Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Former Norton MP, Temba Mliswa, has criticised the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) and churches for doing nothing to push for the release of Job Sikhala from prison.
Sikhala is a lawyer and former opposition lawmaker who has been in pre-trial detention at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison since June 2022.
He was arrested in June 2022 and charged with inciting violence when he allegedly threatened to avenge the murder of an opposition activist, Moreblessing Ali.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Mliswa said the church has failed to play its role as the conscience of society by not vigorously calling for Sikhala’s release from prison. He said:
This lack of initiative in the Sikhala case also extends to the religious community. Churches have utterly failed to be the conscience of society as they should also be speaking out and making moves to have political prisoners like Job released.
There are many activities that churches can organise to raise pressure against authorities. As an individual I will also do my part as the plight of Job cannot be accepted as a societal norm.
The former Dynamos Football Club fitness trainer also castigated CCC for failing to come up with initiatives to push for Sikhala’s release. He said:
People on my back harping about me blaming the victim in the Job Sikhala case are missing the point.
Whatever injustices committed against Sikhala by those who have unjustly jailed him don’t absolve his own comrades from taking their own initiatives to alleviate his situation.
No wonder Sikhala himself has written about betrayal as reported by [The NewsHawks]. It’s because of the absence of these issues which I have cited. It’s as simple as that.
The opposition has its own responsibility which doesn’t disappear because they are the victim.
We all know the injustices being committed against Sikhala and those who have the powers and levers to change that.
However, as the team on his side, the opposition has its own sphere of influence and responsibility which mandates they have to act and not simply be pliant.
Mliswa believed there are a lot of things CCC can do to alleviate Sikhala’s suffering, such as setting up a Trust to support him. He said:
Moral and financial support has nothing to do with power. Standing in solidarity and putting up his son as a candidate has nothing to do with the Government.
Setting up a Trust to support him and his family, even all other arrested opposition members, is also within its purview.
I have been arrested over 60 times& know what the situation is like for a victim. You can’t tell me about being a jailbird.
Thus I still ask my question, what have you done to stand with Job? There should be a clear standpoint on how a party responds and acts in such situations.
How you react when your member is unjustly treated by the Govt engenders trust and confidence in the rest of the opposition family.
This lackadaisical approach to Job’s case feeds more flesh to conspiracies that he may be inside with the silent agreement of his factional enemies.
Instead of boycotting against ED which practically yields nothing, there should be mass action for Job, calling for his release from prison.
You can’t be like ZANU PF which treats as an enemy anyone who contradicts specific ways of its operations. Criticism can be useful.
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