This was revealed by MDC-N President, Welshman Ncube, during a meeting with civic society leaders held at the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition offices in Harare on Wednesday.
Ncube opposed the appointment of Mudenda last month saying he had not been consulted by President Mugabe and MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mudenda is believed to have strong ties with Zanu (PF) and analysts have expressed reservations over his credibility as the ZHRC chair.
He replaced Reginald Austin who resigned late last year citing lack of resources for the ZHRC as well as political meddling.
Responding to a question on whether Mudenda was qualified to lead the ZHRC, Ncube said: “On the specific considerations, he qualifies, but on the general qualification which requires a history of interest in human rights, he might not.
“For you to be an effective chair of the Human Rights Commission you must have a clear history, you must not have a partisan history. I don’t see how Mudenda, having risen to a high position in Zanu (PF), can satisfy that requirement.”
Ncube revealed that Austin had confided in him that he was frustrated into resignation by political meddling with ZHRC operations, even though there are no details yet how the interference occurred.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Chairperson and ZIMRIGHTS Director, Okay Machisa, castigated the appointment of Jacob Mudenda, saying his human rights record is tainted and he cannot therefore be entrusted with leading the ZHRC.
“Mudenda is a former Matabeleland North Governor where gross human rights violations took place. We have searched for his name on the net, went to his colleagues to consult, but it is very clear that his CV does not reflect any (positive) human rights record”, said Machisa.
Post published in: News