Self exiled former Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Walter Mzembi has emerged as a surprise interim leader of a new political outfit, the People’s Party.
Mzembi has been out of the political scene since the November 2017 military coup which toppled former president Robert Mugabe and his backers.
He will be deputized by another former cabinet Minister, Godfrey Gandawa, who assumes the Vice Presidency with respected lawyer Lloyd Msipa appointed Secretary-General of the party.
In a statement, the People’s Party said its formation was necessitated by the failures of the President Emmerson Mnangagwa regime, which has presided over the worst economic situation post the 2009 Government of National Unity.
The party further stated that fear within the Mnangagwa government has crippled institutions, which are no longer functional.
“Emmerson Mnangagwa has evidently failed to unite the country and today, Zimbabwe is a fragmented and polarised nation more than ever before with dysfunctional bureaucracy split along factional lines reminiscent of the pre-coup era which is only kept together by institutional fear, even with this repression, a large section of his government is crying for redemption and has lent its support to the People’s party,” said Msipa.
He further stated that the impasse between Zanu-PF and leading opposition MDC also means the People’s Party becomes the alternative voice of reason as both parties have failed to find common ground since 2000.
“The people are exasperated by the stalemate between the two main parties in Zimbabwe, Zanu PF and MDC, which political gridlock has spanned over 20 years.
“The People are also alarmed by the regression of the democratic progress in the country, which was escalated by the November 2017 military coup which ushered in a military dictatorship,” Msipa added.
He said the new party has been making consultations with the diaspora community on how to resolve the Zimbabwe Crisis going forward “after the November 2017 military coup and the controversial 2018 elections which produced a stalemate over the legitimacy of the incumbent with the attendant humanitarian crisis and meltdown.”
‘We need therefore to respond to this by even more robust political consciousness, mobilisation and organisation wherever we are in order to liberate ourselves and usher the country on a political and economic renaissance,” said Msipa.
