Opinion / Columnist
Jonathan Moyo exposes Mahere's 'big fat lie'
25 Nov 2023 at 13:06hrs | Views
EXPLAINER: Fingerprints of the MDC in the "Edited" CCC Constitution filed by Tshabangu in Chamisa's Interdict Court Case to halt Further Recalls not Fraud but Proof of MDC Paternity of Lawful CCC
FOLLOWING THE HEARING of the urgent court application in the Harare High Court brought by Chamisa's party to interdict Sengezo Tshabangu from issuing further letters to recall MPs and Councillors of that party who have ceased to be members of the lawful CCC party founded on 22 January 2022 - pending finalisation of summons in the High Court challenging Tshabangu's authority to trigger the recalls - there has been a sensational allegation that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party"; and falsely presented it in court as evidence of the CCC constitution.
But is this allegation truthful, meaning is it based on and supported by independent and verifiable evidence, or is it yet another ugly example of the usual political hot air that now typifies public discourse in Zimbabwe?
This is an important question because the veracity of information, or even of knowledge, in Zimbabwe today no longer depends on the validity of the methodology of how what is being claimed has been arrived at; or on the evidence that corroborates or supports what is being claimed, but is only and entirely based on the political affiliation or disposition of the claimant.
Given his or her political affiliation, all what a claimant needs to do is to assert a conclusion and that conclusion instantly becomes a valid argument by virtue of the political affiliation or disposition of the claimant.
So, instead of argument by methodology or by evidence or facts, the scourge of argument by conclusion based on the political affiliation or disposition of the arguer has taken root in public discourse in Zimbabwe.
This scourge and its consequential mediocrity that now pervades Zimbabwean society, need to be confronted head on in the national interest, without fear or favour and without any apologies.
That said, is the sensational allegation that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party," and falsely presented it in court as evidence of the CCC constitution supported or corroborated by any independent and verifiable evidence?
The answer is an emphatic, no.
It turns out that the allegedly "edited" aspects of the constitution which have visible fingerprints of the "MDC" – whether left there by omission or commission – are in fact important and useful because they happen to unequivocally explain the paternity of CCC as an offspring of the MDC-A, itself an offspring of the MDC, which was led by Nelson Chamisa between 1 April 2020 and 22 January 2022.
This is a fact supported by verifiable evidence in the public domain, notably and tellingly in the archives of CCC on its X, formerly Twitter, handle.
As is detailed in Tshabangu's opposing affidavit in the interdict case, it was in fact the MDC-A, formed in April 2020, as an MDC faction that refused to abide by the Supreme Court judgment of 31 March 2020, which founded CCC on 22 January 2022.
This was ahead of the unveiling of CCC on 24 January 2022 at the Nomination Court, which sat that day for the 26 March 2022 by-elections.
Even Jameson Timba, the deponent for Chamisa's party in the interdict case, admits under paragraph 23 of his founding affidavit that CCC was in fact founded on 22 January 2022, the day the MDC-A National Council met precisely and only for the purpose of founding CCC.
Although there have been multiple sources that have spread the sensational allegation that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party and falsely presented it in court as evidence of the CCC constitution", two of them standout to warrant scrutiny; because of their direct and active involvement with the founding of CCC by the MDC-A, a faction of the MDC, on 22 January 2022; and these are:
1. CCC's X handle run by the MDC from February 2010 to 22 January 2022; and,
2. Honourable Fadzayi Mahere; who was the National Spokesperson of the MDC-A between 28 May 2020 and 22 January 2022.
First, below is what was peddled on CCC's X handle run by Chamisa's party. The post is notable because its propaganda is sharply contradicted by a deluge of tweets posted on the same handle between 1 April 2020 and 22 January 2022:
"Fraudulently editing a constitution of another party and presenting it as evidence in a court of law to commit a crime is a criminal offense. It is equally unlawful for anyone to receive such fraudulent evidence and use it to make a determination."
Second, below is what Honourable Mahere posted on Tuesday. As will be shown, like that of CCC, Mahere's propaganda in her post is also sharply contradicted by a deluge of tweets that she posted between 28 May 2020 and 22 January 2022, as the National Spokesperson of the MDC-A party, led by Chamisa, which MDC-A founded CCC on 22 January 2022:
"Tshabangu's "Constitution" is so obviously doctored and fraudulent. He tried to pass off an "MDC" Constitution as being a CCC Constitution. However, as fraudsters tend to do, he forgot to proofread the doctored Constitution and left certain references to the MDC. This proves the fraud beyond doubt."
The dishonesty in the above posts by CCC and Honourable Mahere, respectively, is breath-taking.
Take the Tuesday post by CCC.
What "another party" is CCC referring to in its Tuesday post? What other political party ran the X [formerly Twitter] handle, now under CCC, between 1 April 2020 and 22 January 2022?
The handle says the CCC account was established in February 2010. But is CCC that old?
There is no need for rocket science to prove that this handle now under CCC was in fact founded by the MDC which ran it from February 2010 to April 2020.
The MDC-A, as a faction of the MDC, kept control of the handle from April 2020 to 22 January 2022 when the handle was inherited by CCC.
Against this backdrop, and as will be further shown below, the chain of paternity link between the CCC (2022) and the MDC-A (2020) and the MDC (2010) is as open and shut as the editorial link between the CCC constitution (2022), the MDC-A constitution (2020), the MDC constitution (Gweru 2019) and the founding MDC constitution (1999).
