Chamisa calls Mnangagwa, Mudenda and ZEC a ‘criminal syndicate’

Opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa has labeled his rival President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) a “criminal syndicate” following their decision to facilitate the holding of by-elections as a result of controversial recalls of the party’s 14 lawmakers by Sengezo Tshabangu.

The CCC argues that Tshabangu who styled himself as the party’s interim Secretary-General before recalling the legislators and 17 councillors, is an imposter. They have since reported him to the police.

The 14 MPs have also approached the High Court seeking an order reversing Mudenda’s decision to endorse Tshabangu’s request.

While the High Court ruling is still pending, Mnangagwa went on to proclaim the Statutory Instrument 188 of 2023 setting 9 December 2023 as the date for by-elections.

Against this background, Chamisa claims that what Mnangagwa, Mudenda and ZEC did is criminal.

In an interview with Sources Media Agency, the main opposition leader further argues that the ruling Zanu-PF party and its leader Mnangagwa sponsored the recall of CCC members in order to divert attention from the need to hold fresh elections.

“The engineers of everything here is Zanu-PF. Mr Mnangagwa is the one who is sending all these ghosts. And we have said to the police, ‘please arrest these people because they are committing a crime.

“At law, it’s an impersonation. They can recall MPs but you can’t stop an idea whose time has come. If anything, they are losing. You can’t have that type of behavior from people who are winning,” Chamisa said.

“If you say it’s a weakness, why would they deploy resources to fight a weak man. The Tshabangu guy is not a CCC member. He is being imposed on the CCC to particularly achieve certain ends.

“Why is Zanu-PF doing this? They know that we defeated them in the election. They want us to take our eyes off the need for a proper election and focus on these stupid and useless by-elections that are created unlawfully, criminally and unconstitutionally.

“We will not waste our time on unconstitutional things.

“The fact that we have a Speaker who chooses to act, not just in error or on the basis of a mistake but on the basis of a crime, a ZEC that chooses to act on the basis of a crime and a president of a country who chooses to act on the basis of a crime, that makes it a criminal syndicate.

“Zimbabwe has become a crime scene when it comes to tearing apart the Constitution of the land,” Chamisa said.

As if recalling MPs was not enough. Tshabangu, this week, told ZEC that he and two others, Mbuso Siso and Jabulani Ncube are the authorised signatories for the party candidates who will take part in the upcoming by-elections.