Barbara Rwodzi rises from Pan-African Parliament chaos to rejuvenate Zanu-PF

摘要

The Zimbabwean politician has emerged from the fisticuffs and death threats of the Pan-African Parliament's latest session as a breath of fresh air for her country's ruling party's image. And by joining forces with South African firebrand Julius Malema, she has suddenly gained popularity across the entire continent. The little-known Barbara Rwodzi, a member of the Pan- African Parliament (PAP) of the African Union (AU), left the institution's latest session with a continental reputation. The sitting was suspended on 1 June until further notice after delegates from Southern Africa clashed verbally, and in some cases physically, with counterparts from West and East Africa over the election of the parliament's next speaker. They are at odds over whether to rotate the leadership of the parliament, which since its birth in 2005 has never been chaired by a southern African national, excluding its current interim speaker from Zimbabwe, Chief Fortune Charumbira.