Monday, 13 January 2025

BLOW FOR TSHABANGU AS CCC MPs BOYCOTT PRECABE


Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) self-imposed interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu yesterday suffered a major blow after most of the party’s lawmakers snubbed his call to tour President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s farm.

The call for a tour of Mnangagwa’s Precabe Farm comes a time when the battle to control the opposition party has escalated among the three faction leaders Jameson Timba, Welshman Ncube and Tshabangu.

Tshabangu had rallied the Members of Parliament to attend the event, which he said was an ideal platform to initiate dialogue with Mnangagwa.

But the majority of the MPs ignored his callas less than 20 lawmakers attended.

The opposition party has 88 MPs and 27 senators in Parliament.

The CCC faction led by Timba whipped its 50 MPs and 11 Senators  not to attend the tour.

The CCC led by Welshman said it “discouraged" its MPs from attending the event.

The CCC MPs that participated in the tour are mainly those who were appointed by Tshabangu after he recalled dozens of legislators in September 2023.

Tshabangu yesterday described the attendance as “good”.

“This is the most significant event in the current context of solution-finding, nation-building and consensus,” he said.

“Zimbabwe is our country. We will find a way of solving our admittedly self-evident national challenges. There is an answer, we will find a way. All we need is to be brave."

Some of the Parliamentary representatives who attended include Matabeleland MPs Charles Moyo, Kucaca Phulu and Thokozani Khupe, among others.

Ncube-led CCC faction chief whip Edwin Mushoriwa said the party's legislators did not attend.

“They could not have attended because there was no formal communication from Parliament,” Mushoriwa said.

“I am not aware of any of our MPs who were there because it was not a formal Parliament business.”

The meeting at Precabe Farm has been perceived by many as a strategic move to advance the 2030 agenda, which aims to extend President Mnangagwa's term of office.

The move has sparked fears among some, who view it as an attempt to undermine the country's constitutional term limits.

The development has exposed deep-seated divisions within the CCC, with some describing Tshabangu a Zanu PF proxy.

Those that took part in Mnangagwa’s farm tour have in the past endorsed plans to extend his tenure beyond the constitutionally mandated two terms which end in 2028. Newsday

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