How Mwonzora stunned Chamisa

FROM an old woman walking with the aid of a rod to jubilant youths shouting and hanging precariously onto the backs and car roofs that repeatedly circled around the venue of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) congress recently amid deafening horns, all had one message - Douglas Mwonzora for secretary-general!

While some chose to converse in hushed tones from the shed of trees, others ran around shouting but their message was the same. Out of all this melee, an old woman who claims is possessed by the legendary spirit of Mbuya Nehanda stood out.

"Ndatumwa nevadzimu; ndakagarwa nemweya waMbuya Nehanda kuti ndizogadza mwana uyu chigaro. Ndechake ichi achatungamirira musangano mune zvakanaka, (I have been sent by the ancestors to anoint this child (Douglas Mwonzora) to take over the position. It belongs to him. He will lead the party very well)," said the old woman from Chivi, Masvingo pointing at the glossy campaign banner bearing a huge portrait of a smiling Mwonzora.

From day one of the MDC-T congress, it was clear who would land the most sought after position in Zimbabwe's main opposition party. The key office of secretary-general is now occupied by Mwonzora who put up a clinical campaign, outsmarting former organising secretary, Nelson Chamisa, causing one of the biggest shocks on the Zimbabwean political landscape.

Out of the 12 party provinces, Mwonzora pitched up at congress with just a single nomination against Chamisa's seemingly formidable 11. At one point he had contemplated withdrawing his candidature, seeing how his rival was sweeping through the provinces during the nomination process before assertively staging a gripping conquest. How on earth did the tables turn?

Although some were quick to allege party president, Morgan Tsvangirai's involvement as having played a significant role, any alert observer who was on the ground throughout the two-day congress would be convinced that this was a fair defeat, the first electoral defeat Chamisa has ever suffered in his stellar political career, which peaked when he was appointed a minister during the inclusive government.

One year after his tenure as a government minister, Chamisa, in just a night, had fallen to an ordinary card-carrying member. The greatest question that has been lingering since then is how on earth a man with just a single nomination upstaged the one 11 times better by  2 464 votes to 1 756 votes?

Many delegates at the congress said Chamisa was the author of his own demise.  The genesis of Chamisa's fall was when he was roundly blamed for the party's humiliating loss in last year's general elections. Party members said the youthful politician did not handle the party's structures professionally. The party's primary elections were marred by severe irregularities with Chamisa being blamed for imposing candidates who were not at home with the people.

And when the party was forced to have an early congress following the departure early this year of former secretary-general, Tendai Biti and others, Chamisa faced the same criticisms of rigging and imposing his friends into positions, particularly during the reformation of the lower structures, the branches and the provinces that feed congress delegates.

Party members who spoke to the Financial Gazette on the eve on the elections vowed to vote Chamisa out, alleging that the process of reforming the structures had been hugely compromised as the organising department which Chamisa headed was manipulating structures by imposing candidates into positions. "I am definitely going to vote for Mwonzora. After what Chamisa did to us, we cannot trust him with such a big position," said a former member of the Masvingo provincial executive who was booted out during the provincial congresses.

"Chamisa has that problem of interfering with structures. You do not do that in a democratic party. You must allow people to elect their own representatives. If you show that you cannot practice democracy, the people will throw you out as you shall discover tomorrow," said another MDC-T official from Midlands South province.

Throughout the congress, sporadic chants of slogans denouncing Chamisa while propping Mwonzora could be heard after every few minutes. A group of frenzied Mwonzora fans would burst into songs like "hapana chandichambogarira pano, kufamba naChamisa kwaramba (We need to move on, Chamisa has failed us)" from time to time racing around the City Sports Centre.

They also developed a coded whistle in support of Mwonzora which punctuated the mix of noises that characterised the campaign. A senior MDC-T member said another major undoing on Chamisa's part was when he confronted and reportedly finger-pointed Tsvangirai during a national council meeting soon after the disputed Manicaland provincial congress which nominated Mwonzora for the position. He said Mwonzora had capitalised on that to denigrate Chamisa.

This reporter witnessed Mwonzora himself addressing a group of noisy fans outside the stadium. "You don't need a secretary-general who is fast in speech but one who stands with your president (Tsvangirai) and who respects him," Mwonzora shouted to the supporters.

Tacit confirmation that even Chamisa himself had lost confidence in the elections came on Saturday afternoon when there was chaos during the process of accrediting voters. There were widespread reports of people in parallel structures attempting to gatecrash the congress and sway the vote. The issue of parallel structures caused mayhem and delayed voting by eight hours as it started at 8pm instead of the scheduled 11am of Saturday, forcing the delegates to vote overnight.

As the situation grew tense, Tsvangirai is said to have instructed Chamisa to go out and address the crowds and restore order at about 3pm but the Kuwadzana MP refused, telling him that he was afraid of being heckled by the delegates. In the end, it was Tsvangirai who had to come out and talk to the people with Chamisa flanking him.

When Tsvangirai finished his address, someone was heard shouting from the crowd: "Save tinomira nemi asi Cobra hailumi "We support you Tsvangirai but the Cobra (Chamisa's nickname) will not win," drawing cheers from the crowd.
Save is Tsvangirai's totem while Chamisa was christened after the menacing serpent for his cunning modus operandi. Some of the delegates alleged that Chamisa had lost trust of the MDC-T family because he had business interests with ZANU-PF officials.

Whether or not this is true, it had a crashing effect on Chamisa's bid. While Chamisa ran with a seven page manifesto, Mwonzora had huge posters bearing his picture and party colours. Both men chose to use loyalty to Tsvangirai as the avenue to success.  Chamisa branded himself "the loyal one", while Mwonzora called himself "humble and loyal to the president (of the party)."

A visibly nervous Chamisa refused to talk to the press throughout the congress and boycotted the final session which included the announcement of election results and swearing in of new office bearers, with sources saying he drove home in the early hours of Sunday when defeat was apparent.