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
Boss Para leading the song " 2030 Ndeya Emmerson ".
— Fans of Boss Para (@fansofbosspara) January 13, 2025
There is a consesus from both ruling party and opposition members that President @edmnangagwa should stay in office beyond 2030 pic.twitter.com/EkxkzkNhup
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