Irrefutable evidence in the public domain shows that the Tuesday propaganda by CCC and Honourable Mahere that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party"; is in fact false and misleading because the constitution submitted by Tshabangu is actually the constitution of the very one and the same faction, the faction that called itself MDC in 2019 and MDC-A in 2020, which is the very same faction that founded CCC on 22 January 2022; using one and the same constitution it had in 2019 and 2020, as amended.
For the avoidance of doubt or confusion, two or more political parties can in substance, have similar constitutions.
The unassailable evidence that supports this fact was tweeted by none other than CCC itself in a communique of the MDC-A that CCC posted on 22 January 2022, as shown below:
Citizens' Coalition for Change
Communiqué on 22 January 2022 National Council Meeting.
By its Tuesday post, alleging that that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party and falsely presented it in court as evidence of the CCC constitution"; does CCC mean that it has forgotten that none other itself tweeted a CCC communique on an MDC-A letterhead on 22 January 2022?
Tellingly, the record of the 22 January 2022 National Council meeting was also captured on the then MDC-A Twitter handle, now run by CCC on X, as follows:
"Today, the People's Movement met to build a new consensus that places the citizen at the centre of all decision-making. The National Council agreed on our Agenda 2022, soon to be announced by the People's President Adv. Nelson Chamisa". #SimukaZimbabwe #NgaapindeHakeMukomana
Again, it is particularly notable that this record above, also captures the leadership of the MDC-A as it was on 22 January 2022, which leadership morphed into the CCC founding leadership, and which CCC leadership is in fact and legally still in post today, notwithstanding Chamisa's attempted internal coup under which he has formed CCC-Wapusa Wapusa, whose Chamisa-centric constitution was made public by Timba in his answering affidavit in the pending interdict case.
As detailed in Tshabangu's opposing affidavit in the interdict case before the High Court in Harare, and as is corroborated by impeachable evidence on the CCC handle, and in the public domain, including from well known experts who made presentations at the MDC-A National Executive [NEC] meeting on 21 January 2022 and at the MDC-A National Council [NC] meeting on 22 January 2022; the NEC and NC considered four options under which to participate in the by-elections of 26 March 2022:
1. As per the status quo, using the MDC-A name, and challenging the MDC-T to retain the name; or
2. Rebranding the MDC-A; or
3. Forming a new party, or
4. Coming up with a new label/platform to use for by-elections and future elections.
On 22 January 2022, the MDC-A National Council, before it morphed to become the CCC National Council, adopted the fourth option: and came up with CCC as a new label/platform for participating in elections, starting with the 26 March 2022 by-elections.
Significantly, the National Council did not dissolve or change the existent structures and the constitution of the MDC-A founded in April 2020; upon which the lawful CCC was formed.
Notably, those structures which still exist and are reasserting themselves through Tshabangu's recalls, are radically different from the ones announced by Chamisa on 23 September 2023, and 11 October 2023.
Only one thing changed substantively on 22 January 2022: the name of the label for participating in elections.
Everything else, including the constitution, did not change. What remained was consequential clerical-edits, for example by deleting "MDC" and substituting it with "CCC".
In his founding affidavit, as the deponent ostensibly on behalf of Chamisa's party in the interdict case, Timba makes this averment on paragraph 23, which effectively affirms the foregoing:
"Applicant [CCC] was founded as a political party on 22 January 2022. In the exercise of its rights and privileges in terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, Applicant participated in the August 2023 Harmonised Elections where it sponsored members to contest in the National Assembly, Senate and Local authorities."
So, even Chamisa's party's own Timba – who misdirects himself throughout his founding affidavit in his desperate effort to save the new CCC- Wapusa Wapusa party which has a new Chamisa-centric constitution – unequivocally admits as a matter of fact that CCC "was founded as a political party on 22 January 2022".
For obvious reasons, he does not say who formed CCC, let alone how.
The evidential proof of the founding of CCC on 22 January 2022 is in CCC's communique of the same day on an MDC-A letterhead, and this alone proves beyond any shadow of doubt that CCC was founded by the MDC-A, which was then led by Chamisa.
That very same MDC-A had a constitution inherited from MDC, and that constitution became the interim constitution of CCC from 22 January 2022, up to now.
So, no, there's no room for CCC or Honourable Mahere or anyone else for that matter, to now start telling blatant and revisionist lies and propaganda to cover up the mess that Chamisa has created through his internal 23 September 2023 coup, in his daring attempt to hijack the political party that he founded with others on 22 January 2022.
The link between the CCC constitution and the MDC-A constitution, which was in fact an MDC constitution, cannot be disconnected. It is an undeniable indelible connection.
In the circumstances, the CCC allegation that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party and falsely presented it in court as evidence of the CCC constitution" only succeeds in shooting itself in the foot because it is hocus-pocus.
But because CCC is an X, formerly Twitter, handle, and because the public does not know who runs the handle at any given time, the culpability of CCC in the hocus-pocus pales into insignificance when compared to the culpability of Honourable Mahere, who was the MDC-A National Spokesperson from 28 May 2020 to 22 January 2022 when, on that very day the MDC-A's National Council became the CCC National Council.
Honourable Mahere signed the MDC-A communique which announced the founding of CCC on 22 January 2022, as she too instantly morphed by the stroke of a pen, then and there, to become CCC National Spokesperson.
In other words, she morphed into CCC just like everything else which was MDC-A, which included the constitution; with no editing.
In her emotive X post on Tuesday, Honourable Mahere stoked the propaganda fires by recklessly and falsely alleging that [Tshabangu's]:
"Constitution is so obviously doctored and fraudulent. He tried to pass off an ‘MDC' Constitution as being a CCC Constitution".
