Zanu PF tears into Madhuku, MDC

By Llyod Mbiba

HARARE – President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF has poured scorn on National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) chairman Lovemore Madhuku’s bid to form a new opposition political party, saying his project was “doomed.” 

Madhuku’s NCA holds its long overdue congress today where the University of Zimbabwe law lecturer will officially step down and subsequently launch his political party which the law professor says will be “Pan-African.”

Psychology Maziwisa, Zanu PF junior spokesperson, tore into Madhuku on Thursday evening during a public seminar held in Harare, declaring that the constitutional law expert was wasting his time trying to form a useless party.

“We understand that Madhuku wants to quit NCA to form his own party. We ask the Lord to bless him in his endeavours. But everybody knows that the Madhuku party will not bring anything new,” Maziwisa said.

“His party is an attempt to hoodwink Zimbabweans and it will fail because the people are intelligent. Some parties have been formed in the past to deceive Zimbabweans and they have failed. Madhuku is no exception. His project is irrelevant and therefore it is doomed.

“Let it be known to Madhuku that Zanu PF remains the only people’s party and we will continue to win elections and govern for a very, very long time to come.”

The attack on Madhuku came as a surprise as the constitutional law expert has been singing from the Zanu PF hymn book.

During the build up to the harmonised elections, Madhuku was seen as ingratiating himself with Zanu PF, proffering legal opinions in the press to Zanu PF in disputes between the liberation party and the MDC.

Reached for comment, Madhuku told the Daily News: “We have taken note of his comments. We acknowledge that everyone, including Maziwisa, is entitled to his opinion. As to whether the party will fail or succeed, let us wait and see.”

Madhuku declined to divulge information on his imminent resignation from NCA and his new party. The party is expected to be fully-fledged by December this year.

Maziwisa also railed against the main opposition MDC, which he claimed faced a bleak future with Morgan Tsvangirai as the leader.

“The future of MDC hangs in the balance with Tsvangirai at the helm,” Maziwisa said.

“The calibre of a leader is fundamental to the success of a political establishment. I am very sorry to say as long as Tsvangirai is the leader of MDC, the party will remain irrelevant. Tsvangirai is clueless and an immoral leader who thinks that we need a white person in Zimbabwe to prosper.”

Luke Tamborinyika, Tsvangirai’s spokesperson has said since the July 31 vote, there have been two national council meetings of the MDC reaffirming that the organs of the party still have faith in his leadership.

“Now, the worrying development is that the debate is no longer taking place in the MDC,” Tamborinyoka said.

“It is now taking place in Zanu PF where a fund has been created to destabilise and decimate the MDC; to decimate the character and person of Morgan Tsvangirai.

“It was to start with the ceaseless attacks on his person and his marriage, the huge payouts to MDC councillors to vote against their party; and now the sinister plot outside of the MDC structures and platforms, which plot is to the effect that Tsvangirai must be removed from the body politic at all costs.

“The ‘removal’ ranges in nature from a sponsored coup to the murky and ghastly form of ‘removal’ that only Zanu PF can muster. Zanu PF cannot discuss and plot around an MDC issue more than the MDC structures themselves. Surely, the Devil cannot be allowed to discuss the need for leadership renewal in Heaven.”

Maziwisa said the MDC should stop complaining about vote rigging.

“It’s not about Nikuv or what, but it’s about MDC policies which failed to appeal to the people,” Maziwisa said.

“Whilst MDC was talking about job creation, Zanu PF what was talking of empowerment through indigenisation. The better team won and the MDC should accept that they were rejected by the people.”

MDC spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora — who was also a panellist — quickly rubbished Maziwisa and said Tsvangirai was not going to step down. Mwonzora claimed the military rigged elections for Zanu PF and claimed his party had evidence proving this.

He declared that his party will bounce back in 2018.

“Since 1999, we have been having a boom and slump cycle,” Mwonzora said.

“In 2000, we had 57 seats in Parliament, in 2005 we had 41 seats and in 2008 we bounced back with 121 seats. Now at our lowest we have 91 seats. In 2018, we are definitely going to come back and win the elections.”

Takura Zhangazha, an analyst who was also a panellist at the discussion forum, said opposition parties remained relevant but they needed to re-strategise if they are ever to dislodge Zanu PF from power. Daily News