Former MDC politician Eddie Cross has revealed why he did not support MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa during the 2018 elections.
Speaking with Alpha Media Holdings chairperson Trevor Ncube on this week’s episode of In Conversation With Trevor, Cross who is one of MDC’s founding members said he could not support Chamisa because of his age. Cross said:
Yeah. Look I think is a sure Chamisa guy but he is still a kid and I’m not sure, I’m not sure…You know the Chinese have a saying “If you are going to ride the tiger you gotta be able to stay on” and I don’t think he had the wisdom and I don’t think he had the maturity. One thing I loved about Morgan Tsvangirai was his heart for the people. [He] never wavered.
Cross also went on to say that the late MDC founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai did not do a great job as Prime Minister during the Government of National Unity (GNU) era. Cross however added that Tsvangirai was still popular with the masses despite not doing a great job as Prime Minister.
Cross said:
I don’t think he did a great job of being Prime Minister. I was disappointed in that but the man himself there is no doubt in my mind that people loved him. You could go with Morgan anywhere in the country and it was just extraordinary. It was a great privilege to work with him and frankly to serve him. It was a real privilege for 17 years.
Cross also criticised Douglas Mwonzora. He revealed that the MDC leadership did not adopt the manifesto he had worked on for the 2018 elections. Eddie Cross said:
But the leadership that is coming up. Mwonzora. Look at the mess. Just look at the mess. I had written the manifesto for the 2018 elections they just ignored it, just brushed it aside. I just thought well “They must get on with it. New generation. Let them go. I’m the past. They are the future.” What’s gonna happen in 2023 I don’t know.
Cross resigned from the MDC and quit politics in August 2018. At the time Cross said his resignation had nothing to do with the ongoing political situation in the country but had been necessitated by his wife’s who had been diagnosed with an ailment he was not at liberty to reveal.
Cross had predicted that Emmerson Mnangagwa would win the July 30 elections. He also declared the harmonised elections as free, fair and credible, saying they were the most democratic since independence in 1980. Since his retirement from politics and the MDC, Cross was a member of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). He also authored, ‘A Life of Sacrifice’, the biography of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Watch part of Eddie Cross’ conversation with Trevor Ncube below:
Here Eddie Cross tells @TrevorNcube why he could not support @nelsonchamisa – he is still a kid he says. How much does age matter in an election? He also get angry because @nelsonchamisa ignored his manifesto in 2018. Watch the entire interviews here https://t.co/PZGBIgUsaH pic.twitter.com/ocXmQzMTS0
— Dhara Blessed Mhlanga (@bbmhlanga) September 15, 2021