Chimutengwende bounces back

Politics
FORMER State for Interactive Affairs minister Chen Chimutengwende is today set to bounce back into the political limelight, following his nomination to contest for the post of Senate deputy president.

FORMER State for Interactive Affairs minister Chen Chimutengwende is today set to bounce back into the political limelight, following his nomination to contest for the post of Senate deputy president.

SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER

Chimutengwende was nominated yesterday following a Zanu PF caucus meeting ahead of today’s election of Parliament’s presiding officers.

Zanu PF — with a two-thirds majority in Parliament — is likely to land all the contested posts, which include that of Senate president and speaker and deputy of the House of Assembly.

Chimutengwende, who went into political oblivion after the 2008 elections, is likely to deputise Senate president Edna Madzongwe now seeking her third consecutive term at the helm of the Upper House.

Zanu PF legislators yesterday also nominated Mabel Chinomona for the post of deputy speaker of the House of Assembly after the politburo met last week and recommended Jacob Mudenda for the speaker’s post.

Zanu PF parliamentary chief whip Joram Gumbo is likely to retain his post in the Lower House where he could be deputised by the party’s central committee member Mandi Chimene, while Tambudzani Mohadi is likely to retain her position as the party’s Senate chief whip.

The elections, which will follow the swearing-in ceremony, will be by secret ballot, with the Clerk of Parliament, Austin Zvoma, presiding under the supervision of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.