MDC-T national secretary for mobilisation Job Sikhala, who was last week admitted to the bar as a lawyer, has vowed to use his newly-acquired legal skills to fight the Zanu PF government’s poor human rights record.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
Sikhala told NewsDay yesterday that although he will continue with his political path, he will practice his law under People’s Democratic Party leader Tendai Biti’s law firm.
“I have a commitment to fight for justice and human rights. I believe lack of legal services and access to the majority of Zimbabweans has been the major factor with thousands of our people suffering gross human rights abuses. I want to leave a mark in defending human rights,” he said.
Sikhala rose to fame at the formation of MDC in 1999 and served as the party’s first St Mary’s legislator before breaking away to form his own party MDC99.
He later rejoined the MDC-T and was elected mobilisation secretary.
Asked if he would seek to stand for any constituency next year, Sikhala said: “Political offices are wrongly self-bestowed. That’s why many people encounter frustrations and disappointment. I will never ever push myself for a leadership position. It must be people-driven. All projects that became doomed are self-fulfilling projects. I am not interested in that. I am interested in what the people want and aspire.
“Many people impose themselves on the people and fail to read the environment. Holding a public office is holding the people’s aspirations in trust. Let the people speak.”
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Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Human Rights Association chairperson Passmore Nyakureba has called on the international community to intervene and stop the ongoing eviction of villagers by First Lady Grace Mugabe, who is in the process of taking over Manzou Farm in Mazowe for the expansion of her business empire.
“We genuinely entertain the view that the President, who is an idol to most post-independence African leaders and the last man standing of the anti-imperial generation, will be obviously forced to take action and rein in on his wife in order to avoid international embarrassment,” Nyakureba said.
“That his wife is brought before a whole international court/commission for treating fellow citizens inhumanely will be an indictment on his African champion status and legacy.”
