HARARE – The National Heroes Acre is an exclusive Zanu PF affair, Norton MP Temba Mliswa hit out on Sunday after he was not allocated a seat in the VIP area.
Mliswa, a former provincial chairperson for Zanu PF but now MP for Norton as an Independent, was at the shrine for the burial of former Matabeleland North provincial minister, Sithokozile Mathuthu.
“Is this the ‘new dispensation?’,” Mliswa rhetorically asked on Twitter after posting pictures of himself cutting a forlorn figure sitting on the floor while newly-elected Zanu PF MPs sat on chairs under a tent next to him.
Mliswa went on: “Let’s learnt o separate national events from party events and accommodate each other. Zanu PF leaders seated whilst an independent is ostracised.”
Conferment of national hero status remains a Zanu PF affair, with the Zanu PF Politburo enjoying exclusive privilege of deciding who should be accorded the honour – which comes with a fully-funded state burial.
Opposition parties routinely boycott burials of “national heroes”, arguing that the whole affair is partisan.
And after his treatment on Sunday, Mliswa agrees with the opposition.
He said: “We can’t bring progress and togetherness as long as national events are exclusionary and that’s why the opposition has refused to be part of national events since they are held as party functions.”
Thousands of people in attendance were dressed in Zanu PF regalia, and songs praising President Emmerson Mnangagwa were repeatedly played throughout the morning.
Officials from constitutional bodies attended the event, among them Chief Justice Luke Malaba as well as service chiefs.
