“I am not a political shark” says Zimbabwe legislator who has represented three different opposition parties in 20 years

“Even under Welshman Ncube, it was about the soul of the MDC.   We wanted the party to be different from the status quo. So I have not shifted my principles. I have remained consistent.

“First split, I go with the minority, Sibanda (Gibson) and Ncube being described as cockroaches. I was running in Mashonaland in Glen Norah. If I was not following my principles, I would have gone with Tsvangirai because it was clear that if you were running in Mashonaland and you were not going with Tsvangirai you would lose.

“In 2008, I ran and Iost. If it was about planning I would not have been on Mutambara’s side. I would have chosen the winning side. I was one of the most popular MPs at that time and Morgan Tsvangirai would have been happy to take me back. But I didn’t.”

Misihairabwi-Mushonga has not only been a popular legislator, she has been very controversial as well. In fact, she has been accused of being an attention seeker. She does not deny this but says: “Any politician that says they do not want to get attention is lying because the essence of representation is to make sure that people notice you.”

“If you remain quiet in Parliament for the whole year, you might as well not be a legislator,” she told the Standard newspaper. “I do seek to make people notice me and to shock them out of their comfort zones because mere talk does not get people to look up…..

“This is why I have said to people, when they say I am an attention seeker, I say yes I am, I want somebody to listen to what I’m talking about and I will go out of my way to do so, because I have realised the traditional way of doing business doesn’t work. I have used it for the past 15 years, it hasn’t worked.

“So I have decided any time I get an opportunity to grab attention to force people to listen to the issues I am raising, I will use it in the most radical way and sometimes people don’t necessarily like it. I’m not asking for people to give me accolades, I don’t care actually. The fact is that you have listened and hopefully you will do something if you are someone in power.”

She has got people’s attention, indeed and in some cases, authorities have responded to her requests.

“It took me waving sanitary pads and used underwear to Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa — who was engaged in conversation with someone else during debate — to get noticed and to send home a point that they were too expensive for women,” she went on.

“It took me bringing a baby, King, into the House for them to realise children and female MPs have breastfeeding rights.”

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