Charumbira booted out of Chiefs Council Presidency

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Chief Fortune Charumbira who faces sexual assault allegations by his niece has been removed as president of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) with elections for his replacement slated for October.

Charumbira, who has a seat in Zimbabwe’s Senate courtesy of a quota reserved for traditional leaders, became PAP president in June last year.

The dissolution of Zimbabwe’s parliament on August 23 to pave way for elections effectively meant Charumbira was also no longer a PAP MP where one’s term runs concurrently with parliamentary term in their home country.

A meeting of the PAP in Johannesburg on Friday, chaired by acting president Ashebir Gayo resolved that a vote would take place between October 16 and 18 to elect a new president, first vice president and fourth vice president – all positions which are vacant.

The vote will take place during a sitting of the PAP’s Third Ordinary Session of the Sixth Parliament, said Miles Sampa, the chairman of the Committee on Audit and Public Accounts in a letter to the Clerk of Parliament Lindiwe Khumalo.

Chief Charumbira’s married 27-year-old niece filed a police report in April this year accusing him of raping her, but he has not been arrested amid claims that he is being shielded by President Emmerson Mnangagwa who needed him to rally his community behind his re-election campaign.