The Nelson-Chamisa-led opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Zimbabwe, has expressed dissatisfaction with the July 2019 polls that reinstated the incumbent president, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
On Thursday the 29th of November, thousands of protesters gathered in the capital of Harare to voice their displeasure in what was the first rally in the country after the unfortunate post-election protest in August, which resulted in the death of several Zimbabweans.
The rally, carried out with prior approval from the country’s Police force, featured anti-government demonstrators marching through the city with placards and chanting, denouncing the current government.
Mnangagwa has been accused of vote tampering and orchestrating an election process that was neither free nor fair. With some placards saying: “You stole my vote, please give it back,” the MDC has claimed that its political candidate, Nelson Chamisa, was robbed of the presidential seat following July’s general elections.
These allegations were further exacerbated by the actions of Mnangagwa following the protest on the 1st of August. On this day, some voters in Harare gathered to protest against the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s (ZEC) suspicious delay in announcing the presidential election results. To this, Mnangagwa responded by deploying armed military troops to diffuse the situation and this resulted in the death of six unarmed civilians.
This not only discredited the leader who had promised reforms following his coup which overthrew his predecessor, Robert Mugabe, but also served as a reminder of the true nature of Mnangagwa who is also allegedly behind the Gukurahundi massacre which killed 20,000 people and also a hecatomb in 2008 responsible for killing over 270 opposition activists.
Mnangagwa has since faced condemnation from both local activists and the international community with statements being issued by the EU, US, Canada, France and Switzerland.
Speaking to his supporters and other aggrieved members of the protesting crowd, Chamisa reiterated his belief that Mnangagwa was not the real choice of the people, saying: “We are not agreed on the president. There is a crisis of legitimacy. Mr. Mnanagagwa, yes, was confirmed by the constitutional court but we still have to resolve from a legitimacy point of view, the contestation around who was voted by the people.”
The protesters demand that Mnangagwa be removed as Zimbabwe still faces massive economic issues driven by a lack of investment, fuel shortages and high rate of unemployment.
