Triumvirate aims to topple Mugabe

HARARE: In a tectonic shift on Zimbabwe’s political landscape, former vice-president Joice Mujuru, ex-prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai and former deputy premier Welshman Ncube have formed a coalition to take on President Robert Mugabe, 93, in next year’s general election.

Mujuru, 62, was a guerrilla leader during the country’s liberation war in the 1970s and served as Mugabe’s secondin-command in government for 10 years until she was expelled in 2014 from the ruling Zanu-PF following allegations of plotting to topple the president.

In recent weeks, her party, Zimbabwe People First, has been torn down the middle, in the wake of her fallout with some founder members. She has since renamed it the National People’s Party.

Analysts say these ructions have eroded her public appeal as a viable opposition leader.

Before this week’s grand coalition pact, Mujuru’s biggest hurdle has been the cloud of mistrust that swirls around her. She joined Zanu-PF as a teenager and has known no other ideology. Her critics say that, as a former high-ranking member, she is tainted by corruption, mismanagement of public resources and violence.

By going in with Tsvangirai, who is respected in opposition circles as a feisty campaigner against autocracy, Mujuru could sanitise her history while leveraging on her liberation track record.

Tsvangirai, 65, a former union leader who spearheaded the strongest opposition to Mugabe, was prime minister for 10 years in an uneasy coalition government.

Commentators say his biggest handicap is his lack of liberation war credentials. The military chiefs, who wield tremendous power, not only view him with suspicion for his perceived links with some Western governments but also hold him in contempt because he is not a war veteran.

The conventional thinking is that by joining hands with Mujuru, Tsvangirai could finally strike a chord with the influential securocrats.

Ncube, 56, a law professor, fell out with Tsvangirai in 2005, leading to the split of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). But in recent months, the two have expressed willingness to re-unite ahead of next year’s watershed election.

Known as a strategist, Ncube brings clout to the coalition, drawing support mostly from the Matabeleland provinces which have voted against Mugabe since 1980.

“We have chosen this day to take the first step to bring all Zimbabweans under one roof so we can work together to remove this unmitigated repression and misgovernance that pervades our lives,” Tsvangirai said at his house in Harare’s Highlands suburb.

Mujuru spoke glowingly about the new coalition pact, describing it as a “roadmap of how we shall move from here to the Promised Land”.

Tsvangirai said he regretted the 2005 split of the MDC and vowed to ensure a united opposition in the 2018 election.

“It would also be equally dishonest not to recognise that in our journey with Professor Ncube we both made our own mistakes. We split our party in 2005. The cost of that vote splitting in addition to the blatant manipulation of results was delayed change for the people of Zimbabwe in 2008.

“Ladies and gentleman, it takes humble leadership to accept one’s mistakes but it takes bold leadership to correct those mistakes,” he said.

Political analysts say the formation of a grand coalition could enable Zimbabwe’s divided opposition to finally defeat the world’s oldest president, in power since independence in 1980.

Tsvangirai, who enjoys considerable support in mostly urban areas, out-polled Mugabe in the first round of the 2008 presidential election. In the run-off, Mugabe’s party murdered more than 200 opposition supporters.

The veteran leader claimed victory but the result was condemned by international election observers, forcing Mugabe to forge a coalition government with Tsvangirai.

In 2013, Mugabe won by a landslide but, instead of consolidating his power, he has been rocked by an imploding economy as well as endless factional fights in Zanu-PF sparked by his unresolved succession question.

A roadmap of how we shall move from here to the Promised Land