Political Reporter
Former MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa’s spokesperson, Dr Nkululeko Sibanda has crossed floor to join a new kid on the block, the Freedom Alliance Party (FAP).
Dr Sibanda reportedly joined the FAP, where he is tipped to be that party’s Secretary General for Communications. The new party was launched on Saturday in Bulawayo and Dr Sibanda presided over the launch as well as the subsequent press conference.
During the launch, the party’s interim leader, Samukele Hadebe highlighted the interim structure that would steer the party ahead of the 2023 polls. The party is widely viewed as a regional project with the interim structure teeming with former MDC-A and MDC-T members from Matabeleland region.
Hadebe said they decided to form a new party because they had lost hope in the main opposition party, the MDC-A. He said the MDC-A was not pro-poor as evidenced by its policies. Hadebe added that the MDC-A was a perennial loser because of the constant infighting.
The new opposition leader said the FAP was a socialist movement and a coalition of opposition parties. One of the coalition partners is Alliance for National Salvation led by Moses Mzila Ndlovu who is one of the four deputy national chairpersons.
The national chairperson is Mqondisi Ndebele, while Njabulo Ngwenya is the secretary general. Nomathemba Ndebele is the treasurer general and the national youth leaders are Michelle Tshuma and Samukele Nyoni.
Conspicuously, the post of secretary general for communications was left vacant and only the vice, Nhlanhla Ncube was appointed. This reinforces the suspicion that the post has been reserved for Dr Sibanda.
Dr Sibanda, who was appointed Chamisa’s spokesperson in 2018, once criticised the later for his ludicrous electoral promises during the MDC Alliance campaign rallies.
In a twitter discussion on Chamisa’s electoral promises, Dr Sibanda described the bullet train promise as madness.
“This bullet train thing is madness. There will not even be customers who can afford the train. That’s the first when you are making an investment. What is the market? There is no use for such a train, even if there was a budget surplus to waste,” posted Dr Sibanda on 10 March 2018.
