Before its split in 2005, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was a
Zimbabwean
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 Moza ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
organised under the leadership of
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 ...
. The MDC was formed in 1999 as an opposition party to President
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...
's
Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF).
[The Politics of the Movement for Democratic Change]
''New Zimbabwe'' The MDC was made up of many civic groups who campaigned for the "No" vote in the
2000 constitutional referendum, which would limit a president's service to two terms, before the introduction of a
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, as well as giving legal immunities to the State.
However, as the term limit was not retroactive, Mugabe could still have maintained the presidency for two more terms. The most controversial part of the constitution was the
land reform policies. It stated that, as in the
Lancaster House Agreement
The Lancaster House Agreement, signed on 21 December 1979, declared a ceasefire, ending the Rhodesian Bush War; and directly led to Rhodesia achieving internationally recognised independence as Zimbabwe. It required the full resumption of d ...
,
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
would fund land reform from white settlers to landless black peasants. If Britain failed to
compensate the farmers, the government would take the farms, without compensation. The party split over whether to contest the
2005 senate election, into the
Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC-T), the larger party led by Morgan Tsvangirai, and the
Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube, a smaller faction then led by
Arthur Mutambara
Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara (born 25 May 1966)
New Zimbabwe is a Welshman Ncube
Welshman Ncube (born 7 July 1961) is a Zimbabwean lawyer, businessman and politician. He is the founding MDC leader and former President of Zimbabwean political party Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube. He currently serves within the Ci ...
. However, the two factions formed an electoral pact for the
2018 Zimbabwean general election called the
MDC Alliance
The Movement for Democratic Change Alliance was an electoral coalition of seven political parties formed to contest Zimbabwe's 2018 general election. After the 2018 election, a dispute arose over the use of the name MDC Alliance leading the MDC ...
and re-united under the original name, 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 ...
(MDC), in September 2018.
History
Origins and rise
The MDC began after the People's Working Convention in February 1999. In February 2000,
Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), led by
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...
organized a constitutional referendum. The proposed change would have limited future presidents to two terms, but as it was not retroactive, Mugabe could have stood for another two terms. It would also have made his government and military officials immune from prosecution for any illegal acts committed while in office. Additionally, it legalized the confiscation of land owned by white people for redistribution to black farmers without compensation. The MDC led opposition to the referendum, in which the government was ultimately defeated, after a low 20% turnout, by a strong urban vote fueled by an effective
SMS
Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
campaign. Mugabe declared that he would "abide by the will of the people". The vote was a surprise to ZANU-PF, and an embarrassment before parliamentary elections due in mid-April. This success fueled the rise of the MDC.
In the 2000 parliamentary elections, the MDC won 57 of the 120 seats up for election. This marked the first time that an opposition party had achieved more than a handful of seats since the merger of ZANU and ZAPU in 1988. The MDC dominated in most urban centres and
Matabeleland
Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi r ...
. MDC won all seats in the two biggest cities,
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 ...
and
Bulawayo
Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...
and lost only two in Matabeleland. This election was viewed by international observers from the
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
and
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n parliamentary delegations declared the election not being free and fair. The MDC claimed the elections were rigged, citing state-sponsored violence and some voter results figures that were unaccounted for. They took the matter to court. Some missions from Mugabe's allies such as the
Southern African Development Community
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana.
Its goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security coopera ...
(SADC) observers and the South African Ministerial Observer team held that the election was substantially free and fair.
In 2004, opposition offices in
Bulawayo
Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...
were raided by police officers, armed with search warrants, looking for illegal documents and weapons.
Growing tensions
During Morgan Tsvangirai's
treason trial
The Treason Trial was a trial in Johannesburg in which 156 people, including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason in South Africa in 1956.
The main trial lasted until 1961, when all of the defendants were found not gu ...
, pressure built up within the party due to the possibility that Tsvangirai would be imprisoned. There were allegedly rumors of a faction desiring an
Ndebele
Ndebele may refer to:
*Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa
*Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana
Languages
* Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele
*Northern Ndebele language
Northern ...
president,
Secretary General
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
Welshman Ncube
Welshman Ncube (born 7 July 1961) is a Zimbabwean lawyer, businessman and politician. He is the founding MDC leader and former President of Zimbabwean political party Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube. He currently serves within the Ci ...
(now Secretary General of the Mutambara led Movement for Democratic Change) to replace Tsvangirai, as well as rumors of tribal prejudice on the other side.
