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Alex T Magaisa 🇿🇼

@Wamagaisa

Jan 17,

1. Opposition politicians who throw themselves at Emmerson Mnangagwa (ED) don’t know the man they are dealing with. He knows their desperation since no serious opposition leader will try so hard to please the ruling party. But ED is happy to exploit this desperation.

2. Just look at how he handled Khupe. She was handed the party when she was already a big cheerleader in POLAD, ED’s platform for opposition wannabes. ED made her feel like a buddy. She dreamt big, praising ED and talking dialogue incessantly despite lacking political capital.

3. ED knew she was of little value because she had performed dismally in 2018. She had no political capital to repair the legitimacy deficit. She was only useful as a nuisance to his great rival, Chamisa. But she was dispensable. Unfortunately she didn’t know what she meant to ED

Read 14 tweets

Alex T Magaisa 🇿🇼

@Wamagaisa

Jan 16,

1. Some people ask why Mwonzora was selective in recalling MDC Alliance MPs. Several reasons can be proffered including personal relationships which even at his most vindictive he cannot ignore. But the major reason was an attempt to use a strategy of divide and rule.

2. You may recall that the first purge in May 2020 affected 4 MPs most of whom held leadership roles in parliament: Tabitha Khumalo, Prosper Mutseyami & Lillian Timveos. SG Hwende’s sacking was personal after he defeated Mwonzora for the SG role in the MDC Alliance.

3. Sacking these senior MPs was meant to signal a threat to junior MPs. They were supposed to run for the hills. Some did but the majority held on. The strategy didn’t work very well and Mwonzora had to fire another batch and then yet another batch.

Read 9 tweets

Alex T Magaisa 🇿🇼

@Wamagaisa

Dec 30, 2021

1. In some countries, voter registration is tied to the political economy and this provides important incentives for people to register. You have to make the system make sense beyond voting. I will use this thread to explain how voter registration is incentivised in the UK.

2. In the UK, being on the voters roll is useful for when one is applying for a loan, mortgage or even a job. It’s an easy way for the bank or employer to verify your identity and it helps improve your credit score. That’s why I urge every Zimbabwean who settled here to register

3. It’s therefore in the best interests of every person to register on the voters’ roll. Of course, the process of registration is much easier. Once registered, the local authority will remind you each year in case you decide to change residence. I attach some advantages:

Read 4 tweets

Alex T Magaisa 🇿🇼

@Wamagaisa

Dec 30, 2021

@ZECzim

1. It’s incredibly myopic to characterise @ZECzim’s poor voter registration record as a failure of the opposition & civic society when it’s a clear sign of systemic institutional failure. Just look at @ZACConline & its similarly poor record in fighting corruption.

2. So within days you have 2 critical national institutions reporting extremely poor performance of their constitutional mandates. This is a sign of chronic institutional weaknesses. You would think people would place responsibility on the institutions & their leadership.

3. But not in Zimbabwe. It’s yet another chance for naysayers to hammer the opposition as if it controls the pace of voter registration. The principal authors of ZEC’s failure Chigumba & all are given a free pass. In a normal country they would be resigning for failure of duty.

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Alex T Magaisa 🇿🇼

@Wamagaisa

Dec 30, 2021

1. Perhaps it’s something that comes with the professions, but confidentiality is the hallmark of any professional & advisory relationship. It’s a mark of good faith. The other party must be comfortable that what you discuss will never be revealed; that it will stay between you.

2. Even journalists whose main job it is to tell stories swear by their duty to protect the confidentiality of their sources. Recognising the importance of confidentiality in such relationships, the law has several rules that are designed to protect it. It’s given sacred status.

3. For lawyers, there’s attorney-client privilege. For journalists, there’s protection of confidentiality of journalists’ sources. Doctors & therapists are also bound by rules of patient confidentiality. It gives confidence & freedom to both parties in that relationship.

Read 6 tweets

Alex T Magaisa 🇿🇼

@Wamagaisa

Dec 29, 2021

1. Zimbabwe’s Harmonised Electoral System comprises 3 elections: Presidential, Parliamentary & Local Authority. A political party can compete in all or some of the 3. However, to govern effectively & unhindered, a party must win both Presidential & Parliamentary elections.

2. Winning the presidential election but losing the parliamentary race means the President will be at the mercy of Parliament which he needs to pass any laws. It creates an impasse & in the worst case scenario, the majority party might use its power to remove the President.

3. Mugabe faced this problem after the dubious 27 June run-off election in 2008 because his party had lost its parliamentary majority. He would have needed the MDCs to pass laws & govern effectively. It was a factor that helped push the logic of the Inclusive Government.

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