In an interview from his United States of America base, ZimFirst president Maxwell Shumba said the party was building a silent revolution, codenamed Chimhukutira/Umshesha Phansi.
Without pre-empting the campaign strategy, Shumba said, ZimFirst was targeting the rural vote where Zanu-PF enjoys a huge following.
Over 67% of the country’s population resides in rural settlements which make them key in deciding election outcomes.
Shumba is optimistic of winning the elections due to the new dispensation led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s failures to usher in the promised and expected political climate divorced from the repressive rule under the late Robert Mugabe.
“Zanu-PF has to go and be replaced by a leadership that puts people and the country first,” Shumba said.
“The political climate in the country can best be described as fake democracy. Zimbabwe has pseudo democracy whose existential manifestation is only meant to hoodwink the intentional community while it serves the purpose of keeping the militarised Zanu-PF party in power.
“There is no new dispensation. So it is futile to waste time and energy discussing the fallacy that Mugabe was replaced by a new dispensation. No and no. This is the same hyena coming from the bushes at different times of the day. ED (Emmerson Mnangagwa) regime is the same Zanu-PF regime albeit worse than that of his predecessor,” he added.
Shumba said Mnangagwa strategically created the Political Actors Dialogue Forum (Polad) to fortify and legitimise his rule.
Following the outcome of the 2018 polls, Mnangagwa’s presidency was immediately marred by legitimacy issues.
Without pre-empting the campaign strategy, Shumba said, ZimFirst was targeting the rural vote where Zanu-PF enjoys a huge following.
He was dragged to the Constitutional Court by the leader of the main opposition party Nelson Chamisa.
Although the ConCourt reaffirmed Mnangagwa’s presidency, some opposition political parties continue to question the outcome of the controversial polls.
Mnangagwa said he established Polad as a platform to address the country’s woes.
Shumba argued that Polad’s premise was flawed.
“Mnangagwa is a protagonist in the lack of free and fair elections, therefore, it was not proper for him to be the conveyer of a platform (Polad) that sought to bring all opposition forces together and agree on a political solution.
“How can a hyena invite goats to an Indaba? Polad is a hyena’s den. Its existence is to fortify and legitimise ED’s rule. Most of the individuals who joined Polad are not genuine opposition worth their salt. They should have demanded a bureau arbiter, Sadc or AU appointed envoy to chair the political indabas. There has to be confidence on both sides that there would be fairness in the process,” he said.
He indicated that health, education and economic development supported by the safety of the citizenry are the centerpiece of the ZimFirst governance, which would never materialise as long as Zanu-PF is in power.