David Coltart
David Coltart (born 4 October 1957) is a Zimbabwean lawyer, Christian leader and politician. He was a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change when it was established in 1999 and its founding secretary for legal affairs. He was the ...
however, claimed that people who believed this "are being deliberately mischievous or simply do not understand basic political reality in Zimbabwe"
[ There were still however, some within the party who felt that Ncube was plotting to create a new party. There were several reports of violence at the party headquarters by youth members, including the beatings of several party members. There was even a Commission made to decide on whether these allegations were true, although no official decision was made as the commissioners failed to agree.
In 2005, amid tension, another report was drafted regarding the growing violence within the party. Because the 2004 commission had failed to reach a consensus and there had been no punishment given to the offenders, a new commission was set up to find cases of ]corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
and the origin of such violence. The report stated that most of there was a serious problem with misuse of the unemployed youth, who were not educated properly about the party ideology
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...
, for selfish and ambitious purposes, and that the party's principles were being consumed by greed, corruption and tribal discrimination and that this division in the party would have disastrous consequences, and was threatening to undermine the party. Several youths were expelled from the party but, little other action was taken. This move was criticized by the party's legal spokesman David Coltart
David Coltart (born 4 October 1957) is a Zimbabwean lawyer, Christian leader and politician. He was a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change when it was established in 1999 and its founding secretary for legal affairs. He was the ...
:
"I cannot believe that the youths involved in these despicable acts acted independently. It is common cause that they were unemployed and it is equally clear that they had access to substantial funding. That money must have come from people with access to resources. The instructions to act must have come from people within the Party as no one else would have the detailed knowledge the youths had access to. In expelling the youths and relatively low ranking members of the security team we have only dealt with the symptoms of the problem, not its root cause."[
Former allies, the ]Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions is the primary trade union federation in Zimbabwe. The Secretary General of ZCTU is Japhet Moyo and the president is Peter Mutasa. The former General Secretary was Morgan Tsvangirai. Jeffrey Mutandare is ...
(ZCTU) and the National Constitutional Assembly
The National Constitutional Assembly was a non-governmental organisation formed in 1997 as a grouping of individual Zimbabwean citizens and civic engagement, civic organisations including, labour movements, student and youth groups, women groups, ...
also clashed with MDC leadership. In particular, the ZCTU said that the MDC should not take up its seats in parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, and should concentrate on extra-parliamentary affairs. They argued that rejecting the electoral process
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
, and pointing out its flaws, while still contesting the elections was sending mixed signals to the MDC support base. However, MDC officials replied that there was a strong desire in the party to take up the seats available, in order to increase influence over electoral procedures.
In July 2005 a management committee was set up to discuss these factional issues, particularly the alleged formation of a "kitchen cabinet
Kitchen cabinets are the built-in furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of food, cooking equipment, and often Silver (household), silverware and Dishware, dishes for table service. Home appliance, Appliances such as refrigerators, dish ...
", made up of presidential aides, around the president which was acquiring power above those of the elected leadership. These allegations were made by four of the six members in the committee, namely the Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Gibson Sibanda
Gibson Jama Sibanda (1944 – 24 August 2010) was a Zimbabwean politician and trade unionist. He was a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change and at the time of his death was the Vice-President of the faction of the Movement for Demo ...
, the Secretary General Welshman Ncube
Welshman Ncube (born 7 July 1961) is a Zimbabwean lawyer, businessman and politician. He is the founding MDC leader and former President of Zimbabwean political party Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube. He currently serves within the Ci ...
, the Deputy Secretary General Gift Chimanikire and the National Treasurer Fletcher Dulini. Morgan Tsvangirai claimed that these claims had no substance, and were down to rumour and hearsay. Party Chairman Isaac Matongo rallied behind the president, although he was the only party official to hold this belief to come from Matebeleland
Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi r ...
.
In a critique of the party structures in 2005, the MDC leadership admitted that the party had "moved away from its social democratic, all inclusive, non-tribalistic foundations."[ Cracks had also emerged along ethnic lines and between trade unionists and academics.]
