Member of Parliament for Lobengula-Magwegwe constituency, Tendai Nyathi, believes ties have improved between members of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party who gained parliamentary seats in by-elections following recalls and those who secured their seats in the August 2023 elections.
Nyathi, who planned to run for the Parliamentary seat in August 2023, was among the party members who were sidelined after the CCC then led by Nelson Chamisa-led party allegedly “imposed” its preferred candidates for some council and parliamentary seats.
The in-house squabble over the selection of candidates allegedly created divisions within the party, resulting in Sengezo Tshabangu, posing as the CCC Secretary General, recalling some duly elected members and coming up with a list of candidates who were later fielded to fill-in the arisen vacancies.
In an interview with CITE’s The Breakfast Club show, aired on Asakhe Online, Nyathi narrated that when they contested under the Tshabangu faction banner, they were met with disapproval from fellow party members who accused them of being “sell-outs”.
Nyathi said despite having served in the party for years prior to the internal divisions, it took some time for other legislators to warm up to them and fully embrace them as team members.
“The reaction from fellow legislators has now improved. When we went through the by-election process, people used to look at us with a negative eye. They had an attitude, assuming that we were ‘sellouts’ who had just emerged from nowhere to come and take up spaces in the party,” explained the MP.
“What was unfair was that I was also a victim. Prior to the August election, I had participated fully and worked hard to make sure that I get a spot to run for office. I only found out on the day of the (June 21) Nomination Court that I was not on the list. There was no explanation from the party how that had happened.”
Nyathi narrated that he did not know how his name disappeared and by the time he discovered that, it was already too late to try and resolve anything.
“I was alerted around 2PM. However I did not despair, despite the challenges, I still went back and fully supported those who had been nominated,” he said.
The MP said after they had been sworn in December after the by-election, some fellow members took time to accept them as party members.
“We were sworn in around December, and the months of January and February were not so easy for us because of the judgement from fellow legislators. But afterwards, when we had met several times and had conversed a couple of times, they started realising that we were actually committed party members who were just victims of circumstances,” Nyathi said.
“Some female legislators therein actually realised that we had worked together, dating back to the Covid-19 era. I had rendered some assistance to them without having met them physically. So when they eventually realised who I was and the amount of work I had put into the party, they accepted me better. They also started talking to other fellow members about it and right now I can testify that we now relate better than we did at the beginning.”
