The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formation led by Morgan Tsvangirai has dismissed as unconstitutional moves by a provincial minister to set up a shadow council comprising war veterans designed to oversee the operations of the party-led Mutare City Council.
In a statement, the MDC-T said Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister Mandi Chimene’s announcement “confirms the fact that Zanu-PF has no regard whatsoever for democracy and the people’s rights to elect their own leadership.”
The party said the plan to depose an elected leadership is a brazen assault on democracy, constitutionalism and the rule of law.
The party said, “While Zanu PF rigged the last election, it wants to further decimate the people’s choice by setting up a parallel structure comprising the so called Manicaland provincial affairs minister, Mandi Chimene and war veterans to do the work of council.
“The only administration that has failed in Zimbabwe is the Zanu PF regime that has contributed to the collapse of Zimbabwe’s entire social service delivery, infrastructural decay and moral decadence. The only avenue to save Zimbabwe is a return to legitimacy through a free and fair election, not this unwarranted fixation with a city leadership because it is MDC.”
It said any parallel structure would be patently illegal and unconstitutional and the MDC and the courts will not allow it.
“Even the mere thought of an illegal and parallel structure to run a city is testimony to the fact that the level of madness in Zanu PF has reached alarming levels,” said the MDC-T.
The MDC-T further noted that even the mere thought of an illegal and parallel structure to run a city is testimony to the fact that the level of chaos in Zanu PF has reached alarming levels.
Chimene told war veterans last Sunday that she would act as mayor under the proposed structure. She accused the city council of being clueless on how to run council affairs, hence the decision to appoint a shadow council to keep them on their toes.