Zimpapers Logo

THEY came dressed to the nines with palpable joy both at the swearing-in of councillors on Wednesday and that of Members of Parliament yesterday.

One could swear that these were not the same Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) politicians who dismissed the August 23 elections where President Mnangagwa and the ruling Zanu-PF romped to victory.

Some in their midst, out of ignorance of processes, went as far as calling for the Sadc Observer Mission chaired by the equally tainted Dr Nevers Mumba, to nullify the polls.

Unrestricted by their ignorance, they called for the African Union (AU), if their dreams, yes dreams, were met, to supervise sovereign Zimbabwe’s elections.

In a pretence to their so-called principles, they absconded the President’s inauguration at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on Monday, with the mistaken belief that they carried his stamp of legitimacy.
Fast forward two days later, all those so-called principles were forgotten. All the charges that the elections were a sham dissipated. Why?

It was their turn to be sworn in as councillors on Wednesday and Members of Parliament the next day.
And what a fashion show it was in the Bulawayo City Council chambers! Donning various colours with a touch of yellow, representing their party, all those elected to the council were there for the swearing-in ceremony.

The swag was not hastily arranged but carefully planned indicating that while they publicly trashed the August 23 polls, privately they were preparing to take up the positions they won in the “discredited” polls.

And it did not end there. Immediately after swearing in, Ward 4 councillor Mr David Coltart demanded that elections for mayor and deputy mayor be conducted to which he was corrected by Town Clerk Mr Christopher Dube who told him that they needed to attend an induction workshop.

As they publicly trashed the polls, the councillors were secretly positioning themselves for the two positions and we hear that the wars, that have come to define the opposition, have started again as councillors jostle for the posts.

Even with their leader Mr Nelson Chamisa having imposed Mr Coltart and Mr Dumisani Nkomo as the party’s preferred candidates for the mayor and deputy mayor position, the councillors have, as in the past, defied their leader and more names have been thrown into the ring.

Some incoming councillors have already reportedly been invited to secret meetings by some businesspeople with vested interests in the running of the council where money exchanged hands as the mayoral race hots up.

At the New Parliament Building in Harare, it was selfie time for the likes of  Ms Fadzayi Mahere and her colleagues.

They couldn’t contain the joy of being sworn in to be Members of Parliament, membership born out of the August 23 polls, which until yesterday they have been bashing.

If there was anyone who still took the CCC’s dismissal of the August 23 polls where President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF romped to victory, the incidents of yesterday and Wednesday should put the matter to rest.