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Alex T Magaisa 🇿🇼

@Wamagaisa

Jan 27

1. One of my favourite expressions is “don’t miss the forest for the trees”. Don’t focus on the individual trees because you might miss the forest. It’s a warning not to get caught up in minute details at the expense of the bigger picture. This wisdom applies to the by-elections.

2. These by-elections are contests at 2 levels: first, the candidates and second, the parties. Considering events of the past 2 years, these by-elections are primarily a contest of the parties. To use the metaphor, the candidates are the trees while the parties are the forests.

3. There’s only a few months before the next general elections. Therefore getting pre-occupied by the individual candidates is not strategic. That’s why the most sensible route was to simply let those who were unlawfully removed stand but on clear conditions.

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Alex T Magaisa 🇿🇼

@Wamagaisa

Jan 25

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.

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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.

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Alex T Magaisa 🇿🇼

@Wamagaisa

Jan 16

https://twitter.com/shelton_samaita/status/1482687063971487748

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.

https://twitter.com/shelton_samaita/status/1482687063971487748

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.

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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:

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