Opposition hold Ideas Festival Conference - exact copy-cat of recent Zanu PF Conference down to the echo chamber. W Mukori

“A former Cabinet minister has condemned the Zimbabwean government and the ruling Zanu-PF party for their hostile stance towards opposition parties, labelling it a sign of immaturity and cowardice rather than revolutionary fervour. The remarks were made by Nkosana Moyo, former Minister of Industry and International Trade, during the ongoing Ideas Festival conference organized by Alpha Media Holdings,” reported Bulawayo 24.

“Moyo highlighted Zimbabwe's troubling history of state-sponsored violence against opposition figures, where activists have faced persecution, imprisonment, and even death for opposing the ruling party. He emphasized the importance of respecting dissenting voices in a mature democracy.”

No one would ever deny that Zanu PF is a party of thugs who have denied Zimbabweans their basic freedoms and rights for the purpose of keeping an iron grip on power. Conference was a very good idea, it is a pity that it turned out to be an echo chamber. The delegates were telling each other what they wanted and so they learned nothing of substance.

One of the substantive issue Zimbabwe’s opposition should talk about is their weaknesses. The opposition had the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms to end the Zanu PF dictatorship during the 2008 to 2013 GNU, for example; they failed to implement even one token reform. It is nonsense to blame that failure on Zanu PF being a corrupt and tyrannical dictatorship. 

Mugabe bribed Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends with the trappings of high office; the E-Class Mercedes Benz limos, the very generous salaries and allowances, the US$ 4 million mansion for Save himself, etc., etc. In return, the MDC leaders forgot about implementing the reforms.

The world looks different from the rose-tinted windows of an air-conditioned limousine!

“Mazivanhu eMDC adzidza kudya anyerere!” (MDC leaders have learned to enjoy the trappings of high office; they will never rock the boat!) Boasted Zanu PF cronies during the GNU when asked why MDC leaders were not implementing the all important democratic reforms. 

Mugabe knew Tsvangirai and company’s weaknesses, that they were corrupt and incompetent, and he exploited these weakness for his own political advantage. 

Ever since the GNU debacle, Zimbabwe’s opposition leaders have been participating in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy out of greed. They knew Zanu PF was offering a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate no matter how flawed and illegal the process got. Chamisa and company have found the bait irresistible! 

It is not as if the opposition leaders do not know they are corrupt and incompetent; of course, they know that. A few of the leaders have admitted it although even they have been on guard not to reap it.

“The (2013) electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility,” confessed David Coltart in his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.

The truth is Zimbabwe’s crop of opposition leaders are corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless and, to crown it all, lack the intellectual maturity to admit their own weaknesses much less to do something about it.

“Chamisa and his CCC party are Zanu PF Team B in all but name!” remarked social media activist, Brett  muVeti. Of course, Brett was spot on. MDC/CCC leaders have been participating in flawed elections to make sure Zanu PF team A wins and it has political legitimacy.

"We have not yet matured to a point where we understand the value of opposition," said Nkosana Moyo in the echo chamber. "When you've got somebody who disagrees with you, if you are a mature person, you listen very carefully to what they say, because they see things from a different perspective from you. You don't kill them.”

No, Dr Moyo, you have got it all wrong! Mnangagwa, just like Mugabe before him, appreciates how useful a corrupt and incompetent opposition is to Zanu PF’s agenda of returning political power at all costs. Mnangagwa created POLAD for the purpose of rewarding these opposition leaders who had failed to win any gravy train seats in the 2018 elections and thus keep opposition pot boiling.

Yes Mnangagwa has roughed up Chamisa and company every now and then, after all he is a ruffian, but he will never kill them off. Even a buffoon like Mnangagwa knows that Zanu PF is still in power today precisely because Zimbabwe’s opposition leaders are among the most corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless in human history! Why would he kill off Zanu PF team B!