The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has responded to a call by Roman Catholic Bishop Father Fidelis Mukonori.
CCC spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi says while Mukonori’s call is a noble one, he is misguided in referring to President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the 2023 election winner.
He also says Mukonori’s standing as a man of cloth is compromised in that he participated in the coup that toppled late former President Robert Mugabe in 2017.
Mkwananzi writes:
A Response to Father Mukonori’s Call for Dialogue.
Noting the statement from Father Mukonori, it is essential to put things into perspective before responding to his call.
While Father Mukonori, has for years been a respected Father figure of the church in Zimbabwe, his conspicuous role in the events that led to the deposing of President Robert Mugabe through a coup by Mnangagwa diminished his societal standing and respect he once enjoyed.
His skewed statements in today’s Herald Newspaper further affirm the questions which Zimbabweans have about the relationship Father Mukonori has with the Mnangagwa regime.
Father Mukonori ought to extricate himself from this partisan position if he is to retain the respect which he commanded over the years.
At the very least, the electoral sham of August 2023 did not pass the test for an election. In other words, the events of the 23rd & 24th of August 2023 cannot be a basis for Father Mukonori to talk about “winners & losers”.
This is the position commonly held by all observer Missions that observed the elections. In short, if ever there would be dialogue in Zimbabwe, it would not take place on the basis of a winner and a loser but on the basis of two of Zimbabwe’s political leaders namely President
Nelson Chamisa Mr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.
Their dialogue would need to take place outside the purview of the ill-fated & illegal POLAD Framework-a feeding trough for fringe political “leaders” who only care about their stomachs & the benefits extended to them by Mr. Mnangagwa to undermine the leading party in Zimbabwe the CCC.
Accordingly, a genuine bilateral framework for dialogue will need to be facilitated between the two political leaders. In addition the dialogue must include several other key Stakeholders such as the church, civil society, Business, women, youth, informal traders etc.
The dialogue must be underwritten by SADC
from the outset & be confined to only one objective: To establish a Transitional Authority whose sole mandate would be to deal with all issues that hinder a free & fair election in Zimbabwe such as the disbanding of ZEC, political & media reforms etc & the conduction of a fresh, free & fair election within the shortest practicable time to save Zimbabwe & indeed the region which may suffer the most from the spillover effects of Zimbabwe’s incessant electoral disputes.
Zwnews
