After 23 years, UK-ZIM relations thawing

Swim or Sink for Nelson Chamisa

By Hosia Mviringi

Thursday, 21 February 2019

Reliable sources have it that Chamisa was stopped in his tracks when he tried to influence the Party's National Council to pass a resolution that would see him side step an Extra-Ordinary Congress.

His plan came to a screeching halt when he was told that the Constitution stipulates that a Congress be held within 12months of the passing of a sitting President.

Morgan Tsvangirai passed away on 14 February 2017 and it would follow that a Congress be held anytime from now and not in October as has been touted by some.

It is rumoured that the Secretary General of the MDC Alliance Mr Douglas Mwonzora carries the burden to decide and announce a date and Convene the Extra Ordinary Congress in accordance with their Constitution.

Meanwhile Mr Chamisa in his endeavour to dodge the Congress had chosen the Mugabe route of seeking Provincial endorsements as a replacement to a mandatory elective congress but this idea was quashed completely by delegates to the highly emotive meeting.

So far Mr Chamisa finds himself on back foot and in a very unenviable position of having to compete for this position for the first time.

But this time around the 'chete chete' brigade of supporters will be nowhere near.They will be busy roasting corn somewhere in Mutoko while their man will be getting roasted at Congress.Vanenge vachikanga mhandire kwa Mutoko uku munhu wavo achikangwa ku Congress he he he .

It will be remembered that Chamisa hounded Thokozani Khupe out of Harvest House when the Extra Ordinary Congress was imminent after Tsvangirai's death and he had to fall back on the captured NC to rescue him from the imminent humiliation had a Congress been convened.

Chamisa is famed for being averse to internal competition as he has switched to the Mugabe rule book when dealing with internal rivalry.

This time he wont be incharge of the Congress as he will be just like any other delegate to the Congress.It may have to be adjudicated by a neutral convernor should Mr Mwonzora choose to contest.

This writer is reliably informed that Chamisa is terribly ill prepared for this imminent Congress as he has been busy on useless nationwide rallies while he neglected engagement with the voting delegates.

His immediate rival Mr Mwonzora is reported to have been quietly and  merticulously  engaging the 5000 or so delegates to Congress.This has seen Mr Chamisa getting so publicly nervous and unease as he is seemingly short of alternatives.

But more importantly the question of the Constitution will be more intriguing and will most likely see most spectators perching on the edge of their seats.

Which Constitution are they going to use in convening the Congress ?

Which Constitution is going to guide the deliberations of Congress ?

Firstly on one hand there was no Congress since Tsvangirai's death which could have sat and authorised a repeal or ammendement to their 2001 Constitution.So they will have no choice but to use that one.

On the other hand Chamisa denies being part of the original MDC which Thokozani Khupe should be leading according to the same Constitution.

So the nation will be watching with keen interest.Its going to be interesting to see which Constitution they will be using to make binding resolutions.

If they agree to use the original MDC Constitution its interpretation will render Chamisa an illegal leader and power snatcher while placing Khupe firmly at the top of things.

Please reader do remember the issue of the $2million political party grant which was awarded by government and contestably utilized by the MDC Alliance.

Chamisa's argument that MDC Alliance is a totally new party does not hold any water because the Alliance is a conglomerate of different Parties which did not sign any treaty and neither is there a binding Constitution.The Alliance is precariously anchored on the original MDC Constitution.

Chamisa himself assumed the role of President of the Alliance directly on the back of a fraudulantly acquired and contestable MDC Presidency.

So the question of his legitimacy will unenviably draw him back to the original MDC Constitution which will define who the real leader of the original MDC is, which leader should assume Presidency of the Alliance.

The legitimate leader of the Original MDC can choose to withdraw from the Alliance and watch the Alliance crumble like a deck of cards.

So either way Chamisa is in a fix.He cannot for any justifiable reason ignore the Constitutional question.

Will I be wrong to say that Chamisa now faces his waterloo and or his defining moment ?
His comeuppance is imminent.Forget 2023.Its too far for Chamisa.
By then he will be in early retirement.

Chamisa got carried away and forgot that his real fight is not against ZANU PF anymore since the close of the election season in July 2018 but against his own Constitution.No wonder why Mr Douglas Mwonzora, for those who care to remember, kept on saying, ' This is a Constitutional matter'...

He never uttered more words than these in the whole episode.

Yet Chamisa never cared to refer to the Constitution even for once to support his actions.
He knew that the Constitution holds the key.And he hoped that the question of the Constitution would be overtaken by events as he would have assumed the position of State President by now.
How wrong he was.

Mr Chamisa should remember the old adage that says Charity begins at home.One can not demand Constitutionalism out there when you arbitrarily trash your own internal Party Statutes.Simple steps in time could have saved him the anxiety that he will have to endure today.

Elections are over and so is his honeymoon.He will have to face reality now.Back to basics.
Please Mr Chamisa forget the so called 'Victory Rallies' and concentrate on that which matters today.

These 'Chete Chete' supporters that you may seek to please dont qualify as Congress delegates and they wont vote thereat.

Yes you were creative and you promised them backyard Airports , Spaghetti roads and Air transport to Mbare vegetable market (thats why you called them STUPID) , but they wont be there to ululate at Congress.And neither would their ululations change the verdict of the voting delegates.

You were caught up in what I may call sequential madness.You began by roofing a house before establishing a firm foundation.Now you will have to endure the pain of watching while the house that you built crumble to the ground.

It could mark the quickest end to a political career by an ambitious and yet a dangerously miscalculative youth of Zimbabwe.

Lets go Nerison.

Isu Pfeee ku terrace.Somebody please bring me some pop corn.

Kutsho Mina !