In the 2018 general elections, the MDC Alliance – led by its charismatic leader Nelson Chamisa – won 64 parliamentary seats out of the 210 contestable seats in the country’s national assembly. The ruling Zanu PF party amassed a total of 144 seats.
Since then, the MDC Alliance has been suffering substantial defeats in Parliament, with controversial bills sailing through given Zanu-PF’s majority.
These new laws do not address the real situation at hand; a weak health system worsened by the pandemic, while 7.9 million Zimbabweans – over half of the population of 14 million people – continue to live in extreme poverty.
Exposing Mnangagwa
One such example was in May 2021, when a bill seeking to amend the constitution was easily approved.
- The amendment raised the retirement age of Constitutional and Supreme Court judges to 75 from 70, giving Mnangagwa powers to extend Chief Justice Luke
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