13 Opposition Citizens Coalition for Change Parliamentarians Lose Seats in ‘Sh0cking’ Recalls

Zimbabwe’s Speaker of the House of Assembly, Jacob Mudenda, has written letters to 13 opposition Members of Parliament informing them that they ceased to be lawmakers after being recalled by the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) in what is seen as a repeat of what befell the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance in the previous august house.

Confirming the recalls, CCC spokesperson Promise Mkhwananzi described the recalls as unacceptable and disturbing as they demonstrate a sense of disdain for the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe.

He said, “It’s an attempt to subvert and undermine the will of the people, to disrespect the right to vote, to disregard the right of choice of the people of Zimbabwe. It has become meaningless to vote in Zimbabwe because when you vote, your vote is undermined. We voted for president Nelson Chamisa and that vote was stolen. Barely a month after that while we are still enmeshed in the struggle to ensure that that victory is restored Zanu PF has moved a gear up to steal once again the votes that were cast by CCC.”

He dismissed as hogwash suggestions that the recalls being done by Sengezo Tshabangu, who is claiming to be the CCC interim secretary general, have been due to lack of party structures and prudent leadership.

“This is not new even when they were still structures in the MDC-T, this thing happened and continues to happen. It has nothing to do with structures. It has everything to do with a group of people who are disdainful of the laws of our country, who are disdainful of the institutions of our country, who are disdainful of the will and the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe.”

He said CCC may, among many things, take the matter to court. An urgent chamber application made by the 13 CCC lawmakers was filed Monday at the High Court in Bulawayo. The respondents are Mudenda and Tshabangu and the applicants include Binga North lawmaker Prince Dubeko Sibanda, Pashor Sibanda (Cowdray Park), Eric Gono (Lobengula-Magwegwe) and others.

In response to the latest developments, Tshabangu said, “We are bringing order to our party to make sure that our internal democracy is strong and to make sure that everyone follows our rules and regulations. We are happy about this.”

Mudenda has also written letters to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) informing them about the recalls. Mudenda could neither deny nor confirm about the recalls as he told Cooking365 that “CCC should be in a position to say something about that.” He declined to comment further. He is expected to announce the recalls in parliament tomorrow.

According to an online publication, Zim Live, CCC interim leader Nelson Chamisa wrote to Mudenda on the 6^th of October saying Mudenda should not be misled by those people attempting to recall his MPs. He was quoted by the publication as saying, “’As at present, none of the Members of Parliament who were elected under the CCC have been expelled from the party I lead.”

The MDC-T led by Douglas Mwonzora in the last parliamentary session recalled Members of Parliament, who aligned themselves with Chamisa, who briefly led MDC Alliance, until the Supreme Court ruled that the party should hold an extraordinary congress to replace the late Morgan Tsvangirai.