Political Reporter
Independent Norton legislator Temba Mliswa is contemplating contesting in the forthcoming presidential elections and has already started mobilizing people to vote for him.
A source close to Mliswa confided in this publication that Mliswa harbored serious presidential ambitions and was bragging that if he defeated both ZANU PF and MDC Alliance in Norton in 2018, he could repeat the feat at national level in 2023.
“Mliswa is contemplating contesting the next presidential elections in 2023. He is bragging that he has enough political muscle to outwit President Mnangagwa, Nelson Chamisa and other presidential candidates in the forthcoming elections. His buoyancy comes from his victory in Norton constituency where he defeated both ZANU PF and the MDC Alliance candidates in the last elections. He believes that he can repeat the feat at national level,” said the source.
The source added that Mliswa was currently busy criss-crossing the country with the intention of facilitating placement of his allies in strategic positions, be it in councils or other government departments. The source said Mliswa’s strategy involved fishing from both ZANU PF and the MDC Alliance camps as he is in the process of creating what he calls a ‘Third Force’.
“Mliswa has been trying to be cozy to both ZANU PF and the MDC Alliance with the intention of gaining trust from supporters of both parties. He has a plan for his allies to infiltrate ZANU PF, MDC Alliance and the G40 circles so that they could influence people to vote for him in 2023. This is the reason you sometimes hear him praise both (President) Mnangagwa and Chamisa. He wants to hoodwink them into believing that he was one of them,” added the source.
According to the source, Mliswa has already dished out some positions to his allies in anticipation of his presidential triumph in 2023. He already refers to two of his friends as Chief Protocol and Director State Residence.
Efforts to get a comment from Mliswa were futile as his mobile phones were not reachable.
