CHANTEL TAKUDZWA ZAMBUKIRA
POLITICAL REPORTER
Legacy may carry weight in the field of politics to elevate the name of a family or an institution.
The late former Prime Minister in the Government of National Unity (GNU), Richard Morgan Tsvangirai, emerged from the echelons of unionism to lead the strongest opposition party to challenge Zanu-PF in post independence Zimbabwe.
Leading a labor based party that was formed in 1999, Tsvangirai under the banner of the Movement for Democratic Change, (MDC), came a notch from upstaging the revolutionary Zanu-PF party from power.
He was to face the police brutality in the country and also escaped the noose of the hangman as he was falsely accused of a crime he was acquitted of.
Morgan Tsvangirai died in 2018 having failed to fulfill his dream of removing the citizenry of Zimbabwe from the tentacles of Zanu-PF who have been in power for over four decades.
After being diagnosed of colon cancer, Tsvangirai died in a South African hospital leaving very huge shoes to be worn by anyone in the country.
He left a legacy that will be remembered by generations to come.
It is this legacy that the son of the late trade unionist is riding on as he ventures into the world of politics. Richard Tsvangirai Jnr, entered the world of politics under the banner of Citizens Coalition for Change, (CCC).
Junior Tsvangirai is vying for the Norton seat of the National Assembly which is currently being held by Independent legislator, Themba Mliswa.
Hon. Mliswa has, in the past, fended off challenges from erstwhile Zanu-PF stalwarts. Now he is to face Richard Tsvangirai Jnr.
But the outspoken Norton legislator Hon.Temba Mliswa has said that the phrase “like father like son” holds no water in the Tsvangirai name.
According to the legislator, the son of the late former Prime Minister is no threat and cannot live up to his father’s achievements.
Richard Tsvangirai Jnr has been campaigning for the Member of Parliament seat for Norton under the opposition banner Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) even before the party candidates were yet to be revealed.
In an interview with Zim GBC News, Hon.Mliswa said that Tsvangirai Jnr. should not be mistaken for his late father Morgan Richard Tsvangirai Snr. Mliswa said that Tsvangirai Junior is still a novice in the political field.
“Don’t mistake Morgan Richard Tsvangirai and his son Richard Tsvangirai, he has never held a political office and he has never had a political structure. He’s a nonentity and I’m a seasoned politician. Just by me responding to the media gives him credibility but he has no political history.”
He went on to brag about himself being in total control of Norton.
Mliswa mentioned names of some candidates that might represent CCC for the Norton Parliamentary seat as people who are doing well and having the capacity to contest against him.
“There’s Mhlanga who has done well from CCC and Matemera who has also done well.”
Mliswa also said that he has been working and he does not campaign.
CCC is yet to announce it’s candidates.
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