TSHABANGU’S HYPOCRISY EXPOSED: DEMOCRACY HELD HOSTAGE BY A SELF-IMPOSED OPPOSITION LEADER

In Zimbabwe’s broken political theatre, where betrayal hides behind smiles and power is bought with silence, Sengezo Tshabangu has emerged as the perfect example of hypocrisy in motion. This is not leadership. It is not democracy. It is treachery dressed in a cheap suit, propped up by the very system that claims to protect the people.

Tshabangu, now controversially sitting in the Senate, did not get there by the will of the people. He got there through backdoor deals and dangerous political tricks. With the help of the state, he hijacked the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and recalled genuinely elected MPs, councillors, senators, and mayors. Why? To make space for himself and his rejected friends.

This is not just political manoeuvring—it is a betrayal of the very idea of democracy. Voters chose their leaders in 2023. Tshabangu chose to ignore that. His rise is not through a ballot but through backroom agreements with the executive, the judiciary, parliament, and even state security agents. This is not opposition politics—it is ZANU PF’s dream come true.

What makes this more disgusting is the hypocrisy. Tshabangu claimed Nelson Chamisa was wrong for handpicking candidates. But what has he done? The exact same thing—only worse. At least Chamisa’s candidates had to face voters. Tshabangu’s people lost at the ballot, only to return through his political betrayal. This is not reform. It is revenge. It is greed. It is cowardice masked as leadership.

Even ZANU PF has welcomed Tshabangu and his group with open arms. Why? Because he serves their agenda. By breaking the opposition from within, Tshabangu has done what ZANU PF has failed to do with teargas and guns. He has handed the ruling party a gift wrapped in yellow. The very institutions meant to protect democracy—courts, parliament, even the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission—have been quiet or complicit.

What Tshabangu has done is more dangerous than any riot or protest. He has used the law to kill the people’s voice. He has used legality to commit political theft. This kind of betrayal cuts deeper than any dictatorship, because it comes from someone who pretends to be on the side of the people.

The real losers are the voters. The young people who lined up for hours in the heat to vote. The unemployed graduates who hoped for change. The mothers who believed a new dawn had come. Now, they watch helplessly as their elected leaders are replaced by imposters—men and women who were rejected at the polls but embraced by power.

This is not just Tshabangu’s shame—it is Zimbabwe’s crisis. It shows how far we have fallen when courts can rubberstamp injustice, when parliament can sit silently while the voice of the people is stolen, and when a man with no mandate can speak in the name of millions.

Let this be clear: Tshabangu’s journey to the Senate is not a victory for opposition politics. It is a victory for betrayal. It is a reminder that as long as we allow imposters to rise through lies and manipulation, Zimbabwe’s democracy will remain a joke.

We must reject this. We must expose the lie. We must protect our vote—not just from ballot thieves, but from political sellouts like Tshabangu. Because once the people lose their power to choose, then there is no democracy left—only puppets and their masters.