Independent|THE political rejects that make up the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) found out this week that they have nothing more than ornamental value when President Emmerson Mnangagwa ploughed ahead to gazette amendments to the constitution.

This is despite promises from the septuagenarian leader that he would debate with the motley crew of losers the proposed changes before they are gazetted and taken to Parliament.

“During the last meeting of Polad, one of the resolutions read out was that the proposed Constitutional Amendment Bill should not be gazetted, but instead brought to Polad where it would be discussed and other parties input,” one of the hangers-on, a member of the totally irrelevant grouping and lifetime National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) leader Lovemore Madhuku whined.

One of the paradoxes of Zimbabwean politics is that the Professor Madhuku you see in a university lecture theatre is totally different from the Madhuku you see rummaging for scraps of food in Zimbabwe’s God-forsaken political dustbins.

“It was agreed that a Bill would then be brought to Parliament with amendments also from other political parties and, instead of focussing on the Zanu PF needs, we will have an omnibus Bill, but that was not followed. But they went ahead and gazetted the Bill.”

In a further demonstration of just how useless the impact of the grouping is, Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi swatted away their concerns, as one would an irritating fly, pointing out that the government has no obligation to take bills to Polad. It is laughable that the leaders of parties that garnered less than 2% of total votes cast in the 2018 elections were demanding cars and allowances.

These opportunists, who have already burdened the taxpayer through their meetings which add nothing to the nation’s wellbeing, are shamelessly driven by self-interest. Any self-respecting political leader would have quit the grouping after such a monumental snub, but it is probably asking too much from those who list “visiting Cyclone Idai” — whatever that means — as one of their achievements in 2019.

That one member of this group, Bryan Mteki, has actually rejoined Mnangagwa’s Zanu PF shows just how much of a joke this platform is. They are truly shameful, greedy and pathetic political opportunists.