Zambia Targeted as Central Player in Deciding the Future of Zimbabwe’s Democracy.

Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader, Nelson Chamisa, has dispatched a delegation to neighbouring countries to elicit the support of Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders in his call for a new round of elections in Zimbabwe.

Chamisa and his party are refusing to accept the results of the presidential election held on August 23 and 24 as legitimate due to multiple instances of voter suppression. Because of these corrupt practices, the election was not representative of the Zimbabwean people, and therefore, the CCC are pushing for a fresh election with supervision from the African Union and SADC.

The SADC election observer mission preliminary report given on 25th August interrogated the integrity of the polls and explicitly outlined multiple sections of the election which did not abide with the guidelines necessary for an election to be just, uncorrupted, and credible.

This report elicited significant anger from the incumbent party, Zanu-PF, who have since claimed to have won the election. Members and supporters of the party have been specifically aggressive in their vitriol towards the SADC Head of Mission - former Zambian Vice President Nevers Mumba.

CCC spokesperson Promise Mkhwananzi announced to the press yesterday that the party's diplomatic offensive was already in action. Zimbabwe's former Minister of State, Jameson Timba, and CCC member Gladys Hlatshwayo have been deployed as representatives to South Africa, as part of their operation which includes all SADC countries.

“We need to shepherd the process and stop all machinations from the likes of [ANC secretary-general Fikile] Mbalula, who are trying to downplay the situation in Zimbabwe,” Mkhwananzi stated.

Mkhwananzi added: “How can someone say they want to celebrate the mediocrity of Zanu-PF and at the same time complain about the mess that party has created in South Africa?

Mbalula congratulated Mnangagwa soon after the disputed win was announced, he has additionally declared that ANC is an ally to ZANU-PF not the CCC.

Numerous election monitoring teams also questioned the validity of the elections, pointing to various irregularities, such as voter intimidation. SADC’s panel of elders was in the country last week following Mnangagwa’s disputed victory.

Mkhwananzi said the CCC was optimistic that the findings that the elders made would be objective.

“I don’t think the elders will dispute what the observers who were on the ground, who actually saw some of the issues raised,” he said.

“We don’t have problems with them. We have problems with the likes of Mbalula, who should be called to order.”

“South Africa should be at the forefront of fighting in the corner of the Zimbabwean people.”

Zanu-PF and its supporters have focused their aggressive rhetoric towards Mumba and Zambian leader Hakainde Hichilema following the disputed election, a move which could potentially lead to a diplomatic crisis.

Zanu-PF has accused Hichilema of enforcing a “Western agenda in Zimbabwe” as the president has been resistant to congratulating Mnangagwa’s ‘win’, Hichilema, as the SADC organ chair on politics, defence, and security, was responsible for appointing Mumba as the head of the regional bloc’s electoral observer mission.

Kindness Paradza, Zimbabwe’s Information deputy minister, announced on behalf of ZANU-PF that “We have no quarrel with Zambia”.

Paradza continued to declare that “What we object to is the SADC preliminary report by Nevers Mumba, who happens to be from Zambia and went outside the parameters of his terms of reference as the head of the SADC elections observer mission.”

Institute for Security Studies’ southern Africa programme head Piers Pigou likened Zimbabwe to a “mestasising cancer in the heart of the SADC region”.

“The bottom line, as we saw with the SADC tribunal fiasco, Zimbabwe is prepared to try and divide SADC on these issues, and seemingly, some in SADC will accommodate this,” Pigou said.

“As for relations with Zambia, Zanu-PF has been bristling since the United Party for National Development took power under Hichilema and will not think twice to break this relationship further if they deem it accords with their wider power retention strategy.”