Removing Chamisa won’t end crisis: Churches

REPLACING MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa will not solve the crippling economic and political crises facing the nation, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) has said.

ZCC general-secretary Keneth Mtata said there was need to bridge the political gap between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Chamisa so that the nation could be an attractive destination for investment.

“If we are going to look at the numbers in terms of votes, you can’t have talks while disregarding the two top candidates. Going by the figures, even those given by Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, Advocate Chamisa had over two million votes close to President Mnangagwa of Zanu PF. These two have a significant influence on the population of Zimbabwe,” Mtata said.

Chamisa is currently battling for his political life after the Supreme Court on March 31 ruled that he had been irregularly elevated to deputy president by the late founding leader of MDC,

Morgan Tsvangirai in 2016. It ordered Thokozani Khupe, who leads the smaller rival MDC faction but was deputising Tsvangirai at the time, to hold an election to replace him within three months.

Mtata said even if Chamisa lost control of the MDC, he was an integral figure to consider in any national talks that seek to bridge the political divide.

“He even had more votes than his party, he can’t be ignored, even when Polad was crafted, it was meant to ensure all the political players come to an understanding but the main protagonists did not show up to the table and, therefore, Polad has failed to succeed on that front,” he said.

“If they (politicians) don’t do it for the people, a time will come when people will represent themselves, they will say, we have no government and no leadership, let us take issues into our own hands. But that will require a national consensus and nobody can prescribe which form of action they will take,” he said.