Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House is a building in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, that is the national headquarters of the

Movement for Democratic Change Movement for Democratic Change or MDC may refer to: * Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T), the former main opposition party in Zimbabwe ** Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai Congress 2006, the second MDC–T congres ...

political party. The building was known as Harvest House until 2018, when it was renamed in honor of the party's late leader,

Morgan Tsvangirai Morgan Richard Tsvangirai (; ; 10 March 1952 – 14 February 2018) was a Zimbabwean politician who was Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013. He was President of the Movement for Democratic Change, and later the Movement for Democratic ...

History

During the 1950s, the building was home to the

consulate general A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in Southern Rhodesia.

Overview

Situated in uptown Harare, Harvest House is the center of the MDC, physically and politically. It has offices for all the departments, the secretaries, assistants and advisors, and 2 conference rooms in which the MDC officials address the press or conduct meetings. Its address is 44 Nelson Mandela Avenue and Angwa Street in Harare.

Description

The six-story building has two green concrete fronts, connected on the inside. The ground floor windows in front are protected by metal grates and vertical blinds. It has two poles on the front on which the Zimbabwe flag and the MDC flag fly. According to the MDC constitution:

"1.4 The party is headquartered at Harvest House, No.44 Nelson Mandela Avenue, Harare and shall have offices at such other places as may be determined from time to time by the National Council.”

The Party Secretariat

The MDC Party Secretariat is located at the Harvest House and is headed by a Chief of Staff and staffed by a mix of career servants and special advisers. It provides the party with support and advice on policy, communications, departments and public/media relations. Members of staff at Harvest House are not allowed to hold any position in any structure in the MDC.

Security

Strong security measures are present, if not always visible. Three guards customarily man the front door. More covert security measures exist: for example, plain-clothesmen guard the roofline above the street and in the vicinity of the building itself. Despite these measures, security has been seriously breached more than a hundred times.

March 2006 raid

In March 2006 following the arrest of MDC President

, heavily armed police descended on Harvest House, they ransacked the building, breaking furniture, fixtures, destroying documents, they broke toilet seats and cisterns, they broke doors and several windows left offices of MDC officials strewn with papers, ripped telephone lines and took away computers. According to press reports the debris resembled a scene of bomb attack.

May 2007 raid

In May 2007, police raided Harvest House and arrested as many as 200 activists. The activists were taken away in police vans, even though the police had no

search warrant A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to confiscate any evidence they find. In most countries, ...

. The raid came a day after police extended a ban on political rallies.

April 2008 raid

Police raided Harvest House on 25 April 2008, following the controversial March 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections."Police swoop on MDC-T HQ nets 215"
''The Herald'', 26 April 2008.Godfrey Marawanyika
"Zim election observers hit"
Sapa-AFP (''IOL''), 25 April 2008.
, ''Sky News'', 25 April 2008. ''The Herald'' reported that 215 people had been arrested in the raid on Harvest House. Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said that the police were looking for individuals who had engaged in violence following the election, specifically referring to arson attacks on "four homesteads, tobacco barns and fowl runs belonging to Zanu-PF supporters in the Mayo resettlement area in Manicaland on April 16"; he said that those responsible for the attacks were suspected to have taken refuge in Harvest House. According to Bvudzijena, the police were screening the arrested individuals and those who had not committed a crime would be released. The MDC said that the raid involved about 250 policemen and that about 300 people in Harvest House were taken away,"Cosatu speaks out on MDC raids"
Sapa (''IOL''), 25 April 2008. including people who were taking refuge from violence committed by ZANU-PF supporters and people who were seeking medical treatment at Harvest House. The party also alleged that its supporters were beaten during the raid, and, according to the MDC, the police said that they were searching for "the documents that the party has that form the basis of our claim that we won the election... Further they have taken all computers and equipment that was used by the MDC at the MDC's election command centre." MDC spokesman

Nelson Chamisa Nelson Chamisa (born 2 February 1978) is a Zimbabwean politician and the current President of the Citizens Coalition For Change. He served as Member of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe for Kuwadzana East, Harare. Chamisa was the MDC Allianc ...

said that the police had no search warrant and that the "victims of violence" taken away by the police included women and children; he also said that MDC staff at Harvest House were arrested.

Media relations

Press briefings are traditionally given by the Secretary for Information and Publicity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvest House, 44 Buildings and structures in Harare Headquarters of political parties Movement for Democratic Change Politics of Zimbabwe