By Patrick Guramatunhu- The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was launched by Morgan Tsvangirai and his friends in 1999 to answer the nation’s cry for democratic changes as the only way to end the de facto one party, Zanu PF, dictatorship.
Ever since the people have risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders into power on the understanding to party will deliver the changes and thus end the dictatorship.
MDC has been on the political stage for over 20 years, 5 of which in the 2008 to 2013 GNU, but, alas, has nothing to show for it. The party has failed to implement even one meaningful democratic reform in 20 years. Not a sausage!
Why?
The overarching reason why MDC leaders have failed to implement even one democratic reform even in the five years of the GNU, when Zanu PF leaders had committed themselves to reforms by signing the SADC sponsored 2008 Global Political Agreement; is that MDC leaders are corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent.
Ever since the end of 2008 to 2013 GNU with all the damning evidence of their selling-out of reforms, MDC leaders have all but thrown in the towel on getting any democratic reforms implemented and on free, fair and credible elections. They are now fighting skirmishes that they know will do nothing to dismantle the dictatorship.
“MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere has been arrested and charged with ‘publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state’ for posting widely circulated video which purported to show a baby killed by a policeman’s baton stick while strapped to its mother,” reported Bulawayo 24.
MP Job Sikhala, MDC A Vice Chairperson, has already been arrested for the same charge.
Last year Sikhala and fellow MDC A leader, Jacob Ngarivhume were arrested to calling for the 31 July 2020 public protests.
Nelson Chamisa, MDC A President, claimed that he was the winner of the July 2018 presidential race and the party has refused to accept Mnangagwa as the legitimate President. The party has resolved to stage public demonstrations as one way of pressuring Mnangagwa and Zanu PF to accept a power sharing arrangement in which Chamisa and a few of his fellow MDC A leaders will be given cabinet positions.
No one of substance, notably the EU, Americans and SADC, have taken Chamisa’s claims seriously because they all know the whole elections was a farce, Zanu PF blatantly rigged the elections. ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll. Chamisa failed to produce the V11 forms, summary of the votes count from each Polling Station, to show where his 2.6 millions vote came from.
Not even ZEC was able to produce all the V11 forms to show where Mnangagwa’s winning votes came from! ZEC’s submitted affidavit to the ConCourt had only 90% of the V11 forms and hence the reason why the commission ended up with three different tallies of the votes; without the V11 no one could trace and verify all the figures.
MDC A and the rest of the opposition should have never participated in the July 2018 elections without first implementing the reforms. “MDC A has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!” boasted the Chamisa before the elections.
By participating in the flawed and illegal elections, MDC A gave the process credibility and gave the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy. What is so infuriating is that the MDC leaders have known this all along, as David Coltart, MDC A Treasure General, readily admitted in his book!
“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the (2013) elections,” wrote Senator Coltart.
“The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility.”
MDC leaders have been participating in flawed and illegal elections because they could not resist the few gravy train seats Zanu PF was offering to entice them to participate. MDC leaders have sold-out on reforms and free, fair and credible elections.
Instead of fighting to implement the reforms and thus guarantee free, fair and credible elections MDC leaders are now insisting they can win rigged elections.
Instead of fighting to implement the reforms MDC leaders are fighting for headline grabbing skirmishes that will keep their names and faces in the public eye and keep up the illusion the MDC is still fighting for the common cause of free and fair elections.
Of course, it nonsensical for MDC A to participate in the flawed and illegal elections and thus give the vote rigging Zanu PF regime legitimacy and then try to remove the regime from office by public protests. Why did they give Mnangagwa legitimacy in the first place!
Make no mistake about it, Fadzai Mahere, Job Sikhala, Tendai Biti, Nelson Chamisa, Douglas Mwonzora and all the other opposition opportunists are will all gearing to participate in the 2023 elections with no reforms in place. It is incumbent on every thinking Zimbabwean to put an end to this madness.
Expose the MDC A leaders for the sell-outs they are, for selling out on reforms for selfish gravy train seats, and the opposition will lose credibility. A vote rigging Zanu PF regime cannot get legitimacy from a discredited opposition.
If the 2023 elections go ahead with no reforms, it is clear both Zanu PF and the opposition want this, then the plebiscite must be declared null and void. And with a discredited opposition and illegitimate Zanu PF, it will easy to get everyone this time, including SADC, to condemn the elections as a farce
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