HARARE – MDC leader Nelson Chamisa on Wednesday said he was “preparing an alternative government” as he announced new duties for his three deputies.
Chamisa also announced an “Integrity and Accountability Panel” led by prominent lawyer Advocate Thabani Mpofu which he said will act as an internal anti-corruption watchdog.
Vice president Lynette Karenyi will supervise the party in parliament, the MDC leader said, while Tendai Biti will oversee local government as well as policy and ideology.
Welshman Ncube, meanwhile, will oversee the party’s administration, diplomacy and international relations.
“President Chamisa is concerned with the deteriorating situation in the country and recognises the urgent need for the people of Zimbabwe to engage this crisis immediately,” his spokesman Nkululeko Sibanda told a news conference in Harare.
“All social and economic stakeholders must plan to end this crisis. Our young people have a lot at stake and must not allow this country to implode.”
Chamisa had spent the last few days “preparing an alternative government”, his spokesman said.
“To begin this process, he has made appointments and assigned duties to officials in the party, to ensure readiness… The president is doing this in preparation while the citizens consider the resolution of our national crisis,” he added.
The MDC runs most urban councils in Zimbabwe, and Chamisa has assigned Biti to ensure they are “exemplary… accountable and of high integrity.”
“President Chamisa has zero tolerance for corruption and any lack of efficacy in public officials,” Sibanda said.
Four other members of the Mpofu-led panel were not announced, but the MDC leader said the committee would “enforce his zero tolerance to corruption policy.”
“These assignments have been made in order to ensure the MDC can define a new Zimbabwe and prepare to form the next government and do so very soon,” said Sibanda.
