The veteran opposition leader and former Deputy President of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Elias Mudzuri, has come out guns blazing to defend his political integrity.
Addressing persistent rumors that he has been “swallowed” by the ruling party, Mudzuri clarified that his only history with ZANU PF was a strategic one—during the Government of National Unity (GNU) where the opposition successfully “defeated” the ruling party’s monopoly on power.
Mudzuri’s remarks come at a time of intense political maneuvering in Zimbabwe, as the discourse surrounding “ED2030″—the push for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to serve beyond 2028—heats up. Mudzuri dismissed the 2030 agenda as a distraction, insisting that the true battleground is the 2028 general election.
“We are currently fighting ZANU PF so that we make it in 2028, not the 2030 they are talking about,” Mudzuri stated, signaling a rejection of any constitutional extensions that would delay a democratic transition.
The former Harare Mayor also took a swipe at “political wanderers”—former MDC colleagues who defected to ZANU PF or other splinter groups.
In a stern reminder of the party’s legacy, he argued that the MDC remains the only institution with a proven track record of effectively challenging the ruling party.
According to Mudzuri, those who left the “big tent” of the MDC will eventually realize their mistake. “You may run away, but at the end of the day, you always need to come back to MDC,” he declared, positioning the party as the “original home” of the resistance.
As Zimbabwe heads toward a critical electoral cycle, Mudzuri’s defiant stance serves as a rallying cry for the old guard of the opposition. By rejecting ZANU PF’s 2030 timeline and asserting the MDC’s relevance, he aims to reclaim the narrative that the opposition is not just alive but is actively preparing for a 2028 showdown.
