Zimbabwe: Oppoition MPs Lose Seats Because of Forged Letter
Harare — Fifteen Citizens Coalition for Change MPs filed a court appeal, saying they were duped into losing their parliamentary seats, BBC reports.
The party suffered losses when a guy posing as its secretary said that the MPs were no longer members. The 15 seats were declared vacant by Zimbabwe’s parliamentary speaker upon receipt of the forged letter.
The letter was written by “Sengezo Tshabangu,” who claimed to be the secretary general of Zimbabwe’s biggest opposition party. The CCC leader Nelson Chamisa requested that the letter be ignored, saying that the party had no secretary general and had neither removed or recalled any MPs. Despite this, Jacob Mudenda, a Zanu-PF MP, declared the 15 seats vacant, defying the opposition leader’s request.
Promise Mkhwananzi, the spokesperson for the CCC, said that Tshabangu and those assisting him behind the scenes were Zanu-PF operatives.
“The regime in Zimbabwe is so disdainful of the will & wishes of the people of Zimbabwe. Barely a month into it’s controversial term of illetitimacy, the regime has decided to further aggravate it’s illegitimacy by unawlfully recalling CCC elected officials using a bogus letter written and deployed by Tshabangu, a stooge to many faces that are yet to come to the open,” Mkhwananzi said in a statement.
“We will defend our right to vote, our freedom to choose, our constituency and our democracy with everything that we have got. It cannot and will not be business as usual. There comes a time where one has to draw a line in the sand, stand up & defend their dignity. Such a time has come. The people of Zimbabwe must and will take a stand. Otherwise there would be no point in voting only for the regime to willfully and woefully remove elected officials,” his statement read.
On Tuesday, October 10, a judicial appeal was filed by the affected CCC MPs. Political tensions in Zimbabwe have been high ever since the contentious presidential elections in August, and the lawsuit is sure to make them worse. Chamisa, 45, lost to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 81, in a contest that international observers said did not meet democratic norms. After more than 40 years in power, Zanu-PF managed to gain a majority in parliament, but lacked the necessary number of lawmakers to amend the constitution.
By-elections to follow might provide Zanu-PF, the ruling party, the majority it needs to change the constitution. The CCC said that more than a dozen members of its party, including MPs and council members, had been detained on false suspicions since the election.
By Allafrica
