Movement for Democratic Change Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa says that there has been change without change in Zimbabwe as the ‘new dispensation’ was simply a reproduction of the old, tyrannical system.
Addressing students at Oxford Union yesterday Chamisa said that he respected the young Mugabe but had reservations of the old Mugabe who betrayed the reason why he participated in the liberation struggle.
“I have a lot of respect of Robert Mugabe the young, though I do not have any respect for Robert Mugabe the old, because he betrayed the ideals of Robert Mugabe the young, who was a liberation icon. I suppose there is something wrong with age, but I don’t think so. Age comes with wisdom, but for Mr. Mugabe, age came alone. And these are the things we want to make sure we are able to deal with,” he said.
According to a statement released by his party, Chamisa said the biggest challenge Africa was facing was that of a crisis of leadership.
“Everything in Africa rises or falls with leadership. Once we get leadership right, everything else goes right. The shortage in Africa is not a shortage of resources, but a shortage in leadership which is manifesting itself in a shortage of many things,” he said.
“When you see diseases in Africa, you are not seeing disease but a death of leadership. How do we cure that? We cure it by making sure we put Zimbabwe on a path to a free and fair election. We have put certain benchmarks to achieve that free and fair election.”
Chamisa said he was going to win the coming elections if they were not rigged and would beat his biggest opponent, Emmerson Mnangagwa of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, hands down.
He caused a storm when he said if Mnangagwa wins five percent of the vote, he will give him his sister to marry.
Although his supporters argued that this was said in jest to show that it was impossible for Mnangagwa to win, others said it was demeaning to women.
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