Honourable Mahere made this false and misleading claim in her shameless effort to appease Chamisa; unsurprisingly, she punctuated the appeasement by claiming that:
"President Nelson Chamisa founded the CCC on 24 January 2022".
But the verifiable fact is that the lawful CCC was founded by the MDC-A National Council on 22 January 2022.
Honourable Mahere's full lie is here:
In the vein of her falsehood, Honourable Mahere further claims in her Tuesday post on X that:
"The courts held that the MDC Alliance was not a political party but a loose coalition of parties led by the MDC T..."
But there are some important things that Honourable Mahere does not say in her false and misleading Tuesday post on X.
Despite the fact that he had lodged the appeal in the Supreme Court in May 2019, Chamisa did not accept any part or aspect of the 31 March 2020 Supreme Court judgment, not least that the "MDC Alliance was not a political party but a loose coalition of parties led by the MDC T".
As an expression of his rejection of the Supreme Court judgment, Chamisa leaned on the Gweru 2019 outcomes, and he sought and received the support of Prof Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti and Job Sikhala; buoyed by the fact that the MDC-A had since Gweru 2019 morphed from an election pact that it was in 2018, to a political pact [an MDC faction] called, MDC-A political party in April 2020, as Chamisa's direct response to the 31 March 2020 Supreme Court judgment which went against him.
SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT (31 March 2020): MDC, Chamisa & Komichi vs Mashavira, Mudzuri, Khupe & Mwonzora
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o_-leR_zzNMFFH9073Xv6wQtv8hRvcVV/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116474357798824336360&rtpof=true&sd=true
It is indisputable that the majority of the political parties that had come together in 2017 under an electoral pack known as the "MDC-A" and which had reunited as the "MDC" at the "5th MDC Congress" in Gweru in May 2019, formed a new political party, the MDC-A, in April 2020.
This new "MDC-A" party, was in fact an MDC "faction" that rejected the Supreme Court judgment, retained the MDC constitution, structures, positions and resolutions ratified by the May 2019 "5th MDC Congress"; despite the nullification of the congress by the Supreme Court judgment.
Below is a link to the MDC-A Gweru 2019 resolutions.
Link: MDC-A Gweru 2019 Resolutions
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YHNqfjdarvwJyVse4YMBg-bezcfpVWXo/view?usp=sharing
There were a number of key resolutions out of the 41 that were adopted by the "5th MDC Congress" in Gweru in May 2019, but two are notable: Resolution 21(b) and Resolution 23, which provided, respectively, that:
21(b) "Congress fully and unanimously ratifies all the appointments and/or reassignments and all actions of Adv. Nelson Chamisa as the President of the MDC Party from the 15h of February 2018 to the 26h of May 2019."
23 "Pursuant to the resolutions of 4h Congress, Congress ratifies the readmission into the party of former party cadres from PDP, MDC and others, with full membership rights and responsibilities and waives any restrictions or prohibition in the enjoyment of their full membership."
Resolution 23 was understandable and straightforward in light of the 5 August 2017 alliance agreement which established the MDC-A as an electoral pact.
MDC-A 2017 Alliance Agreement
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S0-xv04zlngyF_DuBFYZaHFdVTuNwGHn/view?usp=sharing
But the Gweru 2019 Resolution 21(b), was a different and controversial proposition, whose implication still lingers on in 2023, and will continue to dog Chamisa into the indefinite future:
Resolution 21(b) particularly favoured Chamisa by sanitising his elevation that saw him unconstitutionally succeed Morgan Tsvangirai on 15 February 2018; only a day after his death and before he was laid to rest.
The High Court had ruled on 8 May 2019 that Chamisa's elevation on 15 February 2018 was illegal, null and void.
Chamisa had appealed the High Court ruling in the Supreme Court in May 2019, just before the Gweru May 2019 Congress, whose decision was handed down on 31 March 2020; against Chamisa.
Resolution 21(b) was thus odd, as it sought to countermand a court decision.
Below is a link to the 8 May 2019 the High Court judgment in Mashavira vs MDC and 5 Others:
HIGH COURT JUDGMENT (8 MAY 2019) Elias Mashavira vs MDC and 5 Others
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H_wkIHQ1xNgoj2IHSeQBwC3tK9z4b-wK/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116474357798824336360&rtpof=true&sd=true
Apropos the 8 May 2019 High Court decision, it is important to highlight and underscore the fact that, contrary to Honourable Mahere's claim, the Supreme Court judgment of 31 March 2020 did not ban anyone from forming a new political party called "MDC-A", founded on the Gweru Congress resolutions or on the 2017 MDC-A electoral pact; as long as whoever was doing so was not claiming to be the MDC that had last held its congress in October 2014, the main MDC, as it were.
In any event, the point is that Chamisa, Ncube, Biti and Sikhala were well within their rights to transform or to support the transformation of their 2017 MDC-A electoral pact into a political party, and to use the Gweru 2019 MDC constitution, structures, positions and resolutions for interim purposes, in the new MDC-A party they formed in April 2020, pending the holding of a congress for the new party.
Therefore, between 1 April 2020 and 22 January 2022, there in fact was a new political party known as the MDC-A, led by Nelson Chamisa, deputised by Prof Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti and Linnet Karenyi-Kore; and which had Thabitha Khumalo as National Chairperson, deputised by Job Sikhala, with all the other officials whose names and portfolios are common cause.
