By David Tinashe Hofisi
The High Court sitting at Harare dealt a body-blow to Nelson Chamisa’s leadership of the MDC on 8 May 2019. In the case of Elias Mashavira vs. Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Five Others HH 302/19, Justice Edith Mushore ruled that Chamisa’s ascension to the positions of Deputy President, Acting President and substantive President were contrary to the MDC Constitution. Criticism of the judgment has been as swift as it has been acerbic.
The MDC claimed the ruling is part of the “machinations and strategies…deployed by the Mnangagwa administration to destabilize and destroy the people’s project.” UK based scholar Alex Magaisa termed the judgement an “embarrassment to the legal and political system,” whilst MDC member and lawyer David Coltart called it a “desperate and pathetic move.”
This is at odds with other commentators, most prominently scholar Derek Matyszak, who pointed out Chamisa’s questionable rise to the party presidency ahead of the court’s findings. In assessing these opposing views, I am convinced that it is the populist-driven nature of the MDC which makes its supporters oblivious to the legal consequences of its constitutional misfeasance.