Sikhala Confronts Kazembe Over Coup Allegations

MDC Alliance vice-chairperson and Zengeza West MP, Job Sikhala, on Wednesday confronted Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe demanding answers on why he (Sikhala) was alleged to have been spreading rumours of an imminent military coup.

Sikhala told Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda that Kazembe’s utterances, which he made without any evidence to back them up, had caused unnecessary alarm and despondency in Zimbabwe. Sikhala said:

The minister’s statement caused alarm and despondency. He mentioned names including mine. The insinuations made by Kazembe have devastating consequences.

I feel that my security is at risk. For someone to be a ‘coup plotter’ is a serious allegation. What l want from the minister is his evidence on these allegations. I demand the protection of this Parliament.

Kazembe later stood up and sought guidance on how to handle the matter from Mudenda. He told parliament the issue was sensitive and could compromise national security.

Last week Kazembe read a six-page National Security Council statement in which he alleged, among other things, that Sikhala and exiled former ZANU PF political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, were spreading rumours of an imminent military coup.

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