Along with the retention of the MDC Gweru 2019 constitution as amended, and the Gweru 2019 resolutions, the MDC-A formed in April 2020 retained the MDC Gweru 2019 structures, positions, policies, officials etc. Notably, this was done under the authority of the MDC National Council, elected in May 2019 in Gweru.
Honourable Mahere, who now is wont to deny the existence of this MDC-A party which was founded in April 2020, was of course not part of it when it was founded.
Tellingly, the record in the public domain shows that Honourable Mahere was in fact appointed as the National Spokesperson of the new MDC-A party founded in April 2020, shortly after its formation, on 28 May 2020; and about two months after the 31 March 2020 Supreme Court judgment.
This means that the 31 March 2020 Supreme Court judgment did not "nullify" nor could it nullify the formation of the MDC-A as a new political party in April 2020; obviously because the formation was after the judgment was handed down.
Below is a link to a tweet by Honourable Mahere on 28 May 2020 acknowledging her appointment as National Spokesperson of the MDC-A, a new political party formed in April 2020:
Subsequently, and as shown by this example of a tweet she posted on 10 August 2020, Honourable Mahere variously used the letterhead of the MDC-A, as a political party; well after the 31 March 2020 decision of the Supreme Court:
As already pointed out, while Honourable Mahere now wants to feign ignorance of the existence of a political party called the MDC-A after the 31 March 2020 Supreme Court judgment, whose interim constitution became the interim constitution of CCC when it was founded on 22 January 2022; it was in fact the very same Honourable Mahere, as the MDC-A National Spokesperson in January 2022, who used the letterhead of the MDC-A, the political party formed in April 2020, to tweet or post the MDC-A communique on 22 January 2022, which communique announced the founding of CCC, two days before CCC was unveiled on 24 January 2022.
And, Honourable Mahere signed that communique on an MDC-A letterhead posted by on 22 January 2022 on the handle of CCC, after the National Council of the MDC-A which founded CCC, whose deliberation was captured in the tweet or X post below:
Citizens' Coalition for Change CCC
Today, the People's Movement met to build a new consensus that places the citizen at the centre of all decision-making. The National Council agreed on our Agenda 2022, soon to be announced by the People's President Adv@nelsonchamisa. #SimukaZimbabwe #NgaapindeHakeMukomana
Parenthetically - and as free even if perhaps unwelcome advice to Honourable Mahere, which advice is nevertheless a sociological fact - when it comes to the public record, society does not go by the self-indulgent rants of politicians or the noise of their gallery, but by the verifiable record in the public domain.
After all has been said, facts carry the day because they are stubborn.
It is common cause and therefore a verifiable fact that there was a political party led by Chamisa, called MDC-A, which existed under an interim constitution and structures with office bearers from April 2020 to 22 January 2022, and that this political party morphed into a new label [a party, if you will] called CCC, which party was unveiled on 24 January 2022.
There is a lot of empirical evidence – tons and tons of it – to support this, and Honourable Mahere features prominently in that very public evidence.
If, after the 31 March 2020 Supreme Court judgment, the MDC Gweru 2019 morphed wholesale in April 2020 into a new political party, the MDC-A; then and in light of Mwonzora's threat to takeover the MDC-A ahead of the 26 March 2022 by-elections, there should be no difficulty in understanding that it is the same National Council which superintended over the MDC-A from April 2020 to January 2022 that used its experience in the transition of the MDC in Gweru in May 2019 to the MDC-A party in Harare in April 2020 to oversee and undergo yet another transition from the MDC-A to CCC from 22 January 2022 onwards.
In the circumstances, it is false and misleading to allege – as did CCC and Honourable Mahere and their lot on Tuesday – that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party and falsely presented it in court as evidence of the CCC constitution'.
There was and there's no "another party" at play here.
It's just one and the same MDC party, actually faction of the MDC with more or less the same constitution, which became CCC on 22 January 2022.
It is unreasonable to allege that anyone can fraudulently edit their own document, their own intellectual property.
Fortuitously, in this case, the alleged editing of the MDC-A constitution by the real and lawful CCC, whether by commission or omission, is invaluable; not least because it serves to settle the CCC paternity question.
Once the paternity question is established, as it is in Tshabangu's opposing affidavit in the interdict case, it becomes self-evident, at least it becomes clear and understandable – from a non-partisan and independently verifiable factual point of view – how, when and why Tshabangu became interim CCC Secretary General; and when, how or why the recalled MPs and Councillors are said to have ceased to be members of the CCC founded on 22 January 2022, so soon after their election on 23/24 August 2023 harmonised general election!
FOLLOWING THE HEARING of the urgent court application in the Harare High Court brought by Chamisa's party to interdict Sengezo Tshabangu from issuing further letters to recall MPs and Councillors of that party who have ceased to be members of the lawful CCC party founded on 22 January 2022 - pending finalisation of summons in the High Court challenging Tshabangu's authority to trigger the recalls - there has been a sensational allegation that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party"; and falsely presented it in court as evidence of the CCC constitution.
But is this allegation truthful, meaning is it based on and supported by independent and verifiable evidence, or is it yet another ugly example of the usual political hot air that now typifies public discourse in Zimbabwe?
This is an important question because the veracity of information, or even of knowledge, in Zimbabwe today no longer depends on the validity of the methodology of how what is being claimed has been arrived at; or on the evidence that corroborates or supports what is being claimed, but is only and entirely based on the political affiliation or disposition of the claimant.
Given his or her political affiliation, all what a claimant needs to do is to assert a conclusion and that conclusion instantly becomes a valid argument by virtue of the political affiliation or disposition of the claimant.
