EXILED former Zanu PF national commissar Saviour Kasukuwere has advised MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa against perennially resorting to the courts to settle political problems rocking the opposition party, but to take the game back to the people.<\/p>\n
In a virtual interview with Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE) director Zenzele Ndebele yesterday, Kasukuwere accused MDC-T president Thokozani Khupe<\/p>\n
of grabbing the MDC Alliance using the courts after suffering a massive electoral defeat in 2018.\u201cPolitics is about the people and Nelson must take the game back to the people,\u201d Kasukuwere said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet the people make decisions. It is about the people voting and the verdict will come from the people.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they are to go to the by-elections and a determination is made by the people, it will make all those making those decisions think twice. As it stands, the people\u2019s will and the people\u2019s decision is being undermined on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khupe contested the 2018 elections under the MDC-T banner and garnered a paltry 45 000 votes against Chamisa\u2019s over two million.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid people vote for Khupe? The answer is no, and for Khupe, to walk in and say I am now the president of this party, MDC Alliance, I think at a personal level, I wouldn\u2019t take such a position because I know that I wouldn\u2019t get 45 000 votes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t want to take an institution that somebody has built. We all know the game at play and at the end of the day, do you get the best results out of the courts or it is a political game?\u201d Kasukuwere asked rhetorically.<\/p>\n
Chamisa has accused Zanu PF and the courts of using Khupe in plotting his downfall.<\/p>\n
This was after his party was left in chaos following a Supreme Court ruling in March that declared him an illegitimate leader of the opposition party.<\/p>\n
Khupe, ruled the interim president, has recalled 84 councillors voted for under Chamisa as well as 21 MPs, apart from grabbing the party\u2019s Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House and recently the name MDC Alliance.<\/p>\n
Kasukuwere and his G40 colleagues, forced into exile after the November 2017 coup, have been accused by President Emmerson Mnangagwa of propagating falsehoods to create in impression of a country in a crisis.<\/p>\n
This followed the deployment of delegations by South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa whose country insists Harare is in a crisis, an assertion denied by the ruling party.
\nKasukuwere said Mnangagwa\u2019s rise to power in Zanu PF should be challenged, but ruled out taking the legal route saying \u201ca political fight is fought politically\u201d.
\n\u201cI always look at what history has taught us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt what point do you get the law on your side especially when you have a system which is desirous to protect its turf?<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure you can go to the courts today as it is and put a case and win it? Are you sure you can challenge the coup in a court of law when the courts themselves just a few days after the coup said it was a legal process?\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI think people go to court for different reasons but in politics, you don\u2019t need to go to court. You need to play in political courts where we continue to engage until you agree.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t take politics to court. When the judges are guarded by coup soldiers at home, do you think they will rule in your favour?\u201d
\nHe said there was need for Zanu PF to reform and get the military back in the barracks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an armed Zanu PF that does not have legitimacy. Zanu PF is an idea and subscribes to people first and the (late former President Robert) Mugabe idea of empowerment. In its current state, it\u2019s a no,\u201d Kasukuwere said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this the norm? We have raised a question to say, do you use guns to solve problems? Do you hire and fire using (military) tankers? When somebody is running for their lives, you are calling for a central committee meeting to say somebody has been fired.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that the way? If we do not challenge and question and put right what went wrong even in Zanu PF, we are likely to see a repeat of that behaviour at national level and even as we go to 2023. If you institutionalise wrong behaviour from day one, it becomes a permanent feature.\u201d
\nHe said Zimbabwe was in pain and the leadership should find a solution.<\/p>\n
On allegations made by Zanu PF that he and his allies were badmouthing Zimbabwe, Kasukuwere said: \u201cI am Zimbabwean and I don\u2019t have to badmouth anyone. What I say here is what I will repeat anywhere else. I don\u2019t have to badmouth my country.<\/p>\n
MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said the party was considering using all tools available to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will fight this battle using all tools available to us. There are no short stories in politics. What\u2019s indisputable is that political power lies in the people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EXILED former Zanu PF national commissar Saviour Kasukuwere has advised MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa against perennially resorting to the courts to settle political problems rocking the opposition party, but to take the game back to the people. In a virtual interview with Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE) director Zenzele Ndebele yesterday, Kasukuwere accused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":22467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[113,615,88],"class_list":{"0":"post-28093","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-parties","9":"tag-chamisa","10":"tag-khupe","11":"tag-mdc"},"yoast_head":"\n