Democracy under siege in Zimbabwe

MDC Alliance deputy spokesperson Felix Magalela Mafa Sibanda has said democracy has been put under threat after MDC-T leader Thokozani Khupe was sworn in in Parliament as a leader of opposition despite her having lost the presidential elections in 2018.

 "it is a shame that our once beautiful Rainbow Nation has been reduced to an epitome of everything that is bad in this world ranging from bad governance,State Repression and Suppression,thugocracy,kleptocracy and of late a state engineered assault on Opposition politics. The Recalling of MDC Alliance deployees in the Local Government,House of Assembly and Senate by the Khupe cabal is not only an onslaught on the MDC Alliance as a party but also on the generality of Zimbabweans who took their time to cast their votes in favour of the candidate and party of their choice," Sibanda said.

"It is therefore a vicious attack on the electorates' constitutional rights, Democracy and the credibility and legibility of opposition politics in Zimbabwe. Furthermore, the recalls are benefiting none other than the Regime at the expense of the suffering Zimbabweans. They are a clear attempt by the Regime and its proxies to weaken the Real opposition's ( MDC A) grip on the political landscape of this nation."

He said it is a known fact that the Khupe's cabal has been ZANU PF's strange bed fellow for long and haven't found it difficult to endorse the illegitimate Presidency of the incumbent through a dubious vehicle of failed politicians, a creation of Zanu PF outfit, (POLAD).

"It is a fact that both the MDC-T and the MDC Alliance contested the 2018 elections as separate parties and Dr Khupe lost dismally garnering a paltry 45 000 votes while Advocate Chamisa amassed 2,6 million votes thereby drawing a distinct line between the two parties; only a naive and political commissar cannot distinguish between the two.The marrying of the two different parties, MDC A and MDC T was not only naive but a well calculated move by the Regime and its agents to scuttle opposition politics and resuscitate Khupe's comatose political career," Sibanda said.

"The ZEC called for the electorate to react to the so called party list to replace the Recalled ,the MDC A deployees but it failed to even consider the 30 000 objections that were submitted clearly exposing the State's intertwined relationship with Khupe. It is only in Zimbabwe where millions of people vote for a candidate of their choice but are denied their Victory. It is only in Zimbabwe where the State dangles poisoned carrots and creates a docile opposition to further strangle the impoverished mass."

He said it is only in Zimbabwe where hungry Civil Servants demanding for a sustainable living wage are fired and replaced with equally hungry Civil servants.

"It is only in Zimbabwe where the Ruling party's Political Commissar canvass for support of an "opposition" leader in the National Media. It is only in Zimbabwe where "command politics" supercedes the people's will and the judiciary will just rubber stamp it. It is with a heavy heart that we note that "Democracy is no longer alive" in Zimbabwe. We bemoan "The Democratic Republic Of Zimbabwe" where the opposition's role is to keep the state in checks and balances not to rubber-stamp even the state's ill-conceived machinations," he said.