Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai has welcomed former Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s entry into opposition politics.
In a statement today, Tsvangirai said the bold step taken by Mujuru to finally and completely break ranks with ZANU-PF confirms the inevitable demise of ZANU-PF.
Mujuru unveiled her economic blueprint on Monday which among other things seeks to reverse the current indigenisation and land reform policies.
“We are heartened by her realisation that the opposition has been right all along that the crisis in the country has been about leadership, corruption and a bad governance culture by those in the stewardship of the State,” Tsvangirai said in a statement issued by his spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka.
“We feel vindicated by her acknowledgement of the imperative for a new direction for the country.
“For us, the fact that liberation struggle icons have joined the opposition in articulating what Zimbabweans have been hoping for all these years is indeed a breath of fresh air.”
The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, whose powerful politburo met yesterday, scoffed at Mujuru’s manifesto saying ZANU-PF was preoccupied with turning around the country’s economy.
Higher Education Minister Jonathan Moyo who has discussed the manifesto extensively on his twitter handle says that Mujuru stole her ideas from the Movement for Democratic Change which MDC-T spokesman Obert Gutu agreed with.
Moyo said in all material ways, Mujuru could therefore only split the opposition and not ZANU-PF.
“There's no way a manifesto thief like Mujuru can succeed where a liberation stalwart like Dabengwa miserably failed!” Moyo said.
Dumiso Dabengwa, who was a member of the ZANU-PF politburo before breaking ranks with the party in 2008 to join Simba Makoni and his Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn party, is now a pale shadow of his political past.
He did not fare better at all when he broke ranks with Makoni to revive the Zimbabwe African People’s Union- the party once led by Joshua Nkomo who was respected as the Father of Zimbabwe.
Moyo also rubbished a coalition between Tsvangirai and Mujuru saying: “A Tsvangirai-Mujuru coalition is as useless as was the Ndabaningi Sithole-Abel Muzorewa pact!”
Muzorewa and Sithole joined hands in 1978 to form a transitional government with Ian Smith and Chief Jeremiah Chirau.
They formed a national government in the 1979 elections after which the country’s name was changed to Zimbabwe-Rhodesia but the unity government collapsed leading to the Lancaster House Agreement that led to the independence elections in February 1980.
Sithole did not win a single seat in the independence elections while Muzorewa who was Prime Minister at the time, only won thee seats. Robert’s Mugabe’s ZANU-PF won 57 of the 80 seats open to black voters and Nkomo 20 seats.
Smith won all the 20 seats that were reserved for whites.
Full statement:
Thursday, 10 September 2015
President Morgan Tsvangirai on Amai Mujuru entering the political fray
There has been a lot of speculation on the proper position of President Morgan Tsvangirai regarding the entrance of former Vice President Joice Mujuru into the political fray as a fellow opposition leader.
Firstly, President Tsvangirai’s position regarding the whole issue is that the bold step taken by Amai Mujuru to finally and completely break ranks with Zanu PF confirms the inevitable demise of Zanu PF.
We are heartened by her realization that the opposition has been right all along that the crisis in the country has been about leadership, corruption and a bad governance culture by those in the stewardship of the State.
We feel vindicated by her acknowledgement of the imperative for a new direction for the country.
For us, the fact that liberation struggle icons have joined the opposition in articulating what Zimbabweans have been hoping for all these years is indeed a breath of fresh air.
With the majority of Zimbabweans gearing for a new beginning, this week’s developments confirm that there is hope indeed for the future.
Luke Tamborinyoka
Presidential Spokesperson and Director of Communications
Movement for Democratic Change
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