Nothing to celebrate about Tshabangu backtrack

By Newsday | 7h ago | 3 Min read

A man who has never faced the test of a ballot is now a senator in the Upper House, obviously he has two vehicles — an off-road and a posh one — and gets Parliamentary allowances among other perks.

THE damage has already been done and the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) slayer got his 30 pieces of silver.

He even gets to traverse the globe and recently enjoyed a sojourn to Switzerland for the 149th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly.

All to supposedly represent people who never voted for him in the first place and would likely never.

We can can be forgiven for concluding that the real prize for helping Zanu PF dislodge the pesky Nelson Chamisa from the CCC leadership is now public.

Sengezo Tshabangu, the self-proclaimed CCC interim secretary-general, was all along a nobody.

He was not the secretary-general when the MDC Alliance was prised from Chamisa by Douglas Mwonzora, aided by the State security agents and the judicial system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chalton Hwende was the secretary-general.

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When Chamisa formed CCC and left Mwonzora with the MDC Alliance shell, Tshabangu belonged to the group of wood hewers, if it were in the rural areas.

Then out of the blue, he emerged to confuse the opposition, recalling elected MPs and councillors, replacing them with handpicked ones empowered by a recalcitrant Judiciary.

Some feigned to be on his side so they could survive another day in Parliament. Others simply had an axe to grind with Chamisa and took the opportunity to get rid of him.

All along, we suspected he was the joker in the ED2030 campaign, that his real use would be as a pawn in circumventing the Constitution.

While visiting President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Precabe Farm in Sherwood, Kwekwe, Tshabangu declared that if extending Mnangagwa's tenure benefits Zimbabweans, then "let it be." The remarks, according to reports, drew a standing ovation from legislators and applause from Mnangagwa and Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda.

So, a man who imposed himself on the political system without subjecting himself to the electorate will shape the future of Zimbabweans and usurp their democratic right to choose their leaders at the behest of his political masters.

Now we understand why all along he has been singing the ED2030 tune, pushing the idea of deferring the 2028 elections and extending Mnangagwa’s term to 2030.

The law is clear that even if Zanu PF manages to use its two-thirds majority muscle in Parliament and amend the Constitution to remove the presidential term limits, Mnangagwa cannot be a beneficiary of the same as he is an officeholder.

Now, Tshabangu seems to be backtracking on the ED2030 agenda.

Said Tshabangu’s spokesperson Nqobizitha Mlilo: “As we have said before, there is no party position on the postponement of national elections in 2028.

“That issue has not arisen as yet or been presented in the party or party parliamentary caucus.”

We know that and we do not care whether his concerns are genuine or not.

The man has done his job. He has killed the alternative voice, his true colours were laid bare for all to see.

A modern-day Judas Iscariot of Zimbabwean politics.

Tshabangu is the cub of the leopard beast that is Zanu PF.

No matter how much he tries to paint himself as a democrat, the truth is he is a lackey of the greedy lot that wants to retain power at all costs.

Tshabangu has done his job, he has annihilated the opposition for the benefit of Zanu PF.

He is a deodorised dog’s stool and there will be too many such stools along the path to true democracy.