Mthwakazi Activist Commends SADC Election Observers
The secessionist opposition political party, Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP), said that the preliminary report by the SADC Electoral Observer Mission (SEOM) which criticised Zimbabwe’s 2023 Harmonised Elections should not come as a surprise.
MRP leader Mqondisi Moyo said the electoral irregularities highlighted by SEOM were a feature in all elections held in Zimbabwe since the attainment of independence in 1980.
In a letter seen by CITE, addressed to SEOM Head Nevers Mumba on August 31, 2023, Moyo first congratulated the SADC team for successfully observing the 23 August Harmonised Elections in Zimbabwe. He said:
I noted from your Preliminary Statement that Zimbabwean elections fell short of meeting both SADC and Zimbabwean elections guidelines in many respects. This has been the case since 1980 when the country attained independence.
Moyo, however, sought to draw SEOM’s attention to what MRP refers to as Mthwakazi, that is, the South Western part of Zimbabwe covering Matabeleland provinces and part of Midlands. He said:
But even if elections were “free and fair,” Zimbabwean politics would still remain grossly unfair to the people of Mthwakazi.
In the letter, Moyo claimed that the people of “Mthwakazi” have suffered since 1893 when people in Matabeleland, which was then an independent state, were defeated by the British South Africa Company (BSAC) forces. He added:
In 1923, we suffered yet another demise, the forceful amalgamation of our country with Mashonaland. In 1980, our colonial status was transferred from Britain to Zimbabwe.
Moyo said people in Matabeleland endured a Zimbabwean government-led “genocide” in reference to the Gukurahundi killings between 1982 and 1987. He said:
About 40 000 of our people perished. It is sad that SADC didn’t bother to pay any attention to what was happening in Mthwakazi.
That was despite its role of ensuring the safety of people in Southern Africa.
Moyo implored SADC to intervene and facilitate the creation of a new State covering Matabeleland and parts of Midlands provinces, separate from Zimbabwe.
More: Pindula News
