Mliswa in shocking anti-Mnangagwa rant

President Emmerson Mnangagwa's anti-corruption drive will not be taken seriously as long as he keeps, in his government, officials whose past is tainted as is currently the case - independent Norton legislator Temba Mliswa has said.

Mliswa said this in Parliament yesterday while debating Mnangagwa's speech during his State-of-the-Nation Address last week when he also officially opened the ninth Parliament.

Mliswa said the fact that Tourism minister Prisca Mupfumira had been retained in Cabinet and that there were land barons who are now members of Parliament betrays the insincerity of the Mnangagwa administration in fighting graft.

"While there are die-hard Zanu-PF officials like Obert Mpofu and Patrick Chinamasa who used to be recycled but are now out of government…there are some like Mupfumira who came back despite them having presided over corruption in their ministries, especially the rot at Nssa when she was Public Service minister…only shows that we are basically just playing games so that we can protect them," Mliswa said.

Mliswa who had recently turned into a Mnangagwa praise singer said the president's failure to arrest corrupt ministers while still in office smacks of window dressing measures against the vice that has ruined the country's economy.

He also singled out Zvishavane-Runde MP Cuthbert Mupamhi and his Chivi South counterpart Killer Zivhu accusing them of being land barons yet they found themselves in Parliament.

"We have land barons like Mupamhi and (Killer) Zivhu, the same land barons who were backing former first lady Grace Mugabe during the Zanu-PF factional wars in here and one wonders where the Zanu-PF vetting system was when they found their way here. They are the ones who caused the recent cholera outbreak through their activities in local authorities," Mliswa ranted.

The former Zanu-PF chairperson for Mashonaland West province also twisted the knife into the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) saying it lacks the credibility to effectively fight corruption.

"The fact that the president established a Special Anti-Corruption Unit shows that he is alive to the fact that Zacc has no capacity especially with commissioners such as Goodson Nguni within its ranks.

"The seriousness of a government in fighting corruption is seen in the credibility of Zacc. We must see the police arresting corrupt officials because they have more capacity than Zacc to do so," he added.

Meanwhile, Mliswa saluted MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa for "a good showing in the elections".

"Given his age, it is no mean feat to garner the votes that he managed and if I were him I would use it to prepare for 2023 elections so I must congratulate him although he lost."

Mliswa also hailed Mnangagwa for being a democrat saying; "I do not think there will emerge a president as democratic as him because he even sacrificed the need to win elections all in a bid to entrench democracy"