So, instead of argument by methodology or by evidence or facts, the scourge of argument by conclusion based on the political affiliation or disposition of the arguer has taken root in public discourse in Zimbabwe.
This scourge and its consequential mediocrity that now pervades Zimbabwean society, need to be confronted head on in the national interest, without fear or favour and without any apologies.
That said, is the sensational allegation that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party," and falsely presented it in court as evidence of the CCC constitution supported or corroborated by any independent and verifiable evidence?
The answer is an emphatic, no.
It turns out that the allegedly "edited" aspects of the constitution which have visible fingerprints of the "MDC" – whether left there by omission or commission – are in fact important and useful because they happen to unequivocally explain the paternity of CCC as an offspring of the MDC-A, itself an offspring of the MDC, which was led by Nelson Chamisa between 1 April 2020 and 22 January 2022.
This is a fact supported by verifiable evidence in the public domain, notably and tellingly in the archives of CCC on its X, formerly Twitter, handle.
As is detailed in Tshabangu's opposing affidavit in the interdict case, it was in fact the MDC-A, formed in April 2020, as an MDC faction that refused to abide by the Supreme Court judgment of 31 March 2020, which founded CCC on 22 January 2022.
This was ahead of the unveiling of CCC on 24 January 2022 at the Nomination Court, which sat that day for the 26 March 2022 by-elections.
Even Jameson Timba, the deponent for Chamisa's party in the interdict case, admits under paragraph 23 of his founding affidavit that CCC was in fact founded on 22 January 2022, the day the MDC-A National Council met precisely and only for the purpose of founding CCC.
Although there have been multiple sources that have spread the sensational allegation that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party and falsely presented it in court as evidence of the CCC constitution", two of them standout to warrant scrutiny; because of their direct and active involvement with the founding of CCC by the MDC-A, a faction of the MDC, on 22 January 2022; and these are:
1. CCC's X handle run by the MDC from February 2010 to 22 January 2022; and,
2. Honourable Fadzayi Mahere; who was the National Spokesperson of the MDC-A between 28 May 2020 and 22 January 2022.
First, below is what was peddled on CCC's X handle run by Chamisa's party. The post is notable because its propaganda is sharply contradicted by a deluge of tweets posted on the same handle between 1 April 2020 and 22 January 2022:
"Fraudulently editing a constitution of another party and presenting it as evidence in a court of law to commit a crime is a criminal offense. It is equally unlawful for anyone to receive such fraudulent evidence and use it to make a determination."
🟡Fraudulently editing a constitution of another party and presenting it as evidence in a court of law to commit a crime is a criminal offense. It is equally unlawful for anyone to receive such fraudulent evidence and use it to make a determination. pic.twitter.com/rQWWU1KDPc
— Citizens' Coalition for Change (@CCCZimbabwe) November 21, 2023
Second, below is what Honourable Mahere posted on Tuesday. As will be shown, like that of CCC, Mahere's propaganda in her post is also sharply contradicted by a deluge of tweets that she posted between 28 May 2020 and 22 January 2022, as the National Spokesperson of the MDC-A party, led by Chamisa, which MDC-A founded CCC on 22 January 2022:
"Tshabangu's "Constitution" is so obviously doctored and fraudulent. He tried to pass off an "MDC" Constitution as being a CCC Constitution. However, as fraudsters tend to do, he forgot to proofread the doctored Constitution and left certain references to the MDC. This proves the fraud beyond doubt."
🟡Tshabangu's "Constitution" is so obviously doctored and fraudulent. He tried to pass off an "MDC" Constitution as being a CCC Constitution.
— Fadzayi Mahere🇿🇼 (@advocatemahere) November 22, 2023
However, as fraudsters tend to do, he forgot to proofread the doctored Constitution and left certain references to the MDC. This proves… pic.twitter.com/qcp0ZgeWdo
The dishonesty in the above posts by CCC and Honourable Mahere, respectively, is breath-taking.
Take the Tuesday post by CCC.
What "another party" is CCC referring to in its Tuesday post? What other political party ran the X [formerly Twitter] handle, now under CCC, between 1 April 2020 and 22 January 2022?
The handle says the CCC account was established in February 2010. But is CCC that old?
There is no need for rocket science to prove that this handle now under CCC was in fact founded by the MDC which ran it from February 2010 to April 2020.
The MDC-A, as a faction of the MDC, kept control of the handle from April 2020 to 22 January 2022 when the handle was inherited by CCC.
Against this backdrop, and as will be further shown below, the chain of paternity link between the CCC (2022) and the MDC-A (2020) and the MDC (2010) is as open and shut as the editorial link between the CCC constitution (2022), the MDC-A constitution (2020), the MDC constitution (Gweru 2019) and the founding MDC constitution (1999).
Irrefutable evidence in the public domain shows that the Tuesday propaganda by CCC and Honourable Mahere that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party"; is in fact false and misleading because the constitution submitted by Tshabangu is actually the constitution of the very one and the same faction, the faction that called itself MDC in 2019 and MDC-A in 2020, which is the very same faction that founded CCC on 22 January 2022; using one and the same constitution it had in 2019 and 2020, as amended.
For the avoidance of doubt or confusion, two or more political parties can in substance, have similar constitutions.
The unassailable evidence that supports this fact was tweeted by none other than CCC itself in a communique of the MDC-A that CCC posted on 22 January 2022, as shown below:
Citizens' Coalition for Change
Communiqué on 22 January 2022 National Council Meeting.
