Game over for Temba Mliswa the chameleon?

Temba Mliswa's greatest achievement has been to be all things to all people. However, his latest outbursts about internal processes in ZANU PF, a party that he is not a member of, suggest that his days as a political chameleon are over.

Temba has been pretending to be neutral, to be the voice of reason between ZANU PF and the CCC. In the process he has also sought or appeared to be somewhere between G40 cabal and ZANU PF. Interviews with various people across the political divide suggest that he is about to be unmasked as a political charlatan.

Senior CCC officials have revealed to this writer that they habitually ask Mliswa to say out or publish material damaging to ZANU PF to give it credibility. "For example if we want people to see ZANU PF or the President in a bad way we use Temba because he is not perceived as CCC. People tend to believe him," said a CCC official who is very close to Chamisa. The CCC official alleged that Mliswa had boasted to him, that ZANU PF personalities also use him to say things that they feel uncomfortable about saying. The CCC official added that Temba would be one of their powerful campaign tools ahead of the 2023 elections. He said after the elections, the CCC would reward Temba with a ministerial position. The CCC official, however, declared that they would deploy a candidate and vigorously contest the Norton seat given Mliswa's was expected to attack ZANU PF and not the CCC ahead of the 2023 elections.

A former ZANU OF firebrand who claims to be Saviour Kasukuwere's point person in Zimbabwe and to be spearheading the former Minister's efforts to resurrect himself politically has also shed light with Temba's schemes. The gentleman, based in Mashonaland Central, said that Temba is in frequent contact with Kasukuwere. He said that the engagements had raised the former Minister's hope for the revival of the G40 and the possibility of building formidable "Third Force".

A Norton resident, who claims to have supported Temba ahead of the 2018 elections has also observed the chameleon nature of Mliswa. She said that she had heard that Mliswa might abandon Norton for his home district, Shurugwi, in this year's election. She said that Mliswa had gone to Shurugwi several times over the past two years to gauge support. The lady said that when Mliswa realised that he stood no chance in Shurugwi he had gravitated back to Norton.

A member of the CCC leadership, with strong roots in Mbare likes Mliswa for being an unpredictable political animal. According to the Mbarian, "Politicians which can be used covertly have to be unpredictable and deceptive. Temba is both unpredictable and deceptive".

A ZANU PF official from Mashonaland West castigated Mliswa for trying to control ZANU PF provincial structures from outside. He stressed that Mliswa was not a ZANU PF member and no business discussing ZANU PF issues. He advised Mliswa to prepare for settlement in the dust bin of history after the elections. The ZANU PF supporter observed that Mliswa had been deepening on the incumbency of his sister, as the Resident Minister, to confuse some ZANU PF supporters and access ZANU PF resources. The

ZANU PF supporter portrayed Mary Mliswa Chikoka as the umbilical cord between ZANU PF structures and the embattled politician. He predicted that the severance of the last threat of his umbilical cord with ZANU PF would lead to Mliswa's political demise. That, he said , explains his outbursts.