Split
It is widely believed that the split was a reflection of problems that had been in the party for a while but manipulated by the CIO. The issue which eventually led to the splitting of the party was the decision on whether or not to participate in the 2005 Zimbabwe senatorial elections. The MDC had announced during mid-2004 that it would not participate in any further elections in Zimbabwe, until it believed a free and fair vote could take place. However on 3 February 2005, then spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi told a news conference, "It is with a heavy heart that the MDC has decided to participate in the elections ... This is a decision based primarily on the demands of our people". The MDC's top six were unable to agree on the issue, and so the debate went down to the MDC National Council on October 12. They voted 33-31 in favor of contesting the election (with two spoiled papers). However, Morgan Tsvangirai told the press that the debate was tied at 50-50, which included proxies sent by Sekai Holland
Sekai Holland is the former Zimbabwean Co-Minister of State for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration in the Cabinet of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Sekai has been involved in a number of human rights ...
and Grace Kwinjeh, alleging that these were not recognised by Ncube, giving him different inaccurate figures. Morgan Tsvangirai overruled the vote, arguing that it was no use contesting an election where the electoral field "breeds illegitimate outcomes and provides for predetermined results." He argued that the Senate of Zimbabwe
The Senate of Zimbabwe is the upper of the two chambers in Zimbabwe's Parliament. It existed from independence in 1980 until 1989, and was re-introduced in November 2005. The other chamber of Parliament is the National Assembly.
In its curren ...
was part of the 17th amendment, which the MDC had opposed in Parliament.
"Well you have voted, and you have voted to participate, which as you know is against my own wish. In the circumstances I can no longer continue……No I cannot let you participate in this senate election when I believe that it is against the best interests of the party. I am President of this party. I am therefore going out of this and (will) announce to the world that the MDC will not participate in this election. If the party breaks so be it. I will answer to congress."[
In response to his misinformation at the press conference ]Gibson Sibanda
Gibson Jama Sibanda (1944 – 24 August 2010) was a Zimbabwean politician and trade unionist. He was a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change and at the time of his death was the Vice-President of the faction of the Movement for Demo ...
, the Deputy President of the party, summoned Tsvangirai to a hearing of the National Disciplinary Committee charging that because of his actions at and after the National Council Meeting, he had willfully violated clauses 4.4 (a), 6.1.1 (a) and (d) of the MDC constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
and clause 9.2 of the Party’s Disciplinary Code of Conduct
A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization.
Companies' codes of conduct
A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is commonly writt ...
. He also stated that Tsvangirai had addressed numerous party rallies telling supporters that the MDC was not participating in the elections, that he wrote to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is an independent Chapter 12 institution established in terms of Section 238 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe; which is responsible for the management and administration of Zimbabwe's electoral processes. It was ...
telling them to register all MDC candidates wishing to participate as independent candidates. Furthermore, that he instructed party provincial chairpersons to ignore a letter written by the Deputy Secretary General ordering the selection of candidates, and that he had instructed the party secretariat to re-employ Nhamo Musekiwa and Washington Gaga.
Another letter was written to Tsvangirai on the same day, indicating that he had been suspended from office by the National Disciplinary Committee, while he maintained the right to appeal the decision. Tsvangirai claimed in response that the pro-senate group had not carried out proper provincial consultations. He also argued against claims that he was not respecting the founding values of the MDC by saying that his position on the senate expressed the will of the people, and that he should therefore be given power to make decisions. He also struck out against the supporters of participation, saying that they were planning a new "Unity Accord" and betraying the people of Matebeleland like Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo (19 June 1917 – 1 July 1999) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and Matabeleland politician who served as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1990 until his death in 1999. He founded and led the Zimbabwe African People's ...
in the 1990s, and accused the Ncube faction of trying to get rid of him so that the new MDC could become puppets of Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...
.
"Even if I am left alone, I will not betray the contract I made with the people. The issue that is there is not about the senate only. It is about whether you want to confront Mugabe or you want to compromise with Mugabe. Some of us are now working towards a new unity accord. We are saying ‘no’ to unity accord number two. With us there is no unity accord....we will not do what Nkomo did."[
Tsvangirai expelled supporters of the Senate from his party, and sought to nullify the charges and proceedings instituted against him by Gibson Sibanda by convening another National Council. The majority of major civic groups continued to support Tsvangirai, calling the Ncube faction traitors and rebels, including the ]National Constitutional Assembly
The National Constitutional Assembly was a non-governmental organisation formed in 1997 as a grouping of individual Zimbabwean citizens and civic engagement, civic organisations including, labour movements, student and youth groups, women groups, ...
- a coalition of pro-democracy civil society groups, which said the election was conceived only as the result of an undemocratic constitutional change. Tsvangirai believed that there was little point in participating in elections in the current political situation in Zimbabwe, as the results, according to him, were certain to be rigged. Welshman Ncube however, declared that the only way of beating Zanu-PF was through elections, and there was no point in boycotting the elections just because of allegations that they were not free and fair.
