OPPOSITION leader Nelson Chamisa yesterday said the late founding MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai must be turning in his grave in shock as his Zanu PF opponents “tear apart” the constitution to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term of office.
The current constitution was one of the key deliverables of the 2009 to 2013 unity government between Zanu PF and the MDC in which Tsvangirai was the prime minister.
It enforced a two-term term limit.
Tsvangirai, the only opposition leader known to have ever won an election against the late president Robert Mugabe since 1980, was denied outright victory in 2008, after failing to get the 50% plus one vote.
The former Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions secretary-general won the presidential election by 47% of the votes, Mugabe got 43%.
Tsvangirai withdrew from the presidential run-off poll after hundreds of his supporters were allegedly murdered.
Mugabe was declared the winner, but an international outcry over allegations of violence and vote-rigging led to a five-year unity government.
Yesterday marked eight years since Tsvangirai passed away.
He died on February 14, 2018 in South Africa where he was receiving medical treatment for colorectal cancer.
He was 65 years old.
Chamisa said the current administration was worse off than Mugabe’s regime.
“Now they go further still — seeking to shred what remains of the constitution,” the former Citizens Coalition for Change leader said in his message in remembrance of the post-independence democracy icon.
“They propose to end the direct election of the president, to unlawfully extend terms, and to impose unilateral, anti-citizen electoral changes.
“At the very least, even Robert Mugabe would submit fundamental changes to a referendum.
“This leadership appears determined to avoid the people altogether.
“As we did before, we will not compromise away the will of the citizens.”
Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi last week tabled a bill in cabinet that proposed far reaching amendments to the constitution that include having Mnangagwa’s term of office extend from 2028, when it constitutionally expires, to 2030.
The proposed constitutional amendments have sparked outrage.
Chamisa said Zanu PF had gone rogue and hijacked the MDC in which Tsvangirai was its founding leader.
“They have paid some among us to sow division and undermine leadership,” he said.
“Millions have been poured into bribery and manipulation — more, it seems, than is allocated to health or education.”
“Through lawfare, they seized the party we founded together. They took the headquarters, the provincial offices, and the party’s finances.”
The MDC was founded in 2000.
“They recalled and punished Members of Parliament and councillors they deemed truly committed to the cause,” Chamisa said.
Tsvangirai’s allies yesterday also described the late trade unionist as a courageous, unifier and a democracy champion.
“Tsvangirai is being missed by many people in Zimbabwe. He led the mass democratic struggle for 18 years uninterrupted,” former MDC legislator and cabinet minister Morgan Komichi
“After his death the opposition leaders who took over just sustained the struggle for hardly five years and it collapsed.
"We have not found a replacement for this great leader to date."
Outspoken Job Sikhala said Tsvangirai was a man of unmatched bravery.
“The icon of our modern democratic struggle is how you can describe Morgan Tsvangirai,” he said.
A former MDC senior member and a close ally of Tsvangirai, Assan Mtembo, described him as a nationalist.
“He was amongst a rare breed of politicians we will ever find in our lifetime,” he said.
“As nationalist who put national interest ahead of his personal happiness, he always had a heart for the people.”
Tsvangirai was buried on February 20, 2018, at his rural home in Buhera.