Citizens Coaliton for Change self-imposed Secretary General, Sengezo Tshabangu, has lambasted party leadership for failing imprisoned member Job Sikhala.
Sikhala has spent over a year in detention since his arrest related to political violence charges in Nyatsime last year.
In an interview with a local radio station, Tshabangu vowed to negotiate Sikhala’s release himself. He argues Sikhala’s case requires a political solution rather than legal avenues, which have so far been unsuccessful. Tshabangu plans to send a delegation to meet with Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and even ZANU-PF Secretary Obert Mpofu to discuss the matter.
“I am negotiating with the State for Sikhala’s release. I will be sending a delegation to meet the State authorities that Job is not supposed to be where he is because he was thrown under the bus by our movement and this is sad that our movement can go and visit Sikhala and cry and yawn for his release yet they know behind their back.
“I am saying this because I am inside CCC. I will be meeting Ziyambi Ziyambi, the minister of justice. I will also be meeting in the near future Obert Mpofu, the Secretary General of Zanu PF. These are the people that I have sent emissaries to meet with. It is underway,” said Tshabangu.
Tshabangu’s outspoken criticism of CCC leadership points to ongoing internal divisions within the young party. While Nelson Chamisa has also claimed to write letters to regional blocs like SADC and the AU regarding Sikhala, his efforts have borne no results according to Tshabangu.
By taking negotiations into his own hands, Tshabangu threatens to further undermine Chamisa’s authority. It remains to be seen if Tshabangu’s approach will succeed where legal routes have failed for Sikhala.
But his intervention ensures the turmoil within Zimbabwe’s opposition continues amid a politically charged atmosphere over the high-profile case. Sikhala’s long detention has become a rallying point both for the government’s critics and factions within the fragmented CCC.
