1. When you are dealing with the system, you must always anticipate its actions. When you see ZANU PF admitting defeat in a litigation it is because it sees an advantage, not weakness in defeat. Some are seeking to understand the legal implications of this ZEC notice issues today
2. The notice is that by-elections in 6 constituencies & 1 ward have been cancelled. It’s because a court ordered that there are no vacancies. For months, the affected MPs have been shut out of parliament though they had won their case. The system was frustrating them.
3. Now, just a day before the Nomination Court, the court makes a ruling in their favour. Since it’s important to call a spade by its proper name, this development doesn’t do CCC any favours at all. To understand it, let me explain how ZANU PF has found advantage in adversity.
4. All along ZANU PF was happy to frustrate these MPs using legal processes. When ED issued the proclamation for by elections the affected MPs rightly challenged his move. Now that they won, the system will say the courts are fair. But really ZANU PF is the winner in defeat.
5. The launch of CCC surprised the system. The by-elections in CCC strongholds are likely to boost its profile and give it momentum. So anything to deflate it will do. That’s why the system is happy to let these 6 constituencies drop out of the race. Why boost your new rival?
6. The system sees another problem for the new CCC. It is that the 6 MPs will remain in parliament as the PDP element of the old MDC Alliance. Yet, CCC has just launched as a new entity. It will be awkward for CCC having members that are also still identified as MDC Alliance/PDP
7. The last thing that CCC needs in these formative stages is any appearance of division. And the system’s propaganda machinery will sing everyday about this circumstance of MPs who carry a different totem even though they are also CCC. They will concoct conspiracies of division.
8. Worse, because the MPs are part of the 2018 election matrix, Mwonzora will still get public funds based on their presence in Parliament. If by elections had gone ahead and been won by CCC, that would have changed things and reduced Mwonzora’s funding.
9. Of course with hindsight the MPs should not have insisted but they weren’t to know that a new party was on the horizon. Could the case have been withdrawn before or on the launch of CCC? Perhaps. And if so, that could have taken the decision away from the court.
10. As it turned out it is ZANU PF which has discovered in the wake of the popular launch of CCC that it really doesn’t fancy these by-elections and is happy not to have them. CCC which was going to get a big boost now has 6 fewer constituencies than it could have won.
11. Lesson: moments of euphoria are also moments of vulnerability. Don’t drop your guard. During celebration, the system was plotting how to take the sting out of CCC & it found the perfect gap in the case. Hence ZEC has happily announced the cancellation of the 6 by-elections.
12. The MPs are at a critical juncture: whether they continue under the MDC Alliance/PDP totem or make a complete break with the past and walk away? One thing for sure, it would have been far better for CCC if these by-elections had gone ahead on 26 March.
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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
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.
1. Let me use this opportunity to correct a common misconception among some MDC Alliance cadres. I have seen it too often that ignoring it is now tantamount to gross negligence. The misconception is that if the party changes its name it will put current MPs at risk of recall.
2. This is based on an innocent but mistaken view that MPs who have not been recalled are still MDC Alliance MPs. Legally, this is incorrect. As things stand the MDC Alliance has no MPs. The MDC Alliance lost them the moment Mwonzora’s party was given title to the recall the MPs.
3. The other set of MPs that were beyond Mwonzora’s reach, namely those from the PDP were also removed from Parliament, again through dubious means. They continue to be stifled through legal shenanigans. In any event a name change is not a change of party.
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:
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.
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.