Jane Mlambo| Zimbabwe Communist Party secretary general Ngqabutho Mabhena has said the officer by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa is meant to disarm him.
“The offering of the position of ‘official opposition leader’ to Adv Nelson Chamisa by President Emmerson Mnangagwa is meant to disarm the opposition and render it irrelevant in the eyes of the majority. Assuming Adv Nelson Chamisa were to accept the offer, his party which has already lost the parliamentary battle, will have nothing new to offer other than confirming the legitimacy of President Mnangagwa which he is contesting in the African Court following his loss both in the polls and in the Constitutional Court,” Mabhena said.
“In February 2009, days before the opposition leaders took office as Cabinet Ministers, then Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa introduced the multi currency regime ending the use of the Zimbabwean dollar. The MDC ran with the narrative that, its involvement in the Inclusive government brought about the use of the multi currency regime, enabling companies to import products mainly from South Africa and Botswana which brought an end to food shortages in our supermarkets.”
He said during the constitutional making process, the MDC led by Prof Welshman Ncube (now a member of the broader MDC Alliance) campaigned for the inclusion of the Devolution of Power clause in the 2013 constitution.
“After the 2013 elections, ZANU (PF) under the leadership of former President Robert Mugabe refused to implement Devolution of Power as voted for by the majority of Zimbabweans in 2013.
While the MDC Alliance is still contesting the legitimacy of President Mnangagwa, he has pulled a political carpet from the feet of the MDC Alliance by committing to implement Devolution of Power as a governance concept.
If ZANU (PF) uses its two third majority in parliament to implement Devolution of Power as per the 2013 constitution, the MDC Alliance will not claim victory as it did in 2009 with the introduction of the multi currency regime. This means that, its parliamentarians will struggle to use parliament as a theatre of struggle to the benefit of the majority in our society,” he said.
“The taking up of the offer by Chamisa as offered by President Mnangagwa will put Chamisa in a difficult position. He will have to explain to his urban constituency on why he is withdrawing his court challenge in the African court, which his supporters are said to be funding through ecocash donations. One can not accept a seat in parliament from an “illegitimate” President and still continue his legal challenge. By the way, the African Court challenge was a political move to give the political leadership of the MDC Alliance breathing space to ponder its next political move. The African Court can not override the decisions of our own courts. We are a sovereign state.”
He said secondly, Adv Chamisa can not justify his acceptance of the President Mnangagwa offer (if he accepts) claiming that he is putting the interest of the nation first.
“We are already battling cholera and economic meltdown. I do not see how his coming into parliament will assist in the fight against cholera and in turning around the economy.
President Mnangagwa has already appointed a cabinet that is engaging international capital.
He does not need the opposition to engage the Trump administration or the British. We are told that President Mnangagwa has already offered President Trump land to build a luxury resort in Victoria Falls if he so wishes.
But President Mnangagwa needs the opposition to stop its protests in cities and to disarm the boos brigade when ever he holds state functions in cities. How does he achieve this? Reach out to Adv Nelson Chamisa, offer him perks that he can not resist then all is done,” he said.
“The crawling back to ZANU (PF) of the Mugabe family, the return of the self exiled G40 leaders (except Prof Jonathan Moyo), the collapse of the National Patriotic Front mean that the political support and possible funding that Chamisa enjoyed in the build up to elections is now evaporating.
This means that, outside the political protests by MDC Alliance supporters in cities (which civil society is now questioning ) the MDC Alliance leadership is running out of political options. As Communists, we warned that, unless the MDC Alliance reforms itself and become a mass socialist political movement, it can not contest with the ruling party on a neo liberal agenda and hope to win. Its stance on neo liberal agenda will soon alienate it from the working class who constitute its biggest political support base.”