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Nduduzo Tshuma, Political Editor

THE weekend interview MDC deputy president Engineer Elias Mudzuri had with the private media has all but exposed the party’s leader Mr Nelson Chamisa as an illegitimate, power hungry person whose political conduct is not for the good of the country. 

Eng Mudzuri along with the party’s secretary general Mr Douglas Mwonzora are set to challenge Mr Chamisa when the party holds its congress scheduled for May. 

Since his defeat in the presidential elections last year Mr Chamisa has been on a continuous rant that Zimbabwe has a “legitimacy crisis” and giving a false impression that his stance was shared by the entirety of his party.

In his mind, Mr Chamisa believes that he and him alone is the solution to the so called “legitimacy crisis.”

He has threatened to embark on a regional offensive to convince Sadc leaders of his cause but judging from the futility of his recent trip, it doesn’t look like anyone will lend him an ear. 

Mr Chamisa has snubbed the Government’s call for dialogue with all parties that took part in last year’s elections demanding special treatment ahead of other electoral participants. 

Mr Chamisa has held on to the “legitimacy crisis” mantra, as has been expressed in this space before, for political expediency so that he carries the victim tag to the party’s congress and on a broader level to the next round of elections in the vain hope that it can give him an advantage of some sort. 

It is against this background that Eng Mudzuri’s weekend interview is critical and an opportunity for all Zimbabweans to see Mr Chamisa for what he really is.

Eng Mudzuri, at the weekend, said the ruling of the Supreme Court on Mr Chamisa’s challenge to the presidential polls was final.

More critically, Eng Mudzuri intimated that Mr Chamisa’s political conduct is self-serving and not in pursuit of the broader interests of Zimbabweans. 

“My view is we are not playing the proper role of an opposition party and that we lack that patriotic spirit for our country. 

“Yes, we have our reservations on how the elections were held, but I still think we must be rational and be able to see to it that the welfare of our people takes priority ahead of everything. People are suffering and there is a need for all Zimbabweans to be united and to work together for the good of the nation,” said Eng Mudzuri in the interview. 

“We can lead and serve our people, even without State power if we do our things well. As I said before, we don’t have a two-thirds majority in Parliament. It makes our job harder and more challenging, but the job can be done without doubt. We can pressure Zanu-PF in and outside of Parliament.”

Eng Mudzuri said there was a need for the opposition party to reinvent itself, indirectly accusing Mr Chamisa of selfish politics. 

“We need to redefine our role as the opposition party in Zimbabwe so as to remain relevant to the needs of our people. We must put the needs of our people and country ahead of our needs as leaders, both in government and in the opposition,” he said. 

“It’s easier to find solutions when there’s comprehensive dialogue among the people about our challenges as a nation.”

Eng Mudzuri also exposed Mr Chamisa as a power hungry leader who ignored party processes and wrested power after the death of the party’s founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai last year by hounding perceived opponents out of the party.

In the period, the likes of Dr Thokozani Khupe and others were savagely attacked by party youths linked to Mr Chamisa, her sin being a contender for the presidency. 

“When he (Tsvangirai) passed on, after all burial proceedings were done with, I inquired from the party’s organs between congress about the best route to take for the party in view of the fact that VP Chamisa was claiming to have also been appointed acting president by the late president via a tweet,” said Eng Mudzuri. 

“On realising that a leadership dispute would negatively affect our party, elections were very near, I talked with Dr (Thokozani) Khupe, who had been elected VP from our last congress, to take over the reins of the party and to call for an extraordinary congress that would choose president Tsvangirai’s successor. 

“The constitution was very clear on what should happen when a president dies or resigns from office, but things didn’t go according to plan. There was a general attack and purging of some senior party members by some unruly members of the party.”

The criticism of Mr Chamisa does not come from Zanu-PF but from the heart of his party and serves to confirm what views many have held of him. 

It remains to be seen whether Eng Mudzuri, like Mr Mwonzora, will be labelled a Zanu-PF project, a convenient label in the opposition circles for anyone who chooses to see things differently from the leader.