"People
no longer have anyone to stand with. They (Zanu PF) bought Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai joined the money brigade. Here the Americans did not give him money
because of his ways. So whom should the people follow? There is no one who
genuinely stands for the people in Zimbabwe," Thomas Mapfumo, Mukanya,
told Nehanda Radio.
Mukanya
is spot-on, Tsvangirai and his fellow MDC friends sold-out during the GNU there
is a mountain of evidence to prove it.
MDC
were supposed to implement a raft of democratic reforms and draft a new
democratic constitution to ensure the next election, the July 2013 elections,
are free, fair and credible. SADC, the guarantor of the GPA, did their best to
remind MDC to stick to the set task but MDC paid no heed. MDC failed to
implement even one democratic reform in five years of the GNU. The only thing
they did was to draft a new constitution only to make a dog’s breakfast of
that!
"Zimbabwe
also needs a new constitution," wrote Trevor Ncube in a recent article.
"The current document is the outcome of horse-trading between Zanu-PF and
the two MDC factions. It fails to lay a strong foundation of the rule of law,
strong national institutions, transparency and accountability. And, of course,
the sanctity of life and respect for private property must find full
expression."
In the
article, Ncube described the opposition as “pedestrian”.
In fact
Ncube was being very generous here because the horse-trading was actually one
way; Mugabe got all he wanted – absolute power – and MDC got nothing. Mugabe “dictated”
the new constitution the Zanu MP Paul Mangwana boasted. He was the co-chairperson
of the parliamentary committee appointed to draft the constitution.
Instead
of admitting the new constitution was weak and feeble MDC leaders came out in
full force and campaigned for a yes vote in the March 2013 referendum. They
assured the nation the new constitution would deliver the people’s freedoms and
rights including the right to free and fair elections. Tsvangirai even claimed
the new constitution was an “MDC child”!
The people
of Zimbabwe believed the MDC lies and without even having the common sense to take
time off to study the proposed constitution, they approved it with a whopping
95% yes vote. New constitution failed its very first acid test a few months
later as the promised free, fair and credible elections did not materialize.
Mugabe blatantly rigged the elections!
“MDC
vadzidza kudya vanyerera!” was cynical remark from one Zanu PF permanent
secretary during the GNU. (MDC leaders have learnt to enjoy the gravy train
comforts without rocking the boat!) He was comment on why, years into the GNU, MDC
had still done nothing to implement the democratic reforms.
Soon
after the formation of the GNU Mugabe had seen to that Tsvangirai and his MDC friends
were given all the gravy train comforts they could ever wish for; the tyrant threw
in the $4 million Highlands mansion for Tsvangirai. MDC leaders showed their
appreciation of Mugabe’s generosity by kicking the democratic reforms into the
tall grass.
Of
course MDC leaders sold-out; if being bribed with mansions and gravy train
comforts in return for doing nothing about the reforms is not selling-out then
what is!
Thomas
Mapfumo is wrong to say the people have no leader; a number Zimbabweans still
follow Tsvangirai and the other MDC factions, not as many as those followed MDC
before the elections but still a number of people have remained faithful to
Tsvangirai.
Whilst
Mukanya and Ncube can see Tsvangirai as the “sell-out” and “pedestrian”,
respectively, leader he is sadly there are still many Zimbabweans out there who
do not. Even with the benefit of hindsight, there are many Zimbabweans who will
never see Tsvangirai and his MDC friends for the breathtakingly corrupt and
incompetent individuals they are because they are programmed to follow leaders
without ever asking any questions even in the face of a mountain of evidence of
the leader’s incompetency!
Zimbabwe’s
struggle for democratic change, freedom, justice and human dignity has been a
tale of taking one or two steps forward and the nation has a big song and dance
to celebrate meanwhile the nation’s leader “join the money brigade” to indulge
themselves dragging the nation ten or more steps backwards. It is very sad and
tragic that these leaders are dragging the nation backwards but what making the
whole situation a double tragedy is that the people themselves take forever to
notice they are being conned!
It is
bad enough that Zimbabweans risked life and limp to vote for a pedestrian and
sell-out person like Tsvangirai once or twice but to do so a third and fourth
time is sheer folly. People get the government they deserve and we cannot say
we do not deserve this corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF dictatorship compete
with its coterie of equally corrupt and incompetent MDC opposition.
"Tsvangirai joined the money brigade. Here the Americans did not give him money because of his ways. So whom should the people follow?" said Mapfumo.
ReplyDeleteHe hit the nail on the head right there; Tsvangirai has joined the money brigade. By the time the nation held the 2013 elections with not even one reform having been implemented it was clear to SADC, the West and anyone with half a brain that MDC had sold-out and the elections would be rigged. Both SADC and the West deserted Tsvangirai and MDC like a flock of wild ducks at the sight of an attacking eagle.
It is not surprising that the Americans ignored Tsvangirai during his last visit, they had neither the time nor, much less, the money to waste on a loser like him!
