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The Herald
What you need from the defender Senior reporter
The newly elected president of the MDC-T, Douglas Mwonzora, yesterday assumed his new role as leader of the opposition and immediately unveiled a new executive in which he maintained his electoral rivals: Dr. Thokozani Khupe, Mr. Morgan Komichi and the engineer Elias Mudzuri.
This despite the fact that the trio had previously rejected Mwonzora’s electoral victory, accusing him and his supporters of manipulation.
This comes when MDC-T’s attorney, Professor Lovemore Madhuku, issued a legal opinion stating that Mr. Mwonzora was duly elected as party chairman and that Dr. Khupe could not legally override the electoral process once time it had started.
Professor Madhuku said that once an independent electoral management body took over control of the elections and the first vote was cast, all candidates, including Dr. Khupe, were equal and could not unilaterally override the process except the body electoral manager in charge of conducting the elections or a competent court of justice.
“Once it is accepted that Douglas Mwonzora is presumed duly elected until his election is annulled by a competent court, it follows that there could not have been a valid meeting of the national council on December 28, 2020 without such a meeting having taken place. . summoned by him or under his authority ”, reads the legal opinion. Furthermore, if it is accepted that the extraordinary congress was never canceled by law, the meeting of December 28, 2020 could not confirm, support or ratify a nonexistent cancellation.
Yesterday’s press conference was held at Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House, the party’s headquarters where Mwonzora announced a new leadership that constituted the party’s permanent committee and retained rivals, among other key appointments.
Under the new executive structure, Dr. Khupe reverted to her position as First Vice President alongside Eng Mudzuri, while Mr. Komichi retained his position as National President.
The press conference was also attended by other party bigwigs including Dr. Tapiwa Mashakada, who was appointed National Treasurer General, while Ms. Paurina Mpariwa replaced Mr. Mwonzora as Secretary General.
Addressing reporters, Mr. Mwonzora said that the extraordinary congress held over the weekend complied with the Supreme Court ruling that ordered the party to convene an extraordinary congress to replace the founding chairman of the party, Morgan Tsvangirai.
He condemned the assault on Dr. Khupe and said investigations were under way to identify the culprit.
Zanu pf acting spokesperson Cde Patrick Chinamasa said yesterday that while they had nothing to do with the way the opposition was running, they were willing to establish Mwonzora’s attitude on the sanctions, which have caused incalculable suffering to the ordinary citizens after the MDC-T called for the imposition of the embargo.
Cde Chinamasa said this yesterday at the party headquarters while answering questions from journalists during a post-Central Committee press conference.
“We have an opposition that called for sanctions, an opposition that has been coexisting with countries that seek to undermine our development trajectory.
“I would like a categorical statement from Mwonzora on the sanctions to say that he was wrong and that he should apologize to the people of Zimbabwe for causing pain, something that has affected our development,” said Cde Chinamasa.
He said they were happy that former MDC-T acting leader Dr. Khupe had denounced sanctions during her time as head of the opposition group.
When asked to comment on the chaotic MDC-T extraordinary congress that had just ended, Cde Chinamasa said that the opposition had violent tendencies and that he liked to refuse to accept defeat as what he got during his congress.
Mr. Mwonzora said he was willing to work with all political parties to achieve unity of purpose.
“We want to unite this party, we want tolerance, we ask for patience, we want to rebuild this movement. What we demand of Zanu PF is what they would have demanded of us when we came to power. It is clear that Zimbabwe needs a shared national vision, ”said Mr. Mwonzora. Following Mwonzora’s rise, Komichi said he will work with the new president.
“I’ve been working behind the scenes to avoid a split. We are putting aside our interests and the interests of the parties ahead. The party is very weak, so I took a position that we cannot afford another division. We are trying to save the party from collapse, so we are going to support Douglas Mwonzora. As far as I know, everyone supports Mwonzora, ”Mr. Komichi said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Khupe posted yesterday on her Twitter account that she had tested positive for Covid-19 and self-quarantined.
