BULAWAYO - A new political party was officially launched at Presbyterian Church in Bulawayo on Saturday.
Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) becomes the second party pursuing the agenda of dividing Zimbabwe into two after the Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF) led by self-exiled Paul Siwela.
Addressing journalists in the Bulawayo, MRP president Mqondisi Moyo said they were pushed into forming a party after realising that President Robert Mugabe’s government was not willing to equally serve the people of Matabeleland region.
Their agenda dovetails with that of the now disintegrated MLF whose leaders were dragged to court after being charged with treason for distributing flyers which reportedly incited people to rise against the government.
The case is still pending at the High Court but these problems led to the disintegration of MLF which was formed in 2010.
Moyo however, said the new party was not a reincarnation of the now defunct MLF saying they were totally different organisations as signified by the different names.
“We welcome all of you to this landmark event today where we present what we believe is the final solution for the woes of the people of Mthwakazi.
“Generally most people of Zimbabwe and their Mthwakazi sympathisers often claim that we are cry-babies. We cry not because we are cry-babies but we are hurting, because we are living in a system that is hurting us,” Moyo said during the launch.
He said it was heartrending that ever since Zimbabwe attained independence from colonial rule, people in Matabeleland have been treated as second-class citizens particularly in all sectors of economic development.
Moyo said the gruelling history dating back from the Gukurahundi atrocities and a plethora of other forms of grim disregard of rule of law against the people of Mthwakazi had forced them to rise up for their rights.
“This means Mthwakazi must secede from Zimbabwe forthwith along known and accepted national boundaries. We want to govern ourselves, manage our own resources and operate our own economy for the benefit of our various peoples,” he said.
Moyo said part of the grand plan was to see, the boundary between Zimbabwe and Mthwakazi being pegged in Kwekwe in a move that is set to see Matabeleland and Midlands Provinces falling under the latter.
He said they were already setting up a negotiating team that is expected to engage the Government of Zimbabwe over the best peaceful ways to achieve cessation adding that the whole process should take place in within a period of two years.
“We plan to do this through a negotiated settlement with the Government of Zimbabwe, no war, no force of any kind whatsoever, as we do not believe in any of them to achieve our objectives,” Moyo said.
The secessionist party said it has since established its national executive and has a considerable membership in the greater Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.
Sithabiso Masina is the party’s vice president while Zakhele Ndebele is national chairman.
“We therefore challenge the Government of Zimbabwe to take us seriously even though we have not been seen on the political radar before, we are not playing, we mean business,” Moyo said.
Going by the motto; “This God is our God”, the party also unveiled its flag which shows symbolic attributes such as an elephant, a dove, gun, spear and a Bible.