Animal Farm

  By Youngerson Matete and Liam Takura Kanhenga   On the 25th of January, 2024 advocate Nelson Chamisa walked away from the Citizen’s Coalition for Change (CCC). In a thirteen-page statement Mr Chamisa announced that he is resigning as the President of a party he founded almost 2 years ago citing both infection and infiltration of the party by rogue elements working in cohort with the ruling party. He claimed that the party had been hijacked by ZANU-PF using some senior leaders hence it is now contaminated that it is no longer the right vehicle to dislodge ZANU-PF from power hence he had to walk away. His resignation came as a result of the internal contradictions and conflicts that had been occurring since October 2023 when the Citizen Coalition for Change self-proclaimed Secretary General Sengezo Tshabangu instigated mass recalls of the opposition party's members of parliament, senators, and councilors claiming that they had ceased to be members of the party. The resignatio...

By Liam Takura Kanhenga and Youngerson Matete   Since 2000, there have been several attempts to dislodge the ruling party ZANU-PF from government. The ruling party’s mismanagement of the economy has led to an economic crisis that has rendered many Zimbabweans poor. This has led to an intensification of calls for the removal of ZANU-PF. The formation of the Movement for Democratic Change in 1999 heralded a serious threat to ZANU-PF’s hold on power. As the economy continues to deteriorate more and more people become dissatisfied with the ruling party.  As it became more evident that there was a real danger of losing power ZANU-PF began to tighten the grip and vice of power. Ever since there have been attempts to dislodge the ruling party from power by then MDC now reconstituted to Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) but ZANU-PF has maintained its grip on power. While these parties hold promise, it is essential to recognize that they are not a guaranteed solution for achieving de...

By Youngerson Matete and Liam Kanhenga On the 4 th  of November, 2023 the High Court of Zimbabwe issued a judgment in favor of Sengezo Tshabangu in the case of Prince Dubeko Sibanda & others versus Sengezo Tshabangu.  This was after the former members of parliament and senators went to court to contest their recall from the August House. The self-proclaimed Citizen’s Coalition for Change interim secretary general wrote a letter to the speaker of parliament and president of the senate claiming that 15 members of parliament and 9 senators had ceased to be members of the Citizen Coalition for Change. They must be ejected from parliament as per section 129(1)(k) of the constitution of Zimbabwe which states that  “if the Member has ceased to belong to the political party of which he or she was a member when elected to Parliament and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker or the President of the Senate, as the case may be, has declared that the Memb...

 By Youngerson Matete  On the 28th of October 2023, Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa appointed Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF) commander General Philip Valerio Sibanda into the ZANU-PF politburo as an ex-officio member during the ZANU-PF’s 20th people’s annual conference. The Politburo is the highest decision-making organ in ZANU-PF politics.  A move that has drawn a lot of criticism as it is in direct violation of the constitution of Zimbabwe. Section 208(3) clearly states that “Members of the security services must not be active members or office-bearers of any political party or organization.” It is important to understand that section 208 of the constitution was an attempt to cure the party-military conflation, which has long been a problem in Zimbabwe politics pre-dating from the days of the liberation struggle.  The Zimbabwe army has been a kingmaker in Zimbabwean politics, in an attempt to remove the army from civilian politics the crafters of th...