(Last Updated on March 10, 2021 by GERALD NCUBE)
HARARE – Opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa has rallied citizens to remain resolute after a difficult year in which he said the country was “weighed down by twin crises – the Covid-19 pandemic and a bad governance authoritarian pandemic.”
Addressing the nation on the party’s agenda for 2021, Chamisa said surviving the past year was a testament to the strength of the idea his party represents.
“2020 was a difficult year, but we survived adverse forces that were deployed against us, itself strong testimony of the strength of the idea that we represent and the undying spirit of our people.
“In 2020, we faced crises from two sources: The first was the crisis that I have already referred to, namely, the crisis of the COVID19 pandemic.
“The second was the crisis of authoritarianism whereby the regime embarked on a relentless assault and onslaught upon democracy and our party,” Chamisa said.
The opposition leader said ZANU-PF had deployed state machinery to destroy the opposition in it’s bid to create a one-party state.
“This assault involved the use of state machinery to subvert democracy and the will of the people. The oppressors engineered the expulsion of our democratically elected representatives from Parliament and local authorities…
“Our party headquarters was forcibly occupied, depriving us of our home. The regime also diverted our funding under the Political Parties (Finance) Act, giving it to its surrogates,” he added.
Chamisa said this was all meant to punish the MDC Alliance for winning the 2018 elections.
However, he said this was not going to work, adding “Zimbabwean people are politically literate and advanced. They can distinguish between right and wrong. They know that some are being used by the oppressor as a scheme to derail the people’s struggle.”
He urged citizens not to lose hope in the face of all challenges while imploring for continued empathy for each other.