Gibson Sibanda - MDC Activity

MDC Activity

Sibanda was elected to the House of Assembly from Nkulumane in the 2000 election, defeating ZANU-PF candidate Dumiso Dabengwa.

In 2005 Sibanda was the leader of a faction within the MDC which advocated that the party should participate in elections to the Senate of Zimbabwe, which it had opposed. When the MDC National Council voted to support participation, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai suspended Sibanda and his supporters, such as Welshman Ncube, pending a Congress in February 2006. They accused Tsvangirai of being dictatorial and said that they had actually suspended him.

The MDC split in October 2005, a result of escalating internal tensions which saw Tsvangirai differ sharply with some of his senior colleagues on various policy issues, including election participation.

Sibanda was elected to the Senate in the March 2008 parliamentary election. He stood as a candidate for the post of President of the Senate on August 25, 2008, and he was backed by both MDC factions, but was defeated by ZANU-PF candidate Edna Madzongwe, receiving 28 votes against 58 votes for Madzongwe.

Sibanda died in 2010 after a battle with cancer and was the first member of the opposition to be declared a national hero by both MDC parties, but their plea for Gibson Sibanda to be buried at the Heroes Acre were denied by President Robert Mugabe.