News / Local
Masaraure to lead Sikhala solidarity project
23 Nov 2023 at 00:38hrs | Views
Incarcerated former Zengeza West legislator Job Sikhala has mandated trade unionist Obert Masaraure to organise the movement meant to put pressure on the government to release the opposition political leader.
Writing from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, Sikhala said Masaraure was mandated to organise, mobilise and set-up regional, townships and streets "Job Sikhala Solidarity Chapters" throughout the country.
"Since the day of my arrest on June 14, 2022, I did not become a political orphan as anticipated. He together with the masses of our people adopted me from the dumpsite.
"Together with the masses of our people, they gave me the greatest gift of love, together with many others, he was humiliated and suffered in my name.
"He, like many, is the unsung hero of solidarity. He is now mandated to take the solidarity gospel to all the 10 provinces of our nation, to every village, street, township, growth point, town and city."
Sikhala also thanked opposition leader Morgen Komichi for his unwavering solidarity during his court sessions.
"Let me take this opportunity to thank Morgen Komichi for his solidarity. When he visited me here at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, my first instinct was to refuse to see him.
"My conscience then told me to see him. I looked directly into his eyes to discover his intentions. His eyes were full of love and compassion.
"I felt touched and asked myself several guilty conscience questions, why I turned down his several requests to visit me," Sikhala wrote.
He said prison had helped him discover new things.
"I discovered that, in leadership, one must not be stiff-necked, too harsh and unyielding. Since then, he never missed any of my court sessions, an act of solidarity that eluded those I regarded as friends and colleagues," he said.
Masaraure said he had since accepted the mandate and he would soon set up structures across the country.
"When Nelson Mandela was imprisoned by the apartheid government in South Africa, there was solidarity across the globe. It pushed the regime to free him.
"Likewise, Job Sikhala is a political prisoner and we will set up structures in provinces to demand his release. We will stage protests, marches and vigils demanding his release," he said.
Writing from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, Sikhala said Masaraure was mandated to organise, mobilise and set-up regional, townships and streets "Job Sikhala Solidarity Chapters" throughout the country.
"Since the day of my arrest on June 14, 2022, I did not become a political orphan as anticipated. He together with the masses of our people adopted me from the dumpsite.
"Together with the masses of our people, they gave me the greatest gift of love, together with many others, he was humiliated and suffered in my name.
"He, like many, is the unsung hero of solidarity. He is now mandated to take the solidarity gospel to all the 10 provinces of our nation, to every village, street, township, growth point, town and city."
Sikhala also thanked opposition leader Morgen Komichi for his unwavering solidarity during his court sessions.
"Let me take this opportunity to thank Morgen Komichi for his solidarity. When he visited me here at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, my first instinct was to refuse to see him.
"I felt touched and asked myself several guilty conscience questions, why I turned down his several requests to visit me," Sikhala wrote.
He said prison had helped him discover new things.
"I discovered that, in leadership, one must not be stiff-necked, too harsh and unyielding. Since then, he never missed any of my court sessions, an act of solidarity that eluded those I regarded as friends and colleagues," he said.
Masaraure said he had since accepted the mandate and he would soon set up structures across the country.
"When Nelson Mandela was imprisoned by the apartheid government in South Africa, there was solidarity across the globe. It pushed the regime to free him.
"Likewise, Job Sikhala is a political prisoner and we will set up structures in provinces to demand his release. We will stage protests, marches and vigils demanding his release," he said.
Source - newsday
