By Nomusa Garikai- Douglas Mwonzora and Madam Thokosani Khupe were MDC party colleagues yesterday, today they are at each other’s throat. Mwonzora fired Khupe from the party in the morning and in the afternoon she him from the party. Today it is Mwonzora vs Khupe mark 2, last year it was Khupe vs Mwonzora mark 1, in 2019 it was Chamisa vs Khupe, etc.
MDC leaders are like Lewis Carroll’s characters Tweedledum and Tweedledee, complete with big mouth and pea-size brain. They will fight at the drop of a hat and, more significantly, fight over nothing. It is no exaggeration to say ever since the launch of the MDC in 1999, the party has accomplished nothing of substance and the leaders have expended a lot of time, passion and resources fight each other than fighting to deliver the democratic changes, reforms, they were elected to do.
It was USA ambassador to Zimbabwe 2004 to 2007, Chris Dell, who said in a leaked cable to Washington that Morgan Tsvangirai was “a flawed and indecisive character, who would be an albatross round the nation’s neck if he ever got into power!” The ambassador should have said the same about the MDC leadership, for they have all turned out to be deadwood.
Sadly, for Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai and company did get into power and have been the milestone round the nation’s neck, dragging us all deeper and deeper into the crashing abyss! Instead of focusing on the important task of implementing the democratic reforms and holding Zanu PF to democratic account MDC have been fighting each other incessantly resulting the party splitting again and again like amoeba.
Some people have focused on the events leading to these incessant fights such as Nelson Chamisa takeover as MDC-T president following the death of the late Morgan Tsvangirai as the basis for judging the leadership qualities of the individuals involved. This is a mistake because these events are trivial compared to the pressing matter of implementing the democratic reforms.
The people of Zimbabwe risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders into office to implement the democratic changes, as the party-name imply, to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections and thus end the curse of bad governance. After 22 years, 5 of which in the GNU, MDC has failed to implement even one meaningful democratic reform.
Worse still, against repeated advice not to participate in the flawed and illegal elections until meaningful reforms were implemented. These leaders knew that by participating in the flawed elections they would give Zanu PF legitimacy. They ignored the advice and damn the consequences because they have been after the few gravy train seats Zanu PF offered as bait.
All the MDC leaders who were in the 2008 to 2013 GNU and/or have participated in the flawed elections since 2013 have proven beyond doubt that they are corrupt, breathtakingly incompetent, and utterly useless. Whether or not they are also guilty in any of the other trivial matters in between; is of academic interest to the small minds obsessed about trivial matters!
Some people have criticised Dr Thokosani Khupe for joining Mnangagwa’s POLAD after the 2018 elections, for example. This is a trivial matter because Mnangagwa derived his political legitimacy from all 23 presidential candidates and the thousands in the parliamentary race. Those presidential candidates who went on to join POLAD and publicly endorse Mnangagwa as the legitimate winner added the cherry on top, the real cake was produced in the participating.
Chamisa and his supporters have made a mountain out of the POLAD molehill, focusing on the trivial matters and ignoring the real substantive issues, for the sole purpose of heaping all MDC party’s historic failures and betrayals on Mwonzora and Khupe’s doors. Making the two leaders the fall-guys.
Meanwhile, Nelson Chamisa, Tendai Biti, David Coltart, Welshman Ncube and all the other MDC leaders in the Chamisa faction are emerging squeaky clean and innocent, as a rose.
This is the work of small minds and should be dismissed with the contempt it rightly deserves. Because by focusing on the trivial issues at the expense of the substantive issues the small minds are ignoring the historic facts, the truth, the reality, etc.; the stuff we need to comprehend our situation and find the solution out of the mess.
Ignoring the historic facts, etc. is the reason why we have been stuck for 42 years and counting in this mess. Nelson Chamisa and company have already proven that they are corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent pretending otherwise will help them being elected back into power but to what end and purpose. They will not implement the democratic reforms the nation has been dying for, for example. If they failed to get even one reform implemented during the 2008 to 2013 GNU, it is a historic fact that they did not. What is there to say they do it this time?
For Zimbabwe to get out of the economic and political mess we find ourselves stuck in we, the people, must have the courage to admit MDC leaders are corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent. After 22 years, 5 of which in the GNU, MDC leaders have failed to implement any meaningful democratic reforms and are not going to implement any in the future. We should have the courage to admit we made a mistake of entrusting MDC leaders with our vote, end the relationship here and now and refused to be sucked into their minion world one more day!