Communiqué on 22 January 2022 National Council Meeting: pic.twitter.com/aDMy4nO8O4
— Citizens' Coalition for Change (@CCCZimbabwe) January 22, 2022
By its Tuesday post, alleging that that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party and falsely presented it in court as evidence of the CCC constitution"; does CCC mean that it has forgotten that none other itself tweeted a CCC communique on an MDC-A letterhead on 22 January 2022?
Tellingly, the record of the 22 January 2022 National Council meeting was also captured on the then MDC-A Twitter handle, now run by CCC on X, as follows:
"Today, the People's Movement met to build a new consensus that places the citizen at the centre of all decision-making. The National Council agreed on our Agenda 2022, soon to be announced by the People's President Adv. Nelson Chamisa". #SimukaZimbabwe #NgaapindeHakeMukomana
🔴Today, the People's Movement met to build a new consensus that places the citizen at the center of all decision-making. The National Council agreed on our Agenda 2022, soon to be announced by the People's President Adv @nelsonchamisa. #SimukaZimbabwe #NgaapindeHakeMukomana pic.twitter.com/LqGbMyKH5z
— Citizens' Coalition for Change (@CCCZimbabwe) January 22, 2022
Again, it is particularly notable that this record above, also captures the leadership of the MDC-A as it was on 22 January 2022, which leadership morphed into the CCC founding leadership, and which CCC leadership is in fact and legally still in post today, notwithstanding Chamisa's attempted internal coup under which he has formed CCC-Wapusa Wapusa, whose Chamisa-centric constitution was made public by Timba in his answering affidavit in the pending interdict case.
As detailed in Tshabangu's opposing affidavit in the interdict case before the High Court in Harare, and as is corroborated by impeachable evidence on the CCC handle, and in the public domain, including from well known experts who made presentations at the MDC-A National Executive [NEC] meeting on 21 January 2022 and at the MDC-A National Council [NC] meeting on 22 January 2022; the NEC and NC considered four options under which to participate in the by-elections of 26 March 2022:
1. As per the status quo, using the MDC-A name, and challenging the MDC-T to retain the name; or
2. Rebranding the MDC-A; or
3. Forming a new party, or
4. Coming up with a new label/platform to use for by-elections and future elections.
On 22 January 2022, the MDC-A National Council, before it morphed to become the CCC National Council, adopted the fourth option: and came up with CCC as a new label/platform for participating in elections, starting with the 26 March 2022 by-elections.
Significantly, the National Council did not dissolve or change the existent structures and the constitution of the MDC-A founded in April 2020; upon which the lawful CCC was formed.
Notably, those structures which still exist and are reasserting themselves through Tshabangu's recalls, are radically different from the ones announced by Chamisa on 23 September 2023, and 11 October 2023.
Only one thing changed substantively on 22 January 2022: the name of the label for participating in elections.
Everything else, including the constitution, did not change. What remained was consequential clerical-edits, for example by deleting "MDC" and substituting it with "CCC".
In his founding affidavit, as the deponent ostensibly on behalf of Chamisa's party in the interdict case, Timba makes this averment on paragraph 23, which effectively affirms the foregoing:
"Applicant [CCC] was founded as a political party on 22 January 2022. In the exercise of its rights and privileges in terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, Applicant participated in the August 2023 Harmonised Elections where it sponsored members to contest in the National Assembly, Senate and Local authorities."
So, even Chamisa's party's own Timba – who misdirects himself throughout his founding affidavit in his desperate effort to save the new CCC- Wapusa Wapusa party which has a new Chamisa-centric constitution – unequivocally admits as a matter of fact that CCC "was founded as a political party on 22 January 2022".
For obvious reasons, he does not say who formed CCC, let alone how.
The evidential proof of the founding of CCC on 22 January 2022 is in CCC's communique of the same day on an MDC-A letterhead, and this alone proves beyond any shadow of doubt that CCC was founded by the MDC-A, which was then led by Chamisa.
That very same MDC-A had a constitution inherited from MDC, and that constitution became the interim constitution of CCC from 22 January 2022, up to now.
So, no, there's no room for CCC or Honourable Mahere or anyone else for that matter, to now start telling blatant and revisionist lies and propaganda to cover up the mess that Chamisa has created through his internal 23 September 2023 coup, in his daring attempt to hijack the political party that he founded with others on 22 January 2022.
The link between the CCC constitution and the MDC-A constitution, which was in fact an MDC constitution, cannot be disconnected. It is an undeniable indelible connection.
In the circumstances, the CCC allegation that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party and falsely presented it in court as evidence of the CCC constitution" only succeeds in shooting itself in the foot because it is hocus-pocus.
But because CCC is an X, formerly Twitter, handle, and because the public does not know who runs the handle at any given time, the culpability of CCC in the hocus-pocus pales into insignificance when compared to the culpability of Honourable Mahere, who was the MDC-A National Spokesperson from 28 May 2020 to 22 January 2022 when, on that very day the MDC-A's National Council became the CCC National Council.
In other words, she morphed into CCC just like everything else which was MDC-A, which included the constitution; with no editing.
In her emotive X post on Tuesday, Honourable Mahere stoked the propaganda fires by recklessly and falsely alleging that [Tshabangu's]:
"Constitution is so obviously doctored and fraudulent. He tried to pass off an ‘MDC' Constitution as being a CCC Constitution".
Honourable Mahere made this false and misleading claim in her shameless effort to appease Chamisa; unsurprisingly, she punctuated the appeasement by claiming that:
"President Nelson Chamisa founded the CCC on 24 January 2022".
But the verifiable fact is that the lawful CCC was founded by the MDC-A National Council on 22 January 2022.
