The ongoing distribution of rice handouts by legislators in Bulawayo has re-ignited debate about the state of the country’s main opposition party — the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) — amid charges that it has been captured by the ruling Zanu PF.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa in December gave legislators rice to be distributed to vulnerable members of society that are battling food shortages.
About nine million Zimbabweans are food insecure following last year’s El Nino induced drought. The rice is part of the 1 760 metric tonnes consignment that was donated by China last year.
CCC legislators in Bulawayo started distributing the rice during the festive season and their gesture elicited mixed reactions.
Some critics say the distribution of the rice is linked to a campaign to extend Mnangagwa’s term of office beyond 2028.
The CCC legislators are accused of joining the campaign after a faction in the party said it will support the postponement of elections to allow Mnangagwa to extend his term by two years.
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Mbuso Fuzwayo, secretary general of pressure group Ibhetshu LikaZulu , said people must understand that the rice did not belong to the president as he only received the donation on behalf of Zimbabweans.
Fuzwayo said the distribution of the rice must be separated from the opposition politics, which he said had been hijacked by opportunists.
“It is a gang of opportunists who do not respect the founding values of the opposition birthed in 1999 and was for constitutionalism and democracy,” he said.
“It is up to the leadership and the voters, especially of Mpopoma to boycott anything associated with their current legislator, who has demonstrated that he now just wants to extend his association with Zanu PF.
“Every democrat must know politics and the public office is for a certain period, it expires.
The constitution is clear, the terms of Emmerson and legislators end in 2028, anything outside that is criminal and must be rejected legally and politically.”
Development practitioner Thembelani Dube said Parliament was an arm of government and it was proper for the legislators to be distributing the donations.
“In the current situation it is very difficult to point an individual who is an opposition member since the majority now appears to be hostage to the whims and caprices of political patronage and the bulk of them are easily blown by the political winds as they struggle for their political survival,” Dube said.
“It is high time the electorate votes for individuals, who have the capacity to fulfill their political wishes and expectations.
“The old culture of electing people who are from dominant political groupings is slowly, but surely becoming unfashionable.”
Dube said the majority of CCC legislators were “political orphans” who do not have a real political home since the departure of Nelson Chamisa.
“That political outfit can be equated to a perforated tent, which cannot guarantee one’s safely from a multitude of weather hazards,” Dube said.
Opposition Freedom Alliance leader Samukele Hadebe said while they all support any gesture to support the needy, including the rice given to institutions and hospitals, it was clear that the donations were being used for political mileage.
“The government has tried and tested institutions and systems to distribute food handouts but that it has to be done by politicians, including opposition CCC legislators, is obviously for partisan ends. Full stop,” Hadebe said.
“I do not think anyone in his or her right senses would talk of the opposition in Parliament anymore after the political chicanery of recalls and all sorts of accusations of colluding with the state in running factional wars within the opposition in Parliament.”
“It is just a tragedy, but not for the first time.
“The opposition and some civil society organisations supported the coup in 2017, so it has become fashionable to dabble in ruling party shenanigans.”
Bulawayo-based political analyst Effie Ncube said the opposition was in sixes and sevens to an extent that legislators were on their own.
“Some are rejecting the government gesture while others are taking it,” Ncube said.
“There is need for better coordination and planning which directs clear strategy going forward.
“The future is doomed. As it is, it is unlikely that the current opposition will reach the next election intact.”
Some CCC legislators courted controversy recently when they joined a tour of Mnangagwa’s Precabe Farm recently, which was organised by Parliament.
The tour was seen as a continuation of the campaign to extend Mnangagwa’s term, which has seen his farm become a hive of activities during weekends with Zanu PF groups visiting to offer solidarity.