by Innocent Mujeri
The death of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) founding president, Morgan Tsvangirai in February 2014 spelt the death of the opposition outfit as the current crop of leaders pose no threat to ZANU PF.
This came out in an article published by the Daily Maverick, an International online paper, which claimed that the opposition outfit had failed to offer an alternative to ZANU PF, citing continuous fights in the MDC as causes for the demise of strong opposition in the country.
The same paper claimed that the recent Supreme Court ruling that effectively stripped Nelson Chamisa of his claim over the main faction of the MDC, has brought the opposition party closer to the brink of implosion as the ruling, opened a scramble for party positions in the MDC.
The Supreme Court ruling ruled that Chamisa was an illegitimate leader who rose to the helm of the MDC presidency after the violation of that party’s constitution.
The Daily Maverick acknowledged that the chaos in the MDC had nothing to do with ZANU PF as the genesis of the MDC problems started way back before the death of Tsvangirai.
“The wrangling over who should lead the party ensued after MDC founder, Morgan Tsvangirai died in February 2018. Just before his death, Tsvangirai controversially appointed two vice presidents, Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri, in addition to Khupe who was elected to this position during the party’s 2014 congress .
“The move was viewed as political exigency to balance out factional succession fights within the MDC-T, the main MDC grouping led by Tsvangirai at the time. It also sowed the seeds of the party’s split,” Daily Maverick reported.
The paper also concurred with the Supreme Court ruling that Chamisa was not the rightful heir of the MDC saying Tsvangirai erred in appointing Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri.
“Even the most loyal MDC-T supporters have been at pains to explain the constitutionality of Tsvangirai’s last-minute decision to appoint Chamisa and Mudzuri,” reads the Daily Maverick.
On the fights currently happening in the MDC, the Daily Maverick said both Chamisa and Thokozani Khupe were in politics for their selfish interests and not to serve, the people of Zimbabwe.
The paper further claimed that the conflict between Chamisa and Khupe had played out more in the realms of ambition, entitlement and populism than the greater national good and the MDC-T’s founding values.
The Daily Maverick further viewed the Supreme Court judgment as the final nail on the political career of Chamisa. The paper insinuated that Chamisa, if he still harbors ambitions to contest against ZANU PF, must rebrand himself and device clear strategies on how he will go about it.
Political analysts Mr Golden Gwenzi said Daily Maverick was correct in its assessment of Chamisa’s capacity to lead the opposition outfit as he has proved to be a hypocrite who pay lip service to democracy while disregarding his party’s constitution.
“The Daily Maverick is correct in saying that the MDC is no match to ZANU PF as Chamisa is only a populist leader who violates the constitution for his own benefit. By vowing to disregard the court ruling, Chamisa is clearly showing that he is a hypocrite who pays lip service to democracy and constitutionalism while disregarding his own party’s constitution and using unconstitutional means in succession,” said Gwenzi.
The MDC is embroiled in a leadership wrangle pitting Khupe and Chamisa. However, the Supreme Court ruled that Khupe should temporarily lead the opposition outfit until, a substantive leader is elected at the party’s extraordinary congress to be held in the next three months.
Chamisa, with the advice of some G40 elements such as Jonathan Moyo, has vowed to disregard the court ruling in a clear contempt of court.
