Is Mugabe's son-in-law eyeing a parliamentary seat?

Harare – President Robert Mugabe's son-in-law Simba Chikore is reportedly eyeing a parliamentary seat in Zimbabwe's Makoni North constituency, Manicaland province.

According to NewsDay, unnamed Zanu-PF senior party leaders said that Chikore was preparing to contest the seat in next year's election on a Zanu-PF ticket

They alleged that Chikore was fixing roads and "sunk boreholes in the area, as he prepares for his campaign".

"He is getting ready and the issue started when he was invited to attend the Manicaland youth interface rally addressed by the president. His parents also uncharacteristically attended and you saw the First Lady (Grace Mugabe) asking Chikore to chant the Zanu-PF slogan. He is in," one of the sources was quoted as saying. 

But, the ruling Zanu-PF party Manicaland province administrator, Kenneth Saruchera dismissed Chikore's alleged political manoeuvres as mere gossip.

'They are not ashamed anymore'

Saruchena described the allegations as "just a rumour with no substance".

Chikore was last year appointed the second in command of the struggling state-owned Air Zimbabwe, a move that angered opposition parties and ordinary Zimbabweans.

At the time, social media users and opposition parties took a swipe at his appointment with some describing his appointment as the lowest blow in the country.

Trevor Ncube, publisher and critic of Mugabe's government said at the time that he had been left "wordless" by the news. "They are not ashamed anymore. They own Zimbabwe," he said in a tweet.

Former finance minister Tendai Biti said Chikore's appointment represented "a new low even by [ZANU-PF's] standards".

Tweeted Biti: "How does someone who has never run a tuck shop become COO of a major even though broken parastatal?"

Mugabe's only daughter Bona married Chikore in a glittering ceremony in 2014.

The couple have a son, Simbanashe.