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
Gibson Sibanda to be declared a national hero by both MDC parties, but their plea for Gibson Sibanda to be buried at the Heroes Acre was denied by President Robert Mugabe. Gibson Sibanda Gibson Jama Sibanda (1944 – 24 August 2010) was a Zimbabwean politician and trade unionist. He was a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change and at the time of his death was the Vice-President of the faction of the Movement for Democratic Change led by Arthur Mutambara. A former president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, he was first elected to the House of Assembly in