EXILED former cabinet minister and Zanu PF top official, Saviour Kasukuwere could be well on course for a surprise bounce back into local politics sooner rather than later after a group of followers Thursday staged a visibility show in Bulawayo to try and drum up support for the once influential politician.
The so-called “Tyson Wabantu Movement” project Thursday conducted a mobilisation road show in the second largest city.
Tyson, as he was affectionately known in politics, is former Zanu PF political commissar.
He recently declared his interests towards running for President in the 2023 elections under his Tyson Wabantu movement.
His followers, clad in green t-shirts, moved around in a convoy in the city centre and high-density suburbs mobilising people to join the fledgling project.
The movement’s Mobilisation and Recruitment chairperson, Andifasi Banda said the surprise project was an omnibus which was open to everyone including members of other opposition parties and the ruling Zanu PF.
“We are not yet a political party,” he said.
“The Tyson Wabantu movement is not a political party but it’s a movement which is there to proffer solutions to the country’s current economic and political crisis.
“Every Zimbabwean including members of existing political parties, churches and members of the civil society organisations are free to join.”
Banda said the introduction of the movement received an overwhelming response from residents in Bulawayo.
“We held our campaign in the city centre as well as the western suburbs.
“We were explaining to the people that Tyson is the right candidate to fix some of the problems which this country is facing.
“Under Tyson’s leadership, there will be no corruption and Bulawayo industries will be functioning,” he said.
Banda said the movement is also non-tribal, adding that it was set to be rolled out to other provinces in the next few days.
Interestingly, Banda said the road show was cleared by police.
During the past months, police have ruthlessly crushed gatherings convened by the main MDC party.
Kasukuwere was kingpin in the failed G40 project which comprised a group of ambitious younger Zanu PF politicians who had put up a spirited bid to do away with war veterans’ octopus control of the ruling party.
However, his popularity as a personal brand is yet to be tested locally.
When he was in Zanu PF, he was once accused of having presidential ambitions and quietly creating an infrastructure to prop up his bid for the country’s top job. – Newzim
