Zimbabwe police ejected CCC MPs from Parliament

The Police ejected CCC MPs from Parliament after they erupted into song during Zanu-PF's Scott Sakupwanya's swearing-in.

The Parliament of Zimbabwe convened again today, and newly-elected legislators were sworn in. The new parliamentarians were elected on 9 December by-election in Masvingo and Matabeleland provinces.

The by-election was triggered by the recalls effected by self-proclaimed CCC interim secretary general Sengezo Tshabangu. Tshabangu claimed that the recalled legislators had ceased to be members of the Citizens Coalition for Change, a claim the party refutes.

Days before the by-election, the High Court barred the recalled CCC members from running in the plebiscite. This pitted Zanu PF candidates against the ones Sengezo Tshabangu had approved.

After Zanu PF scooped most of the seats from CCC in the by-election, their new MPs were in Parliament. These included gold miner Scott Sakupwanya, who ran in Mabvuku.

Sakupwanya was declared the winner on 8 December after the High Court ruling barred Munyaradzi Kufahakutizwi. As the only remaining candidate, Sakupwanya won the Mabvuku/Tafara seat by default.

During the swearing-in ceremony of the new legislators, Scott Sakupwanya was about to take the stand, and CCC MPs erupted in song. They were demonstrating against his swearing-in in Parliament.

Because of the disorder, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) came in to chuck the CCC legislators out of Parliament. Images circulating online show the Police dragging out the party's vice president Lynette Karenyi-Kore, Takudzwa Ngadziore and Fadzai Mahere, among others.