The leading opposition party was already fractured when the
Supreme Court last March declared that Chamisa’s leadership of the MDC-T was
illegitimate and ordered the party to hold an election to replace him.
His opponents took advantage, and a smaller faction led by
former secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora recalled 32 lawmakers aligned to
Chamisa and over 80 councillors in the MDC Alliance-dominated local
authorities.
Mwonzora’s faction also grabbed party assets, including the
headquarters, with the aid of police and army details.
Last week saw two former key allies, Midlands senator
Lillian Timveos and former Kwekwe Central MP Blessing Chebundo defect to Zanu
PF.
But during his presentation of the party’s 2021 agenda in
Harare yesterday, Chamisa said he had put in motion strategies to counter
Mnangagwa’s machinations to create a pliant opposition under Zanu PF’s “command
politics” .
Zanu PF has, however, denied the claim. Chamisa accused the
Zanu PF-led government of engineering the expulsion of his 32 MPs and over 80
councillors across the country, takeover of party offices and channelling of
party funds to Douglas Mwonzora’s MDC-T to weaken his political base.
“Rising authoritarianism has rendered the State unstable
and saddled with serious contradictions. Unstable oppressive regimes are
dangerous to their own citizens,” Chamisa said.
“The second was the crisis of authoritarianism, whereby the
regime embarked on a relentless assault and onslaught upon democracy and our
party. This assault involved the use of State machinery to subvert democracy
and the will of the people. Our party headquarters was forcibly occupied,
depriving us of our home. The regime also diverted our funding under the
Political Parties (Finance) Act, giving it to its surrogates,” he said in
apparent reference to Mwonzora’s MDC-T.
Mwonzora denies being a Zanu PF stooge. “Despite all these
attacks on our party, we refuse to be cast as victims. Rather, we are survivors
and winners. When someone works so hard to try and destroy you and they fail,
it is because you are strong and you are a winner. We are invincible. We are
indomitable. We are unconquerable,” Chamisa said.
He said Mnangagwa was determined to decimate the MDC
Alliance for refusing to recognise his presidency.
“The purpose of all this was to punish our party for
resisting the illegitimacy of the outcome of the 2018 elections, which lacked
credibility and acceptability. The oppressors believed that stripping us of our
assets and entitlements under the law would dampen our spirits and break us down.
This has not worked,” the MDC Alliance leader said, adding: “This deprived the
people of the opportunity to reclaim and correct injustices by ending the
criminal abuse of office and blatant theft.”
The MDC Alliance still insists that Chamisa garnered over
2,6 million votes against Mnangagwa’s 2,4 million and accuses the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission of manipulating the result in favour of the Zanu PF
leader.
The youthful opposition leader also claims that the
Constitutional Court unfairly denied him a clear victory after it upheld
Mnangangwa’s electoral victory in the polls held in July 2018.
Chamisa has since refused to recognise Mnangagwa’s
presidency, plunging the country into a political and economic crisis.
Chamisa appealed to his party supporters and citizens to
fund the party since it has been deprived of finances by the government.
“This year will see us consolidating, showing resilience
and resistance. In 2021 we will consolidate our position as a movement that
represents the dreams, hopes and aspirations of all progressive Zimbabweans.
Oppressors have tried everything to decimate us but we have remained solid,” he
said.
“This is not only the year of consolidating citizen action
but also the year of resisting the creation of controlled opposition and the
march towards one-party State politics. It is the year of both consolidation of
our party and resistance to the regime’s agenda of controlled opposition.”
He said Mnangagwa’s “Second Republic” had failed the
credibility test and proved to be worse than the late former President Robert
Mugabe’s administration, which was characterised by gross human rights
violations, plunder of State resources as well as mismanagement of the economy.
“The oppressor cannot reform. The oppressors have failed to
reform and actually proven to be worse than their predecessor. The year 2021
will be marked with peaceful resistance and resilience. The language of the
oppressed to resist oppression.”
On cartels allegedly linked to Mnangagwa, Chamisa said:
“Corruption is killing us. The people have a right to a corruption-free and
uncaptured State. Cartels must fall.”
He also touched on the planned eviction by the government
of over 12 500 villagers in Chilonga, Chiredzi South, to pave way for a
Dendairy fodder cropping project, describing it as “commercial cronyism” which
must end.
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