Honourable Mahere's full lie is here:
🟡Tshabangu's "Constitution" is so obviously doctored and fraudulent. He tried to pass off an "MDC" Constitution as being a CCC Constitution.
— Fadzayi Mahere🇿🇼 (@advocatemahere) November 22, 2023
However, as fraudsters tend to do, he forgot to proofread the doctored Constitution and left certain references to the MDC. This proves… pic.twitter.com/qcp0ZgeWdo
In the vein of her falsehood, Honourable Mahere further claims in her Tuesday post on X that:
"The courts held that the MDC Alliance was not a political party but a loose coalition of parties led by the MDC T..."
But there are some important things that Honourable Mahere does not say in her false and misleading Tuesday post on X.
Despite the fact that he had lodged the appeal in the Supreme Court in May 2019, Chamisa did not accept any part or aspect of the 31 March 2020 Supreme Court judgment, not least that the "MDC Alliance was not a political party but a loose coalition of parties led by the MDC T".
As an expression of his rejection of the Supreme Court judgment, Chamisa leaned on the Gweru 2019 outcomes, and he sought and received the support of Prof Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti and Job Sikhala; buoyed by the fact that the MDC-A had since Gweru 2019 morphed from an election pact that it was in 2018, to a political pact [an MDC faction] called, MDC-A political party in April 2020, as Chamisa's direct response to the 31 March 2020 Supreme Court judgment which went against him.
SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT (31 March 2020): MDC, Chamisa & Komichi vs Mashavira, Mudzuri, Khupe & Mwonzora
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o_-leR_zzNMFFH9073Xv6wQtv8hRvcVV/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116474357798824336360&rtpof=true&sd=true
It is indisputable that the majority of the political parties that had come together in 2017 under an electoral pack known as the "MDC-A" and which had reunited as the "MDC" at the "5th MDC Congress" in Gweru in May 2019, formed a new political party, the MDC-A, in April 2020.
This new "MDC-A" party, was in fact an MDC "faction" that rejected the Supreme Court judgment, retained the MDC constitution, structures, positions and resolutions ratified by the May 2019 "5th MDC Congress"; despite the nullification of the congress by the Supreme Court judgment.
Below is a link to the MDC-A Gweru 2019 resolutions.
Link: MDC-A Gweru 2019 Resolutions
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YHNqfjdarvwJyVse4YMBg-bezcfpVWXo/view?usp=sharing
There were a number of key resolutions out of the 41 that were adopted by the "5th MDC Congress" in Gweru in May 2019, but two are notable: Resolution 21(b) and Resolution 23, which provided, respectively, that:
21(b) "Congress fully and unanimously ratifies all the appointments and/or reassignments and all actions of Adv. Nelson Chamisa as the President of the MDC Party from the 15h of February 2018 to the 26h of May 2019."
23 "Pursuant to the resolutions of 4h Congress, Congress ratifies the readmission into the party of former party cadres from PDP, MDC and others, with full membership rights and responsibilities and waives any restrictions or prohibition in the enjoyment of their full membership."
Resolution 23 was understandable and straightforward in light of the 5 August 2017 alliance agreement which established the MDC-A as an electoral pact.
MDC-A 2017 Alliance Agreement
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S0-xv04zlngyF_DuBFYZaHFdVTuNwGHn/view?usp=sharing
But the Gweru 2019 Resolution 21(b), was a different and controversial proposition, whose implication still lingers on in 2023, and will continue to dog Chamisa into the indefinite future:
Resolution 21(b) particularly favoured Chamisa by sanitising his elevation that saw him unconstitutionally succeed Morgan Tsvangirai on 15 February 2018; only a day after his death and before he was laid to rest.
The High Court had ruled on 8 May 2019 that Chamisa's elevation on 15 February 2018 was illegal, null and void.
Chamisa had appealed the High Court ruling in the Supreme Court in May 2019, just before the Gweru May 2019 Congress, whose decision was handed down on 31 March 2020; against Chamisa.
Resolution 21(b) was thus odd, as it sought to countermand a court decision.
Below is a link to the 8 May 2019 the High Court judgment in Mashavira vs MDC and 5 Others:
HIGH COURT JUDGMENT (8 MAY 2019) Elias Mashavira vs MDC and 5 Others
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H_wkIHQ1xNgoj2IHSeQBwC3tK9z4b-wK/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116474357798824336360&rtpof=true&sd=true
Apropos the 8 May 2019 High Court decision, it is important to highlight and underscore the fact that, contrary to Honourable Mahere's claim, the Supreme Court judgment of 31 March 2020 did not ban anyone from forming a new political party called "MDC-A", founded on the Gweru Congress resolutions or on the 2017 MDC-A electoral pact; as long as whoever was doing so was not claiming to be the MDC that had last held its congress in October 2014, the main MDC, as it were.
In any event, the point is that Chamisa, Ncube, Biti and Sikhala were well within their rights to transform or to support the transformation of their 2017 MDC-A electoral pact into a political party, and to use the Gweru 2019 MDC constitution, structures, positions and resolutions for interim purposes, in the new MDC-A party they formed in April 2020, pending the holding of a congress for the new party.
Therefore, between 1 April 2020 and 22 January 2022, there in fact was a new political party known as the MDC-A, led by Nelson Chamisa, deputised by Prof Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti and Linnet Karenyi-Kore; and which had Thabitha Khumalo as National Chairperson, deputised by Job Sikhala, with all the other officials whose names and portfolios are common cause.
