Lovemore Moyo

Service/Career

Second Chimurenga

It is said that Lovemore Moyo left Matobo area at the age of twelve and crossed into Zambia to help in the Second Chimurenga. In Zambia he received military training for one of the liberation movements fighting for majority rule in Zimbabwe, ZAPU led by one of Zimbabwe's founding nationalists Joshua Nkomo. ^[1] After the attainment of majority rule in 1980, in 1992 Moyo was also linked to a group called Imbovane Yamahlabezulu which was a Matabeleland based group aimed at fighting "cultural imperialism". These early glimpses of political activity were to later on bloom into a fully fledged political career which was realised through the joining of the MDC

Mainstrean Politics with the MDC

In the 2002 elections, Moyo was elected as a member of the house of assembly (parliament) for the Matobo North constituency. ^[1] It was reported that prior to that election, Moyo had been detained by the police during the campaign for unspecified reasons. ^[1] After having entered mainstream politics, Moyo went on to occupy several positions in the MDC and was also part of the inclusive government of 2008. Moyo made the headlines when he was elected as Speaker of Parliament, the first time that Zanu PF had not held the post since independence. After having spent some time as speaker, Moyo's initial victory was successfully challenged by Jonathan Moyo which paved way for another election for the same post in which Lovemore Moyo was facing Simon Khaya Moyo from Zanu PF. It was reported that Jonathan Moyo had argued that the initial election of Lovemore Moyo had been marred by electoral irregularities which contradicted the policy of secret ballot voting. Jonathan Moyo is alleged to have stated that six of the MDC legislators had displayed their ballot papers to senior party officials before casting their ballots. The Supreme Court went on to rule in favour of Jonathan Moyo paving way for another election which Lovemore Moyo won. The only difference being the controversy surrounding the elections. It was reported in the media that there had been attempts to bribe members of the house so that they would vote otherwise. ^[3] Moyo's victory generated widespread debate across the political divide as it emerged that apart from members of the MDC who had voted for Moyo to occupy the post, there were also two other votes from Zanu PF which had been for Moyo. Moyo managed to win the election by 105 votes to 93 against Zanu PF’s Simon Khaya Moyo. The elections were said to have been marred by serious vote buying, police detentions and rebellious voting by two members of parliament who did not vote for their party candidate. ^[4]

In the 2013 Elections, (see A History of Zimbabwean Elections) Matobo North returned to Parliament:

• Never Khanye of Zanu PF with 5 300 votes or 44.96 percent,
• Lovemore Moyo of MDC-T with 5 219 votes or 44.27 percent,
• Moses Ndhlela of MDC with 852 votes or 7.23 percent,
• Nicholas Abson Dube of ZAPU with 417 votes or 3.54 percent.

Total 11 788 votes

A few months prior to the MDC T's 4th National Congress of 2014, there were various reports in the media claiming that Lovemore Moyo was eyeing the party's vice president's post. The former Matobo legislator, however, dismissed the claims as false claiming that he had no such plans.^[5]

Events

The 2013 Electoral Defeat

The Matobo North incumbent, Lovemore Moyo, was defeated in the 2013 elections by Zanu PF's Never Khanye. Moyo, however, contested the election citing various irregularities after he had marginally lost to the Zanu PF candidate. ^[6] In arguing his case, Moyo is alleged to have said

On the morning of 30 July 2013, I received a call that our elections agent for Bhazha polling station who was manning the special vote ballot boxes had been ejected from the polling station by the presiding officer on the basis that her name was not on the consolidated elections agents list for the polling station. On the election day, election agents were refused entry into the polling stations in Silozwe, Induna Primary School, Gwandavale, Lukazi, Tohwe, Whitewater, Matopos, Bhazha and Minda Primary Schools even though election agents were there before the start of the vote at 7am. Given the fact that our agents were denied entry, there is a possibility of us having been prejudiced of a substantial number of votes. In terms of the law each candidate is entitled to have a polling agent representing him or her at the polling station during the conduct of the election^[6]

After having submitted his papers contesting the election result, Moyo was dumped by his own lawyer before the matter of the disputed election had been brought to finality.

2018 Resignation from MDC-T

On 22 March 2018, Moyo released a statement that he was quitting the MDC-T political party. In his statement, he cited the 'unconstitutional power grab' by leader Nelson Chamisa as one of his reasons for resigning. According to his advisor Artwell Sibanda, the resignation was with immediate effect. Sibanda also highlighted that Moyo will also not associate himself with Thokozani Khupe. The statement read :

He has quit MDC as a card-carrying member and also in his position as chairman of the national movement. Since the appointment of vice presidents (Nelson Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri) which were a deviation from the principles of the Movement for Democratic Change coupled with a violent streak that has been on the rise in the MDC-T, the former national chairman cannot and will not continue to associate with a party that has deviated from its noble founding values and principles, non-violence, non-tribalism, sexism and constitutionalism. These are the values that made the MDC the party of the people.^[7]

References