Sengezo Tshabangu says he should not be blamed for CCC’s failure to field candidates in five council wards ahead of the 03 February 2024 by-elections.
Tshabangu obtained a High Court order to nullify the nominations of the recalled CCC candidates in the five wards, allowing ZANU PF to take the seats uncontested.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) subsequently declared the five ZANU PF candidates the winners of the wards in Harare, Chiredzi, and Manyame RDC.
Critics accused Tshabangu of working with ZANU PF to decimate the main opposition representation in parliament and local authorities since he did not field candidates for the wards.
Reached for comment by ZimLive, Tshabangu, who claims to be CCC’s interim secretary general, said he was not the one who chose candidates. He said:
It is not my responsibility to field candidates. It is the responsibility of the people in that particular ward that has been affected.
As the officer who is there to implement the policies of the party, I’m guided by the principle that, if a member ceases, then he cannot stand whatsoever in that particular banner to represent the people.
This was not a Tshabangu thing. It was a collective thing. This is why you have seen this programme has been consistent.
If it means we remove everyone, we will do so. It doesn’t matter because that is the principle.We cannot change goalposts because today, there is Ostallos (Siziba) or (Amos) Chibaya.
The principle applies to anybody.
They knew that Tshabangu was going to come for them so there was no point for them to file.
Tshabangu has repeatedly dismissed claims that he was a ZANU PF stooge, saying he was “targetting criminals around the president” and removing candidates that were imposed on the electorate in the run-up to the August 2023 general elections.
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