By Elijah Chihota
When the MDC Alliance under the leadership of Nelson Chamisa realised that the 30 July elections were proving to be a tall order for them, they decided to hatch a plan to discredit the whole election as a flawed process. This explains why Chamisa become infamous for uttering the saboteur’s mantra, “ndinozvidira jecha” This was a warning of the violence that he was planning to unleash upon realising that the electoral tide was not in his favour.
On Tuesday, 31 July before the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had announced any election result, MDC Alliance principal, Tendai Biti illegally pre-empted the poll results by claiming that Chamisa had won. In his own words, Biti said, “The results show beyond reasonable doubt that we have won this election and that the next President of Zimbabwe is Advocate Nelson Chamisa. These results were extrapolated from V11 forms that, in some cases, were posted outside polling stations and in some cases handed over to our candidates’ agents in compliance with the law. We now hope that ZEC will follow its Constitutional and legal obligation defined in the Electoral Act of formally announcing the result that is consistent with what we have gathered through our own parallel voter tabulation process”.
What Biti did was in direct contravention of the Electoral Act 66A, which makes it an offence for anyone other than a designated election official to announce election results. This was part of the planned provocation for the authorities to act so that in the end the Alliance would cry foul and play victim.
The events of 1 August point to a well co-ordinated programme by the MDC Alliance to unleash political violence. Posting on Twitter journalist, Maynard Manyowa testified that, “At 11:00 some 200 to 300 people protested peacefully yet unlawfully. They cooperated with police, didn’t block traffic and went their way. They returned later with sticks, stones, bricks and hosepipes. They threw bricks at the police and us. I got one at the back. Today my camera filmed things that should never happen in my country. People were paid to start something today (and) fed with alcohol and drugs. We were beaten and stoned together with the police. Cars, property and infrastructure were vandalized in the name of protest”.
As the seven-member Commission of Inquiry was carrying out hearings last week, Biti and former ZANU PF Harare Provincial Youth League Chairmen, Jimu Kunaka, who left the party owing to his factional activities, were fingered as the force behind the incident.
There was also a disturbing event where protestors defiantly chased an anti-riot police vehicle. This was unheard of and also points out to Chamisa’s determination to fight law enforcement personnel and Government in general.
Chamisa’s determined effort to cripple the economy was also evident. To achieve this, he ordered his foot soldiers to burn and loot vendors’ wares indiscriminately. This was a high level of economic sabotage. Destroying goods belonging to people who were eking out an honest living amid difficult times, was a cardinal sin, especially given his claims that the same people voted for him.
As if that was not enough damage, his hooligans proceeded to ZANU PF national and Harare Provincial headquarters were they destroyed ZANU PF bill boards, torched motor vehicles and committed other acts of vandalism. A bus, belonging to a party member, which was parked at ZANU PF Harare provincial offices was also burnt.
After dealing with those on the ground, Chamisa’s hired guns proceeded to the Rainbow Towers Hotel which housed the ZEC National Command Centre and demanded the release of the Presidential election results even before the stipulated five days set to announce poll results had lapsed. One wonders why he wanted ZEC to release the results before proper and meticulous verification had been carried out.
Biti who had been vocal charging that he was prepared to die for his vote made an attempt to escape into Zambia to seek political asylum. He understood the gravity of his case and the role that he played during the 1 August disturbances. He became aware that his illegal activities would catch up with him, hence the ineffectual attempt to secure refuge in Zambia.
When the Commission of Inquiry started hearings at a local hotel last week, there was deafening silence from Chamisa. I hope it has since dawned on him that his role in mobilising and urging youths to engage in violence on 1 August will also haunt and hound him.
The long and short of it is that Chamisa realised that he could not scratch the necessary votes to land the Presidency, hence, the employment of dirty tactics to create conditions for a re-run could be conducted, but alas Zimbabweans refused to be used to rubber stamp such a move.
Even to this day Chamisa continues talking about the elections two months after the Chief Justice Luke Malaba led nine-member Constitutional Court declared that, indeed, President Emmerson Mnangagwa was the winner of the 30 July plebiscite.
When President Mnangagwa was inaugurated on 26 August 2018, Chamisa stubbornly maintained he won despite failing to before that assertion in court. The people of Zimbabwe clearly spoke regarding whom they wanted to lead them, ED Mnangagwa and no amount of tantrums or press conferences by Chamisa and crew is ever going to change that undeniable fact.