Along with the retention of the MDC Gweru 2019 constitution as amended, and the Gweru 2019 resolutions, the MDC-A formed in April 2020 retained the MDC Gweru 2019 structures, positions, policies, officials etc. Notably, this was done under the authority of the MDC National Council, elected in May 2019 in Gweru.
Honourable Mahere, who now is wont to deny the existence of this MDC-A party which was founded in April 2020, was of course not part of it when it was founded.
Tellingly, the record in the public domain shows that Honourable Mahere was in fact appointed as the National Spokesperson of the new MDC-A party founded in April 2020, shortly after its formation, on 28 May 2020; and about two months after the 31 March 2020 Supreme Court judgment.
This means that the 31 March 2020 Supreme Court judgment did not "nullify" nor could it nullify the formation of the MDC-A as a new political party in April 2020; obviously because the formation was after the judgment was handed down.
Below is a link to a tweet by Honourable Mahere on 28 May 2020 acknowledging her appointment as National Spokesperson of the MDC-A, a new political party formed in April 2020:
Humbled. I take on this responsibility bearing in mind the huge task ahead as the Alliance begins to reshape the narrative. We shall ensure the position of our party in all things political, social & economic is made clear & easily accessible for citizens to understand & partner. https://t.co/SerbfvWsUc
— Fadzayi Mahere🇿🇼 (@advocatemahere) May 28, 2020
Subsequently, and as shown by this example of a tweet she posted on 10 August 2020, Honourable Mahere variously used the letterhead of the MDC-A, as a political party; well after the 31 March 2020 decision of the Supreme Court:
MDC Alliance Statement on Cancellation of Meeting by Special Envoys Appointed by Cyril Ramaphosa:@Sophie_Mokoena @peterndoro pic.twitter.com/CfPBZPZhuH
— Citizens' Coalition for Change (@CCCZimbabwe) August 10, 2020
As already pointed out, while Honourable Mahere now wants to feign ignorance of the existence of a political party called the MDC-A after the 31 March 2020 Supreme Court judgment, whose interim constitution became the interim constitution of CCC when it was founded on 22 January 2022; it was in fact the very same Honourable Mahere, as the MDC-A National Spokesperson in January 2022, who used the letterhead of the MDC-A, the political party formed in April 2020, to tweet or post the MDC-A communique on 22 January 2022, which communique announced the founding of CCC, two days before CCC was unveiled on 24 January 2022.
And, Honourable Mahere signed that communique on an MDC-A letterhead posted by on 22 January 2022 on the handle of CCC, after the National Council of the MDC-A which founded CCC, whose deliberation was captured in the tweet or X post below:
Citizens' Coalition for Change CCC
Today, the People's Movement met to build a new consensus that places the citizen at the centre of all decision-making. The National Council agreed on our Agenda 2022, soon to be announced by the People's President Adv@nelsonchamisa. #SimukaZimbabwe #NgaapindeHakeMukomana
🔴Today, the People's Movement met to build a new consensus that places the citizen at the center of all decision-making. The National Council agreed on our Agenda 2022, soon to be announced by the People's President Adv @nelsonchamisa. #SimukaZimbabwe #NgaapindeHakeMukomana pic.twitter.com/LqGbMyKH5z
— Citizens' Coalition for Change (@CCCZimbabwe) January 22, 2022
Parenthetically - and as free even if perhaps unwelcome advice to Honourable Mahere, which advice is nevertheless a sociological fact - when it comes to the public record, society does not go by the self-indulgent rants of politicians or the noise of their gallery, but by the verifiable record in the public domain.
After all has been said, facts carry the day because they are stubborn.
It is common cause and therefore a verifiable fact that there was a political party led by Chamisa, called MDC-A, which existed under an interim constitution and structures with office bearers from April 2020 to 22 January 2022, and that this political party morphed into a new label [a party, if you will] called CCC, which party was unveiled on 24 January 2022.
There is a lot of empirical evidence – tons and tons of it – to support this, and Honourable Mahere features prominently in that very public evidence.
If, after the 31 March 2020 Supreme Court judgment, the MDC Gweru 2019 morphed wholesale in April 2020 into a new political party, the MDC-A; then and in light of Mwonzora's threat to takeover the MDC-A ahead of the 26 March 2022 by-elections, there should be no difficulty in understanding that it is the same National Council which superintended over the MDC-A from April 2020 to January 2022 that used its experience in the transition of the MDC in Gweru in May 2019 to the MDC-A party in Harare in April 2020 to oversee and undergo yet another transition from the MDC-A to CCC from 22 January 2022 onwards.
In the circumstances, it is false and misleading to allege – as did CCC and Honourable Mahere and their lot on Tuesday – that Tshabangu "fraudulently edited a constitution of another party and falsely presented it in court as evidence of the CCC constitution'.
There was and there's no "another party" at play here.
It's just one and the same MDC party, actually faction of the MDC with more or less the same constitution, which became CCC on 22 January 2022.
It is unreasonable to allege that anyone can fraudulently edit their own document, their own intellectual property.
Fortuitously, in this case, the alleged editing of the MDC-A constitution by the real and lawful CCC, whether by commission or omission, is invaluable; not least because it serves to settle the CCC paternity question.
Once the paternity question is established, as it is in Tshabangu's opposing affidavit in the interdict case, it becomes self-evident, at least it becomes clear and understandable – from a non-partisan and independently verifiable factual point of view – how, when and why Tshabangu became interim CCC Secretary General; and when, how or why the recalled MPs and Councillors are said to have ceased to be members of the CCC founded on 22 January 2022, so soon after their election on 23/24 August 2023 harmonised general election!
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