Discussions in February 2006 confirmed the existence of what Ncube called a "mafia kitchen cabinet", a growth in youth violence, conflict and competition for the office of president and the resulting lack of implementation of party policies. Tsvangirai also considered South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n President Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...
's mediation
Mediation is a structured, interactive process where an impartial third party neutral assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques. All participants in mediation are ...
attempts as "destructive" and continued to deny tribal discrimination within the party. He was also irate over the Central Intelligence Organization's infiltration of the MDC and claimed that this was a deliberate attempt by Zanu-PF to divide the party.
A compromise was proposed at the end of the first meeting, which would result in the pro-senate faction withdrawing from the election. However, the Management Committee would attempt to remove the "kitchen cabinet" and parallel structure. Thirdly, public recrimination
In law, recrimination is a defense in an action for divorce in which the accused party makes a similar accusation against the plaintiff. To put it simply, it is the defense of "you, too."
Recrimination was generally considered by family law exper ...
s would have to stop while the leadership drew up a program to help the party move forward. The compromise was however, refuted by both sides, with Tsvangirai unable to make a commitment on the subject of his aides, and the pro-senate faction unable to agree not to contest the Senate election at the second mediation meeting.
After the Senate elections, the MDC split into two groups: one led by Morgan Tsvangirai, and another by his deputy Gibson Sibanda
Gibson Jama Sibanda (1944 – 24 August 2010) was a Zimbabwean politician and trade unionist. He was a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change and at the time of his death was the Vice-President of the faction of the Movement for Demo ...
with the support of Welshman Ncube
Welshman Ncube (born 7 July 1961) is a Zimbabwean lawyer, businessman and politician. He is the founding MDC leader and former President of Zimbabwean political party Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube. He currently serves within the Ci ...
, Gift Chimanikire and spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi. The pro-Senate group had one more member in the House of Assembly at the time of the split, however senior members of the pro-Senate faction subsequently defected to MDC-T led by Tsvangirai including its Chairman Gift Chimanikire, Blessing Chebundo, the Member of Parliament for Kwekwe
Kwekwe ( ), known until 1983 as Que Que, is a city in the Midlands province of central Zimbabwe. The city has a population of 119,863 within the city limits, as of the 2022 census, making it the 7th-largest city in Zimbabwe and the second-most p ...
, the Environmental Secretary and Binga Member of Parliament Joel Gabuza, and Senate Candidate for Tsholotsho Sam Sipepa Nkomo. Although the pro-senate faction had the bulk of its support in Matabeleland, the party chose the Shona academic Arthur Mutambara
Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara (born 25 May 1966)
New Zimbabwe is a Central Intelligence Organisation
The Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) is the national intelligence agency of Zimbabwe. It was conceived as the external intelligence-gathering arm of the British South Africa Police Special Branch in the early 1960s, under the Southern Rh ...
(CIO) failed for a while in dividing the party by using a white officer from the old Rhodesian Army, Col Lionel Dyck
Lionel Dyck SCZ, also referred to as Colonel Dyck, is a Zimbabwean mercenary and former soldier. He was born in 1944 in Southern Rhodesia and served with the Rhodesian Army and Zimbabwe Defence Forces before founding Dyck Advisory Group (DAG) to ...
, to make different and secret proposals to Mr. Tsvangirai and Prof. Welshman Ncube
Welshman Ncube (born 7 July 1961) is a Zimbabwean lawyer, businessman and politician. He is the founding MDC leader and former President of Zimbabwean political party Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube. He currently serves within the Ci ...
. Dyck, a close business associate of Mnangagwa, had formed a company called MineTech, which gained lucrative mine-clearing contracts from the Zimbabwe government via Mnangagwa. MineTech has now relocated to Wiltshire in England and has linked up with the British company Exploration Logistics which is headed by Alastair Morrison OBE, MC. Morrison, a former 2 i/c of 22 SAS, has very close links with British intelligence. It would appear that Mnangagwa, who worked for the American NSA while on the DARE, has now transferred his allegiance. Mnangagwa has substantial property investments in England through front companies.
Electoral history
Presidential elections
House of Assembly elections
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Movement For Democratic Change (Pre-2005)
1999 establishments in Zimbabwe
2005 disestablishments in Zimbabwe
Defunct political parties in Zimbabwe
Democratic socialist parties in Africa
Former member parties of the Socialist International
Political parties disestablished in 2005
Political parties established in 1999
Social democratic parties in Africa
Socialist parties in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean democracy movements