Former Victoria Falls mayor Somvelo Dlamini has joined ZANU PF, along with over 500 members of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) from Binga and Hwange.
According to VicFallsLive, ZANU PF National Political Commissar Munyaradzi Machacha welcomed the defectors, which include former legislator Patrick Nene Sibanda, former Binga Rural District chairman Munkombwe Dube, and incumbent Mbizha Ward councillor Namo Chuma, who won the 2023 elections as an independent candidate.
The group also features several other former opposition councillors, though their exact number has not been disclosed.
Dlamini, who received a 36-month prison sentence for fraud last year, expressed his commitment to recruiting more members for the party. He said:
I am not coming here for positions but to build our country and defend the gains of the liberation struggle. My coming here is not a threat to anyone.
ZANU PF’s Kumusha/Home/Ekhaya programme, spearheaded by former Kwekwe MP Blessing Chebundo (MDC), is designed to welcome returning members from the opposition. New members were officially welcomed in Milonga on Saturday and Sonkaba on Sunday.
Somvelo Dlamini, who ran as an independent candidate for the Hwange West parliamentary seat last year, was defeated by Vusumuzi Moyo of the CCC.
This was after his defection as one of the strong supporters of Douglas Mwonzora’s faction after a fallout with Nelson Chamisa in the then-MDC Alliance.
More: Pindula News