Movement for Democratic Change (1999–2005) the Southern African Development Community (SADC) observers and the South African Ministerial Observer team held that the election was substantially free and fair. In 2004, opposition offices in Bulawayo were raided by police officers, armed with search warrants, looking for illegal documents and weapons. During Morgan Tsvangirai's treason trial, pressure built up within the party due to the possibility that Tsvangirai would be imprisoned. There were allegedly rumors of a faction desiring an Ndebele president, Secretary General Welshman Ncube (now Secretary General of the Mutambara led Movement for Democratic Change) to replace Tsvangirai, as well as rumors of tribal prejudice
Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube immediately claimed that the attack was carried out by ZANU militants. However, while recovering in hospital, Stevenson identified her assailants as members of a rival faction of the MDC. In the 2008 presidential election, the President of MDC Prof Arthur Mutambara backed Simba Makoni. Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube The Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube (MDC–N) is a Zimbabwean political party led by politician and attorney Welshman Ncube. It was founded in 2005 when the Movement for Democratic Change split apart and in the 2008 general election, it was known as the Movement for Democratic Change – Mutambara