Centre for Language and Communication Studies, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Since the death of the party’s founding president, Morgan Tsvangirai on 14 February 2018, the Movement for Democratic Change Tsvangirai (MDC-T) has been shaped by the political succession struggle. The internal war to succeed Tsvangirai pitted Chamisa who was controversially endorsed by MDC-T national council and national executive as the acting president, and Khupe who insisted that constitutionally she was the party’s leader. The power struggle between these two and their respective factions came four months before crucial 2018 harmonised elections, causing confusion in Zimbabwe’s main opposition party. After Chamisa’s efforts to negotiate with Khupe collapsed, the national council, which is the opposition party’s supreme body in-between congresses, convened to seal her fate together with her allies. The MDC-T national council eventually expelled co-vice president Thokozani Khupe, party spokesperson Obert Gutu and organizing secretary Abednico Bhebhe while also accepting the pre-emptive resignation of national chairperson Lovemore Moyo. This article examines the role of the local press in framing this struggle, arguing that the state-controlled Herald, took a position to sympathise with Thokozani Khupe while negatively portraying Nelson Chamisa. The Herald largely depicts the MDC-T as a violent party, and its reportage foments conflict in the main opposition party. In contrast, privately- owned News Day and Zimbabwe independent project Chamisa positively while negatively framing Khupe and her allies. This article widens scholarship on factionalism in Zimbabwean opposition politics, while emphasizing how tribal and gender dimensions can reinforce national politics.