Dr Phillan Zamchiya

Dr Phillan Zamchiya Dear Reader, Zimbabwe’s draft delimitation report tabled in parliament today the 6th of January 2023 in line with section 161 of the constitution threatens electoral democracy in a subtle but deadly way. The report is 509 pages and has an anexure with 995 pages and maps. The report compiled by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) which is the statutory body mandated to run national elections presents the preliminary wards and 210 constituencies that can be used in the coming July/August 2023 general election if completed by 28 January 2023.

Dr Phillan Zamchiya: "Even if Mnangagwa wins the referendum there is a third exceptional legal albatross to authoritarian consolidation in Zimbabwe. Section 328 (7) of the Zimbabwe constitution clearly stipulates that the person who held the office of the President before the amendment cannot benefit from the extension of term limits. So even if Mnangagwa manages to change the constitution he is still barred by section 328 (7) to extend his rule beyond two terms that is beyond 2028. It is his successor who can legally benefit from that chicanery."

Dr Phillan Zamchiya Dear Reader, The Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) released the Afro-barometer round nine survey on Zimbabwe on 15 June 2022. The survey shows the incipient decline of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF)’s leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and the rise of Nelson Chamisa the leader of opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC). If presidential elections were to be held at this juncture, the ZANU PF leader will lose to the CCC leader. The survey signals that 33 % of respondents would vote for Chamisa against 30% for Mnangagwa.

Dr Phillan Zamchiya: "To simplify, the politburo is also in the dark about who is a ZANU PF member or not in the cell structure. It was therefore not surprising that the ruling party’s second secretary, Kembo Mohadi, like other politburo members, was disappointed as a few people turned out at the 11 June 2022 cell day meeting in his hometown of Beitbridge. Mohadi insisted that he wanted ‘to see faces and not just a register’." Zanu PF claims it has a whooping 3.9 million members where the national voter register has about 5.6 million people while the ruling African National Congress in South Africa which is one of the oldest national liberation movements in the world had only 1.4 million registered members in a context where the number of registered voters was about 26 million as of 12 June 2022.

Dr.Phillan Zamchiya Dear Reader Words fail me. Mukoma is no more. Dr. Alex Magaisa [Save] is dead. He suffered a cardiac arrest. Around 10 am this 5th of June 2022 in the United Kingdom. As usual I tried to phone. The phone rings. But this time Mukoma can not answer. Save cannot breathe. He cannot talk. Save can not write. Save cannot see. I am just left with waMagaisa’s last words to me which captures his legacy and must inspire a generation. ‘Thanks Munin’ina [My young brother]. You know your word means a lot to me. We have remained in one corner because integrity matters. I have been courted millions of times. And I could be very rich Munin’ina! But my principles cannot allow that. I cannot abandon the few that believe in me. 2017 they came with everything. They still come because they would like to parade me! But I cannot do that munin’ina.. I’m not Nyathi!’.