THE opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) yesterday announced plans to roll out countrywide protests beginning Monday against the recall of its Members of Parliament (MPs) and councillors.
A CCC member claiming to be the party’s interim secretary-general based in Bulawayo, Sengezo Tshabangu, recalled 15 opposition MPs and 17 councillors claiming they had ceased to be members of the opposition movement.
The CCC has claimed that Tshabangu is being sponsored by Zanu PF to force by-elections to enable the ruling party to get a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly and further tamper with the national Constitution.
Zanu PF failed to garner an outright two-thirds majority in the August 23 and 24 elections after getting 176 seats against CCC’s 103.
Yesterday, CCC interim spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi, said the party has been left with no option but to take to the streets, starting with Bulawayo, where most MPs were recalled.
“We are escalating our game. If they do not attend to the issues that we have put before them, surely we are going to take other steps,” he said.
“We have an option of going for peaceful protests and we have said that Mr (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa, the sooner you engage, the better for you. He should expect more massive protests coming and he should be prepared.”
CCC leader Nelson Chamisa last week wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Jacob Mudenda, calling for the reinstatement of his legislators.
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Chamisa also announced a partial pullout of his MPs and councillors in protest over the recalls before giving government a 14-day ultimatum to reinstate his officials.
The opposition believes that its members have been unfairly targeted and unjustly removed from their positions.
In Bulawayo, the protests are going to be held under the banner “Together We Rise”.
Addressing a Press conference in Harare yesterday, CCC deputy spokesperson Gift “Ostallos” Siziba said there was no going back on the protests.
“The issue of stolen elections is a Zimbabwean issue, so Zimbabweans across the country have the right to protest,” he said.
“Zanu PF has been doing these shenanigans to embarrass us because we did not attend the opening of Parliament.
“We have a law for Zanu PF and a law for the rest of us. We protest by disengaging from all Parliament and council business.”
The CCC has also approached the High Court challenging the recalls.
On Tuesday, High Court judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi set November 2 as the hearing date for the matter where the CCC is seeking to reverse Mudenda’s announcement of the recalls.
Mutevedzi ordered the respondents to file their opposing affidavit by close of day today while the applicants will submit their response to the opposing affidavit on Monday.
