FORMER MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa’s spokesperson, Nkululeko Sibanda, has defended his ex-boss for sidelining former colleagues who worked with him in the MDC and Citizens Coalition for Change, noting that there are serious reasons for his actions beyond what meets the eye.
Addressing journalists at a Press conference in Bulawayo, Sibanda defended Chamisa, insisting that disagreement should not automatically lead to political condemnation.
“We shouldn’t discount Chamisa for the things we disagree with him on,” he said.
He said Chamisa distanced himself from the likes of MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora, Morgen Komichi and others because he discovered that they sold out during the time they worked together.
Sibanda added that Mwonzora at some point used State machinery to eject Chamisa and the party from the party headquarters in Harare.
He said even when Zanu PF allegedly rigged elections in 2018, Chamisa’s chief agent James Timba refused to go to the National Command Centre to expose the rigging until he forced his deputy, Komichi, who was also refusing to go.
He said the aim of storming the National Command Centre was to expose that the elections were being rigged considering that Chamisa’s chief agents were chased away from the process of results tallying.
Sibanda strongly denied the possibility of aligning with Zanu PF, noting that he could not support the government while ordinary Zimbabweans continue to endure poor public services, unemployment and deteriorating infrastructure.
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The former opposition spokesperson also reflected on the evolving opposition politics in Zimbabwe, arguing that successful political movements are built through long-term organisation and strategic mobilisation rather than sudden creations.
“We didn’t build the MDC out of nowhere. It came out of the NCA and organised groups of Zimbabweans preparing to challenge Zanu PF in a strategic way.”
Sibanda suggested that meaningful reforms in Zimbabwe require internal transformation within Zanu PF, arguing that opposition politics alone may not be sufficient to change the country’s political direction.
He argued that the media remains one of the few remaining spaces protecting democratic debate and opposition voices in Zimbabwe.
“The only bulwark that would protect the space that’s needed for the growth of opposition leaders is the media.”
Sibanda lamented what he described as unequal political coverage and resource advantages enjoyed by Zanu PF, saying alternative voices struggle to access platforms where they can be heard.
“The biggest challenge is that alternative voices do not have the spaces within which they can be heard,” he said.
