By A Correspondent
United Kingdom-based Zimbabwean lawyer and political analyst Brighton Mutebuka has come out strongly in defence of opposition leader Advocate Nelson Chamisa, arguing that the real obstacle to democratic change in Zimbabwe is collective fear, not a lack of political mobilisation or leadership failure.
In a detailed statement issued on Thursday, Mutebuka responded to ongoing criticism of Chamisa’s Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) for participating in the disputed August 2023 general elections, despite widespread concerns over the credibility of the process.
“Many say CCC shouldn’t have participated given the flaws. This misses the point,” Mutebuka said. “ED and other minor parties and his proxies would have proceeded nonchalantly. Mind you, even Kasukuwere had signed up!”
Mutebuka argued that Chamisa’s participation served a strategic purpose by exposing the ruling party’s manipulation of the electoral process and preventing ZANU PF from achieving its long-coveted two-thirds majority in Parliament.
“Without Nelson Chamisa, ED’s nemesis, cheating would have been considered unnecessary, and the elections would have been given a clean bill of health by SADC and other international bodies,” he said. “Tshabangu wouldn’t have been needed, as ED would have secured his desperately sought after two-thirds majority, thereby paving the way for a less dramatic tilt at Agenda 2030.”
He added that CCC’s involvement reinforced Chamisa’s status as a legitimate and popular opposition figure, backed by solid evidence of electoral fraud.
“Participation reinforced Chamisa’s legitimacy as a massively popular and formidable opposition leader, with the credible evidence of cheating affording him the platform to challenge ED and his regime’s legitimacy,” said Mutebuka.
He dismissed the notion that boycotting the elections would have pressured the ruling party or Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) into implementing reforms.
“The contention that boycotting the election would have caused the regime or ZEC to yield to reforms is flawed and amounts to a fallacy,” he said. “The regime is on record declaring that it will never reform itself out of power. It’s got no sense of shame or guilt. It would have ploughed head-on regardless. It knows no other path. It was always going to be 2030 all or nothing!”
In his conclusion, Mutebuka called for a shift in the national conversation, away from election participation debates and toward practical action by citizens.
“The debate should move beyond participation or non-participation and focus on how Zimbabweans can reclaim their agency from the regime,” he said. “That can only be achieved through collective will, organisation and effort via sustained peaceful protests.”
According to Mutebuka, it is not Chamisa holding the country back — but rather, a widespread fear among the population that the regime is well aware of and continues to exploit.
“Collective fear, not Chamisa, is what’s holding people back, and the regime knows that,” he concluded.