23rd January 2024
Wezhira Munya
[Please refer to the attached video; Hon. Chibaya and Hon. Gift Ostallos Siziba leading the march]
On Sunday, 20th January 2024, thousands of members from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) in Mkoba North took to the streets to protest the removal of their parliamentary candidate, Honorable Amos Chibaya, from the by-election ballot papers.
The march was led by Honorable Amos Chibaya, the CCC’s National Organizer, and Honorable Gift Ostallos Siziba, the Deputy Party Spokesperson.
During the march, Hon. Chibaya stated, “Today, on the 20th of January 2024, citizens marched peacefully through the streets of Mkoba North to express their dissatisfaction with the removal of CCC parliamentary and council candidates across Zimbabwe.”
Apart from Hon. Chibaya, several other CCC parliamentary and council candidates were removed from the by-election scheduled for the 3rd of February 2024. These removals were initiated by a fake CCC interim Secretary General, Sengezo Tshabangu, who is believed to have ties to the Zanu PF party.
Today, Dr. Pedzisai Ruhanya commented on his X space, stating, “Tshabangu and his handlers are donating hard-won [parliamentary and council] seats to Zanu PF in urban areas and are claiming to have a democratic cause while actually feeding into Zanu PF’s political calculus to attain a two-thirds majority in parliament that they failed to amass in the rigged August 2023 polls.”
One of the residents of Mkoba North, Mr. Jacob Muranda, who participated in the march, stated, “I joined this march because I believe that the courts and Tshabangu have violated my constitutional right to vote for the candidate of my choice by removing our Mkoba North parliamentary candidate, Mr. Amos Chibaya.”
Tshabangu had approached the courts to prevent the recalled CCC candidates from using CCC party symbols.
Interestingly, despite Tshabangu’s efforts, he has failed to field candidates in many constituencies and wards from where he recalled CCC candidates who had won in the harmonized elections held on the 23rd of August 2023.
The failure of Tshabangu to field candidates in the by-election on the 3rd of February 2024 means that Zanu PF will win these wards and constituencies uncontested.
This situation further strengthens the belief that Tshabangu is acting as a proxy for Zanu PF, using recalls to support Zanu PF’s objective of gaining a two-thirds majority in parliament.
According to former CCC Binga member of parliament Prince Dubeko Sibanda, writing on his X space today, “In exchange for selling CCC seats to Zanu PF, Tshabangu has been put on a $10,000 US salary and perks, including a recently imported white Fortuner. This is the price that has been put on our democracy.”
During the previous harmonized elections on the 23rd of August 2023, President Nelson Chamisa’s CCC had secured over 100 parliamentary seats and numerous council seats, effectively countering Zanu PF’s dominance.
