde Mudenda is a seasoned lawyer who once served as a Zanu-PF Politburo member and provincial chairperson for Matabeleland North province.

Last year he was appointed chairperson for the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission at the same time that Justice Rita Makarau who was appointed chairperson for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

Cde Mudenda took over as Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission chairperson from Professor Reg Austin who resigned from the post.