by Charles Motsi
Nelson Chamisa, the MDC Alliance losing presidential candidate in the 30 July Presidential elections, has come under fire from Harare residents who have questioned his sincerity in addressing the cholera outbreak after he carried out what can only be termed a publicity stunt in the guise of a clean-up campaign.
Chamisa was seen dancing and laughing in his all so familiar campaign trail jovial boyish mood whilst moving around one of the most affected areas of Glen View 3 popularly known as Tichagarika Shopping Centre.
This drew scorn from residents of the area who blamed the youthful opposition leader for not taking the cholera issue seriously and for behaving as if he was still on the campaign trail.
“For a leader of the party that is and has been in control of our local authority for the greater part of close to two decades now, his mood does not show the seriousness we expect.
“He forgets that the elections have come and gone and now is the time for serious business not populists antics like dancing and singing as if he is addressing a rally,” said Blessing Tandiro a resident of Glen View 8.
In his speech at the clean-up rally, Chamisa laid much of the blame on Zanu PF and the central Government for the causes of cholera outbreak oblivious of the fact that the MDC has dominated that Harare City Council for nearly twenty years.
However, this did not go down well with some as they quickly pointed out that the local authorities have been in the hands of Chamisa’s party and could therefore, not blame anyone for the failure to prevent the recurring of the archaic disease.
“Chamisa must now face the music; the time to blame Zanu PF has gone because Zanu PF has not been in control our local authority for years.”
“Instead of talking to his councillors and reading them the riot act for failing to deliver, he is wasting our time by pointing fingers in the wrong direction,” said Marbel Musakasi an elderly resident of the area.
“Now is the time for us to come together as a nation and work together to develop our economy and prevent such unnecessary distractions as cholera to curtail our development,” said Munashe Mangozi an entrepreneur at the Glen View Area 8 Furniture complex.
A month now after the Constitutional Court ratified the results announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) awarding President Emmerson Mnangagwa a new five-year mandate to govern, Chamisa is still adamant that he won the election and that ZEC, the Courts and ZANU PF connived to rob him of his victory.
