WASHINGTON DC — Opposition Movement for Democratic Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa, says his formation has a clear plan for the smooth transfer of power if the party wins the 2023 presidential election.
In an exclusive interview Chamisa told VOA Zimbabwe Service that they also have solid social and economic plans for transforming Zimbabwe, which has over the years recorded stagnant growth.
Chamisa said, “We have a very solid and clear plan for the future of our country, for the future of Zimbabwe and the people of Zimbabwe. We have a jobs plan, we have a reconstruction plan, we have a resuscitation of agriculture plan, smart agriculture policy. You are aware that we have a social services plan for education and health in particular and also our social security net for our pensioners and we have always emphasized that going forward that plan is going to be refurbished and also renovated for purposes of making sure that its speaking to the dictates or circumstances of this day, the changes that have taken place.
“In terms of the political strategy to make sure that there is power transfer in this country, again, we have said we are very solid in terms of what needs to be done, what needs to be done for purposes of power transfer, for purposes of winning the election with a big margin, with a landslide, we will win the next election with a landslide and that’s why our opposition, our opponents, our competitors are quacking in their boots.”
Chamisa said President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government, which is accused of allegedly blocking the opposition politician’s public meetings and rallies nationwide, said the ruling party clearly knows that it will be defeated by the opposition in the 2023 elections.
“That’s why our colleague Mr. (Emmerson) Mnangagwa in particular is panicking and so scared of an election. He’s running scared. Why? Because we are strong. Why? Because we have remained very solid and uncheckable. So, yes, we have got a governance plan, a policy plan and a strategic plan to make sure that there is power transfer but what we are not going to do is to reveal our source of the plan as I indicated earlier on I’m not Samson. We are not going to be like Samson who gave all the secrets of his claims …”
Asked to respond to presidential spokesperson George Charamba’s recent remarks that Zimbabwe’s liberation war veterans of the 1960s won’t allow him to govern the country, Chamisa said the people of Zimbabwe have the final say on running the southern African nation.
“Look he is not a war veteran. Mr. Charamba is not a war veteran, he’s also not the spokesperson of the war veterans, he’s not even the spokesperson of the army neither is he a spokesperson of the people of Zimbabwe. It is the people of Zimbabwe who are the ultimate umpire of who should govern them. The authority to govern, the authority and mandate to lead is not derived from an individual or from a group, it is derived from the people of Zimbabwe collectively expressing their will through a ballot box.”
Chamisa said Charamba does not represent the people of Zimbabwe.
“We are not worried about what Mr. Charamba would say. Those are signs of a screaming and dying horse. They know that their days are numbered, they know that the writing is on the wall, they know that they will not win an election in this country and what they are now relying on are threats, violence, intimidation or claims that people will not surrender power … They have lost the support of the people. So, we are not worried about what Charamba or some of those people are saying.
“The war veterans support us, the state institutions know their constitutional mandate. They will allow the will of the people to prevail because they are guarantors of the people’s will, they are guarantors of what comes out of the ballot. So, we are not worried, we are not shaken, yes they can make noise but at the end of the day the people of Zimbabwe are speaking, have spoken and they will speak again and we know we have the will of the people on our side. The people have spoken, history is on our side, the people are on our side and God is in it.”
Charamba was not available for comment as he was not responding to calls on his mobile phone. Zanu PF’s Patrick Chinamasa this week said protesters in Masvingo, who barred Chamisa from visiting the Chief Charumbira area, did not want to be addressed by “a person like him”. The suspected Zanu PF supporters, carrying anti-sanctions placards, stoned Chamisa’s advance team, resulting in some of the MDC Alliance activists sustaining some injuries. – VOA
