Former Cabinet minister Walter Mzembi has formally asked to rejoin Zanu PF, nearly nine years after his membership was cancelled during the party’s upheaval that followed Robert Mugabe’s removal from power.
Former Tourism and Foreign Affairs minister Walter Mzembi has applied to rejoin Zanu PF, reviving questions about whether the ruling party is prepared to receive back senior figures associated with the disbanded G40 faction.
Mzembi’s request was considered at an emergency meeting of the Masvingo Provincial Executive Council held at Masvingo Polytechnic, where provincial leaders debated the terms under which he could be readmitted.
In his written application, Mzembi acknowledged that his membership had been revoked by an emergency meeting of the party’s Central Committee on 19 November 2017. He said he wanted to renew his membership, contribute to the party’s programmes and support its development. He also undertook to abide by the Zanu PF constitution if readmitted.
The application divided provincial officials. Some members supported his return but argued that he should begin as an ordinary cell-level member and should not be given a leadership position. Others resisted the proposal, citing social-media posts they said had been critical of Zanu PF.
Provincial Political Commissar Brian Munyoro reportedly proposed that Mzembi be called before the Provincial Coordinating Committee to respond to the concerns raised against him. The provincial executive also resolved that selected posts from his Facebook and X accounts should be produced for examination during the proceedings.
No final decision on the application was indicated after the meeting.
Mzembi was a senior figure under Mugabe and became closely identified with G40, a faction that opposed current President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Lacoste grouping during Zanu PF’s succession struggle. The faction was dismantled after the November 2017 military-assisted transition, after which several of its leading figures were expelled, forced into exile or pursued through the courts.
Mzembi left Zimbabwe after his expulsion and spent time in South Africa and Zambia. He returned to the country in June 2025 and was arrested on outstanding allegations involving criminal abuse of office and theft of trust property.
The former minister was later acquitted in a case involving four LED television sets, reportedly valued at US$200,000, which he had donated to churches, including Emmanuel Makandiwa’s United Family International Church. The prosecution alleged that the donations were made without Treasury approval.
His latest move follows renewed attempts by former G40-linked politicians to find their way back into Zanu PF after Saviour Kasukuwere’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2023.
Mzembi’s application is likely to test the party’s approach to returning members: whether they will be allowed back as ordinary supporters, rehabilitated into positions of influence, or required to account for their conduct outside the party before readmission.
