The opposition Citizens Coalition Change (CCC) leader, Nelson Chamisa, yesterday accused ZANU PF of trying to buy the loyalty of traditional leaders ahead of the 2023 general elections.
This comes as the government is planning to review traditional leaders’ allowances, put them on medical aid, service their vehicles and allocate them fuel, to cushion them against economic turbulences.
CCC spokesperson, Fadzayi Mahere, accused the ruling party of trying to bribe chiefs. She said:
We condemn this brazen attempt to buy the loyalty of chiefs with trinkets. We respect the role and importance of traditional leaders but we are opposed to them being used to participate in partisan politics.
Traditional leaders must be non-partisan and put the interests of the citizens they lead ahead of any partisan agenda.
Chapter 15.2 of the Constitution forbids traditional leaders from being members of any political party or in any way participating in partisan politics.
Traditional leaders have faced accusations of being ZANU PF appendages with Chiefs Council president Fortune Charumbira openly declaring his allegiance to the ruling party.
But Zanu PF director of information Tafadzwa Mugwadi said the ruling party does not believe in bribing people to vote for it adding, “Our secret to victory is servant leadership and development.”
Last year, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga warned chiefs that they risked being stripped of their positions for criticising the ZANU PF government.
Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Obert Masaraure said the government should also show the same zeal to improve the welfare of civil servants.
More: NewsDay
But where we are here in african neighbor country, chiefs are taken care of by gvt that no political player can buy their loyalty, if chiefs are hungry, are they not ease prey for political lions and hynas. To me if the chief is not hungry, its easy for him to tell politicians to respect people*s customs and values, this will basically work to your advantage, tell the chiefs its from gvt not politiacal party, how alternative are you alternative you guys
You’re lost my friend the scenario is totally different here in Zimbabwe, chieftainship has been abused for long along the pattern of bribery to be partisan to a political party in power….