ZANU PF says it will not hesitate to use a heavy handed approach when the courts find its Central Committee member Luckmore Gapa guilty of stealing human rights lawyer Doug Coltart.
Gapa was embarrassingly caught on camera grabbing and fleeing with Coltart's mobile phone at a chaotic Parliamentary public hearing on the Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 3 at the City Sports Centre last week.
Coltart has since filed a case against Gapa, who is a member of the Zanu PF's influential body.
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Writing on X, ZANU PF's Treasurer, Patrick Chinamasa, said the allegations against Gapa bring ZANU PF into disrepute.
"I cannot conclude this piece without commenting on the allegation made against Zanupf Central Committee member, Cde Luckmore Tinashe Gapa, that he snatched lawyer Doug Coltart's cellphone, and that this was caught on camera.
"This allegation is serious and highly defamatory against Cde Gapa, and causes reputational damage to the public image of Zanupf as an ideologically sound revolutionary party," said Chinamasa.
The moment a man snatched human rights lawyer Douglas Coltart's phone during a Constitution Amendment Bill No.3 public hearing in Harare.https://t.co/4EHrosKaUf https://t.co/W1DyhYkYjs pic.twitter.com/hCOAWdFDND-- NewZimbabwe.com (@NewZimbabweCom) March 31, 2026
He added that if Gapa is found guilty of the allegations levelled against him, he will be stripped of his position in the Central Committee.
"If the Doug Coltart allegations are proven true in a court of law, this will constitute damning evidence against the Zanupf Central Committee member involved, Cde Luckmore Tinashe Gapa, and, as a consequence, he would not escape disciplinary charges against him by Zanupf.
"Cde Gapa, if convicted, stands to be hauled before the Zanupf National Disciplinary Committee, chaired by our National Chairman, Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, to answer to the charges. If convicted, Cde Luckmore Tinashe Gapa will not have a place of honour in the Zanupf Central Committee," he said.
The Parliamentary proceedings turned ugly when suspected ZANU PF members refused to allow opposition leaders to air their views on the bill.
The bill, among other clauses, seeks to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Parliament's tenure to 2030.
Chinamasa has blamed the opposition leaders for the disruptions of the hearings in Harare.
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"The City Sports Centre Public Hearing was marred by agents provocateurs and the naivety of some Zanupf supporters, who failed to read that the end game of the agents provocateurs was to disrupt the proceedings without showing their hand, and to attract international attention and condemnation to the consultation process," he said.