The very fact that many Zimbabweans have failed to understand what happened during the GNU and the serious consequences of those events means they have continued to give their political support to a sell-out. How can we hope to get out of this political mess if we cannot even recognize the sell-out amongst those we have to trust with our very lives and their ability to accomplish the task is totally dependent on their being 100% trustworthy!
This is not a case of people recognized that Tsvangirai betrayed then during the GNU and they have taken the precautions to ensure this does not happen again. These MDC supporters are not even aware Tsvangirai sold-out last time, this is them being their usual naïve and gullible selves.
A healthy and functional democracy demands an electorate who willing to listen and ask questions even if it be after the event, at the least; a naïve and gullible electorate is no good a curse to democracy.
@ Yithilabo
ReplyDeleteYou do raise some very important questions. "Is there any other leader that can take this ship forward given the short time period left before 2018? Can Mujuru do it?" etc. In trying to answer these questions we are likely to box ourselves in because these are leading questions. One is tempted to say we are running out of time, for example, and therefore let us stick with the leaders we have.
The reality is we are boxing ourselves because we are refusing to deal with the key issues. The thrust of Mukoma Mapfumo, Mukoma Ncube and Mukoma Mukori's argument is that Tsvangirai is a pedestrian leader who has sold-out. We have wasted two and half years since the rigged 2013 elections talking about this because they are many Zimbabweans who will not see Tsvangirai for the corrupt and incompetent leader he is!
The argument that there is no other leader than Tsvangirai or that we are running out of time to find an alternative leader and so let are stick with the devil we know are just excuses for refusing to deal with this basic historic fact of Tsvangirai being a failed leader.
Even if the elections are tomorrow Tsvangirai will still be a corrupt and incompetent leader who has sold-out last time and will certainly do so again.
Tsvangirai will never implement the democratic reforms necessary for free and fair elections which is the single most important task right now. Mai Mujuru will not do this either; like Tsvangirai she too has no clue where to start.
So it seems to me, the argument to justify keeping the same failed leaders is just an exercise in futility.
Thomas Mapfumo is right to say Tsvangirai sold out but what good has this done if the people them-selves will not open their eyes and see it for themselves. It is like taking someone to the World View in Inyanga and they are so myopic they cannot see beyond the tip of their nose!
ReplyDeleteIf the truth be told ever since Tsvangirai bust on the nation's political stage there has been clear signs that that he is a corrupt and incompetent leader. Former USA Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Chris Dell, said way back in 2004 that Tsvangirai was "a flawed and indecisive character".
If the nation was waiting for even more compelling evidence of Tsvangirai's incompetence they got it from his failure to get even one reform implemented during the GNU. The fact that there are still Zim-babweans who still follow Tsvangirai only proves we have many people who not just myopic, they have no eyes!
The tragedy of our situation is that these people who have already proven to be naive and gullible have the vote, they are keeping a corrupt and incompetent sell-out in a position of power be it as an opposi-tion leader of no consequence. We have people with no eyes deciding where we should go! Of course it is no surprise that we are in a serious mess and, worse still, with this blundering electorate, we are here to stay!
@ Mikis
ReplyDeleteMikis it seems to me that you have failed to establish the cause and the effect and hence the reason you are ending up putting the cart before the horse.
The present system does not allow any meaningful debate and democratic competition. President Mu-gabe is a corrupt and incompetent murderous thug who uses dirty tactics to stay in power; if anyone wants to challenge him then he or she must be prepared to play by his tyrannical rules. It is no wonder then only thugs like Mujuru or corrupt and incompetent sell-out like Tsvangirai have taken up the chal-lenge.
Zimbabwe's present political system rotten to the core it is naive to still expect such a system to produce quality leaders. The present system is like sewage waste you cannot expect cream to rise to the top from that, only scum will rise to the top. If you want to pick your leader from those that are there then, of course, you will be spoil for choice – you can have you pick of scum.
If you are serious about getting competent quality leaders then you must replace the stifling tyrannical dictatorship with a democratic one were debate and democratic competition are stifled but rather nur-tured and encouraged because they are royal jelly on which competent and quality leaders are brought up on!
We must demand the implementation of all the democratic reforms agreed in the 2008 GPA; reforms MDC should have implemented during the GNU but failed to get even one reform implemented.
Throw away the sewage waste and fill the jar with wholesome milk, the cream will rise to the top. You have not thrown away the sewage waste and will not throw it away until you have cream! All you will ever have is your pick of the scum!
Getting some people to accept that Tsvangirai is corrupt and incompetent is proving to be a task and half! You are one of the few people who have dared called Tsvangirai corrupt and incompetent and ex-plained in great detail why you call him a village idiot, done so repeatedly too. Instead of these people opening their eyes and accepting the fact they have withdrawn into their shells like tortoise only to emerge to throw insult at you.
ReplyDeleteYou have many, many myopic enemies out there! They want their corrupt and incompetent Tsvangirai and they are really upset to see him being criticized regardless whether the criticism is founded or not. Indeed the very fact that it is as is the case here has clearly upset them even more! Such is the foolish-ness of a naive and gullible electorate; they do not even know what is in their own best interest.