"Nomination court is coming. We've candidates. We've 2 months before by-elections & that's more than enough. That's almost the same period between which the party changed its name to MDC-A. Pple will be told, & have no confusion around who their leaders are"
"People know that Pres @nelsonchamisa is the leader of our movement. People know the real @mdczimbabwe leaders who were recalled; those who are with them in the communities; those who continue to champion their rights. They've no confusion about that. "
" Be patient. The strategy will unfold. We are dealing with a very sophisticated dictatorship. It's critical to remember this isn't the first time the MDC has had to deal with these issues. It's be done in the past & we've learnt many lesson."
"...we can't act as if we are politically naive. Pres Chamisa spoke today that we are building the new. Entrust that those who are charged with leading our movement will do the right thing. Let's have confidence. If they are saying relax, let's belive that"
"It's only when Pres @nelsonchamisa says that there's cause to worry, that we should worry. Let's bare with the process & have a bit of a long view. We are bound to get into one of the biggest elections (2023) & should consistently keep our eyes on the ball."
"Even though the by-elections are important because every single community must be represented, we must consistently look at the magician's hands, consistently focusing on ZEC & the shenanigans they are doing."
"A lot of work is being done, & requires to be done on the voters roll, ensuring all 2018 irregularities don't happen again, ensuring we have polling agents, insuring results announcement is done in accordance with the law & is transparent & verifiable"
" need to ensure that registration centers are everywhere, young people have IDs & go register to vote. How do you have only 5 women registering to vote in Mash Central in 12 months? It shows there's a problem & bottlenecks & we insist that ZEC has to reform"
"The militarized ZEC secretariat has to change. The partisan state media has to be fixed. That's our main focus as @mdczimbabwe. Thats where the big fight is. As we do by-elections let's ensure the reforms, processes & playing field is equal."
"We have to overwhelme the system by ensuring we register in our millions. We've set the target of 6 million votes as @mdczimbabwe, a 2/3 majority in Parliament, a clean sweep in our urban councils and a majority in our rural districts."
"It's on record who holds the patent for @mdczimbabwe. We (however) also know that we are not dealing with a legal problem, but a political problem and we are going to deal with it politically."
"ZEC knows that it can't happen (a party changing its logo for by-elections). If they're doing the right thing, they know who @mdczimbabwe is, they know who participated in the court cases in 2018."
"ZEC knows when the Mashavire case took place in the High Court, the @mdczimbabwe hadn't even been formed, so certainly as a matter of law, that can't be the basis upon which the MDC-A name is being stolen with the help of ZanuPF, by Douglas Mwonzora."
"But that doesn't matter to us (having the party name stolen). At the end of the day, the real game is about the people. You can call us the Green Party, Chamisa party, you can call us anything, at its core, political power lies with the people."
"@mdczimbabwe will participate in every single election & political process in this country. We are the biggest Oppo movement for now & we will get into gov. As a movement that believes in democratic change, we know & understand the power of the ballot."
"We understand collective power of citizens when they register to vote in millions, to drive transformation & change. We'll participate in every single community were we've structures, which is everywhere throughout the country. That's what we set out to do"
"For now we are @mdczimbabwe, when that changes, you'll hear from me.Pres Chamisa is on record that we're building the new.When there's a change, you'll hear from me, but that cosmetic. It's like asking me what's you new makeup today. That's not my identity"
"..the identity is what the party stands for, the cause; consciousness; pple who follow us; grassroot structures, our alternative policies, our leaders & our general belief & dream that we need ethical leadership & an end to ZanuPF; corruption & injustice"
"Remember when Khupe purported to run away with the name MDC in 2018, was anybody confused when it came to voting, as to who the real MDC is? This isn't the first time having movements that purport to call themselves the real Opposition."
"We want to remove a dictatorship. We want to focus on the processes that leads up to an election, currently being driven by ZEC albeit in a manner thats not satisfactory, constitutional, transparent & verifiable. That's were the conversation needs to go"
"A society that wants change has to raise the level of discourse & assess for ourselves what it is that will bring democratic change to the country. Is it calling a party 'Chamisa', NO! Its about changing fundamentals in the conducting of elections."
" the MDC is a brand that that been built over 20 years. Its like Coca-Cola. On the African continent, parties with the biggest name recognition are the MDC & ANC. We are bigger than FRELIMO in Mozambique, MPLA in Angola."
