'MDC-T can recapture power in 2018,' says Chamisa

The MDC-T can recapture power in the next election, but only when every Zimbabwean is clear how the July 31st election was manipulated by Zanu-PF.

This is according to the party's national organising secretary Nelson Chamisa. The MDC-T MP for Kuwadzana said they hope to visit "every door" of regional SADC leaders and "whoever cares to listen or receive us," in their quest to lay bare the facts on the electoral theft.

On Monday, two days after their party's 14th anniversary celebrations in Mutare, Chamisa said they will also roll out a program to visit each village, ward, district and province in Zimbabwe to prepare for 2018.

"We have people who still do not know what happened on July 31st. To that end, we will be taking our detailed dossier to the masses so that they see for themselves how their aspirations were betrayed by Zanu-PF, using spooky faces," Chamisa said.

The MP said party leader Morgan Tsvangirai has explained in detail how President Robert Mugabe retained power with the aid of the militarisation of the electoral body. He said that what is left is for the people to see the evidence first hand.

In his address to party supporters at Sakubva stadium in Mutare on Saturday, Tsvangirai explained why the party was forced to withdraw its electoral petition, which was intended to expose how the election was stolen. The party withdrew the petition last month, after attempts to secure evidence from the Electoral Commission were dismissed by the High Court.

"But I want to say here that we had to withdraw the Presidential election petition because we were denied election material and figures. They refused to allow us to bring witnesses to testify," Tsvangirai said on Saturday.

He added: "We have teachers, school heads and other civil servants who wanted to testify on how they were asked to plead illiteracy. We wanted to bring in many witnesses and cross-examine Tobaiwa Mudede and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chief Rita Makarau, among others."

The MDC-T leader continued: "We wanted Mudede to explain many things, included the millions of dollars he paid Nikuv without the knowledge of the Minister of Finance and what national services the company had offered the people of Zimbabwe."

"We have sat as a national leadership and received reports from across the country on how these thieves did it and we have frightening information, most of it from some of the players involved in the electoral theft."

Social and political commentator, Hopewell Gumbo said it is good that the MDC-T has decided to go back to its roots to re-engage with the masses on the way forward.

Gumbo noted that the party, after its electoral defeat, and the subsequent dismissal of the petition challenging the results, must remain united.