News / National
Sikhala says Zanu-PF blocked him from 2023 polls
20 Feb 2024 at 00:06hrs | Views
FORMER Zengeza West Member of Parliament Job Sikhala has accused Zanu-PF of locking him up to block him from taking part in the 2023 general election.
In an interview with Alpha Media Holdings chairman Trevor Ncube on the platform In Conversation with Trevor, Sikhala said Zanu-PF wanted to eliminate him from the electoral process.
"I had the opportunity to meet some of the people from my oppressors' camp in prison and generally I was so inquisitive to know the reasons why this thing was being done to me," Sikhala said.
"They did not want me to be available during the 2023 general elections for the purpose that they were afraid that I would cause chaos and pandemonium in the event of a rigged electoral outcome. This is one thing that they said that (Job) Sikhala must not be allowed to be present during the election period.
"They never wanted me to be a strong backup for Nelson Chamisa presidential candidature against his opponent during the elections; they said that it (would have strengthened) Chamisa to the extent that this (could have caused) trouble in this country.
"They wanted to cultivate animosity and hostility because during the process of the incarceration they were spreading counter intelligence rumours to the peers of (Nelson) Chamisa and my other peers who were outside to create (a) wedge and hostility between the two of us," he said.
According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, President Emmerson Mnangagwa garnered 52,6% of the vote against Chamisa's 44% in the August 23 and 24 elections, but then Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Chamisa dismissed the results as a "gigantic fraud".
Sikhala was released last month after spending nearly two years at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison for inciting public violence following the murder of opposition activist Moreblessing Ali. He was arrested in June 2022 and charged alongside fellow politician, Godfrey Sithole.
Shortly after his release from prison he announced his resignation from the CCC party and declared his intention to form a new political movement.
In an interview with Alpha Media Holdings chairman Trevor Ncube on the platform In Conversation with Trevor, Sikhala said Zanu-PF wanted to eliminate him from the electoral process.
"I had the opportunity to meet some of the people from my oppressors' camp in prison and generally I was so inquisitive to know the reasons why this thing was being done to me," Sikhala said.
"They did not want me to be available during the 2023 general elections for the purpose that they were afraid that I would cause chaos and pandemonium in the event of a rigged electoral outcome. This is one thing that they said that (Job) Sikhala must not be allowed to be present during the election period.
"They never wanted me to be a strong backup for Nelson Chamisa presidential candidature against his opponent during the elections; they said that it (would have strengthened) Chamisa to the extent that this (could have caused) trouble in this country.
"They wanted to cultivate animosity and hostility because during the process of the incarceration they were spreading counter intelligence rumours to the peers of (Nelson) Chamisa and my other peers who were outside to create (a) wedge and hostility between the two of us," he said.
According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, President Emmerson Mnangagwa garnered 52,6% of the vote against Chamisa's 44% in the August 23 and 24 elections, but then Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Chamisa dismissed the results as a "gigantic fraud".
Sikhala was released last month after spending nearly two years at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison for inciting public violence following the murder of opposition activist Moreblessing Ali. He was arrested in June 2022 and charged alongside fellow politician, Godfrey Sithole.
Shortly after his release from prison he announced his resignation from the CCC party and declared his intention to form a new political movement.
Source - newsday