"Right now if I ask you the name of the ruling party in Nigeria, most populous African country, you wouldn't know; the name of Egyptian ruling party, most populous Arab country, you wouldn't know. But anyone from Cape to Kairo knows MDC, Tsvangirai, Chamisa.."
"Those who are pushing us, are desperate. We will consult our people in due course, and will make the right choices in the best interest of the people of Zimbabwe, the members of our beautiful organisation."
"..but we can't be forced into a script that we haven't written. We can't be forced to have a dinner that we don't know who cooked it & we can't be forced to eat what Mnangagwa has cooked, that will never happen. We'll make decisions at our own time & pace"
1. Admittedly, when I first read the "structured currency" headline, I thought the Harare regime was taking its "structures" propaganda too far.
With the benefit of more research on the topic, I'm now totally convinced the Harare regime is indeed taking its propaganda too far.
2. By definition, a structured currency is "structured" in that it's supposedly backed by both mineral reserves (in our case gold) and trust in government's monetory policies & regulations.
Unfortunately, no one believes any of the two are present in our existing circumstances.
3. Part of why all previous gimmicks have failed is a trust deficit.
Even if the government opts to accuse commentators of being alarmists, causing panick and despondency, no one can be faulted for rushing to withdraw their forex savings if we have learned anything from history.
1. Imagine trying to make sense of how some 4 gentlemen in Bulawayo can randomly claim, 'we have recalled Amos Chibaya, he has ceased being a member of CCC'.
Outside the influence of social media, many only know about #CCC because of the efforts of this indefatigable organizer.
2. Propaganda has to make some sort of sense.
Even where some decide to hide behind the claim of "a traceable history in the struggle," Chibaya would make the mark.
A devoted organizer during the times of Tsvangirai & even more so, during the times of Chamisa under the MDC-A.
3. For the successive elections between 2018-2023, it's a mystery how Chibaya found the passion to abandon the comfort of his home and the herculean energy to traverse the country, organizing the Opp for electoral triumph.
Chibaya is very much unheralded & doesn't seem to care.
1. So, a group of at least 25 individuals have decided to join nonexistent forces under the otherwise much heralded #NERA banner to push for electoral reforms.
It's difficult to even identify them as political leaders because they don't represent any political constituency.
2. If you review the outcome of the controversial 2023 election, these people combined had fewer votes than the Councilors who won your ward election.
Many of them have never even bothered to field candidates in successive elections but only pop up whenever they sense a need.
3. If you were to profile them, there is one Lucia Matibenga, masquerading as PDP President.
Her "party" never contests.
She only temporarily enjoyed limelight under PDP when Sen Mwonzora brought her as his MDC-A partner before they connived to recall MPs elected under Chamisa.
1. Interesting comment on this unfolding drama by Prof Ncube.
I, however, can't help recognize the continued conflation of politics & law, which I've previously written about, regarding the formation of CCC party from MDC-A.
It's quite strange that BaNcube does the same here.
2. I take notice of @Welshman_Ncube choice of words here.
He says: MDC-A party's "...National Council resolved to reconstitute itself as CCC..."
By definition, when you "reconstitute," you simply restore or build up again, using remaining parts of whatever has been destroyed.
@Welshman_Ncube 3. However, it was a legal nulity not only for MDC-A to 'reconstitute' itself but to even meet & make legally binding resolutions to begin with.
In 2020, Justice Chitapi ruled that the MDC-A party wasn't a legal persona, effectively meaning it wasn't a legally constituted party.
1. We need to accept that we've seen enough to conclude we've no justice system in Zimbabwe.
Perhaps it's time to totally (temporarily) abandon seeking judicial recourse, particularly around political issues
Why continue subjecting ourselves to the wig wearing ZanuPF activists!
2. Let me rationalize this personal view:
Firstly, we are simply patronizing the generality of the citizens by arguing that going to these "captured courts" is an important academic exercise that exposes judicial capture.
What has been the consequence of exposing this capture?
3. ZanuPF's reaction to the damning SADC Observer Mission report is evidence enough that they don't react to "embarrassment" by showing restraint.
ZanuPF chose rather to burn SADC through an unprecedented propaganda offensive and direct confrontation with the Zambia government.