Mwonzora Accuses Judiciary Of Targeting MDC For Opposing ED2030 Agenda
MDC president Douglas Mwonzora has accused Zimbabwe’s judiciary of attempting to destabilize his party after its opposition to ZANU PF’s plan to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s second and final term from 2028 to 2030.
Speaking at a press conference in Bulawayo on Sunday, Mwonzora claimed that a recent High Court ruling nullifying the MDC’s 2022 congress was a deliberate attempt to render the party leaderless and undermine its opposition to constitutional amendments that could extend Mnangagwa’s presidency.
Mwonzora also said the MDC has been at the forefront of resisting the “ED2030 agenda,” which seeks to extend Mnangagwa’s time in office. He said:
It was the MDC which held a press conference in Harare in January this year to announce its opposition to the machinations of ZANU PF in trying to give President Mnangagwa a third term.
We were then joined by other political parties, civil society organisations, the church was very strong and war veterans, who are very strong on that point.
It was not the war veterans who started the fight against the 2030 Agenda, it was the MDC. We may be saying it in different words, and agendas may also be different, but our agenda as the MDC is that we are against the desecration of our constitution.
Mwonzora claimed that the decision to nullify the MDC’s 2022 congress by High Court Judge Justice Hapias Zhou was politically motivated.
The High Court judgment cited two main reasons for nullifying the congress: MDC gave 24 days’ notice instead of the required 30 days, and the women’s congress was not concluded.
Mwonzora dismissed these reasons as minor technicalities, pointing out that the MDC has historically deferred certain aspects of its congresses without invalidating the entire process.
He added that the MDC has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which effectively suspends the judgment. Said Mwonzora:
Even if we had not appealed, this judgment does not affect anything. It restores the leadership as elected at the extraordinary congress, and I remain the leader. Whoever did the math did not calculate well because they left me in charge again.
Mwonzora suggested that the timing of the judgment raised suspicions of state interference. He said:
We can’t say for sure, but a series of coincidences point to the hand of the state. This judgment is very unsound and illogical.
The court case was lodged in 2022, nothing was done in 2023 and in 2024, coincidentally when we raised the issue of our opposition to the third term.
There is a direct coincidence that is strange and leads us to conclude that there is a third hand.
In 2020, the Supreme Court upheld a High Court ruling that nullified the MDC Alliance’s 2019 congress, resulting in Mwonzora assuming control of the party after Chamisa left to form the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
More: CITE
Tags
