“A lot of
Zimbabweans especially in the opposition ranks are aghast and flabbergasted by
the news (of Tsvangirai receiving $70 000 for his medical needs form President
Mugabe),” wrote Ndisi Gauke in the article “Tsvangirai entitled to Mugabe cash”,
Zimeye.
“Ask yourself;
should Tsvangira have turned down the payment and suffer the stress of
burdening his wife and children with the responsibility of finding the money
with a possibility of leaving them in financial ruin?”
The most important
question to be asked here is: did Morgan Tsvangirai help President Mugabe stay
in power by failing to implement even one democratic reform during the GNU? The
answer to this question will determine whether this cash donation like the $4
million Highlands mansion is a reasonable entitlement or just a bribe, a common
currency in President Mugabe’s Zimbabwe.
Morgan Tsvangirai
and his MDC friends were tasked to implement the democratic reforms necessary
to ensure Zimbabwe’s 2013 elections were free, fair and credible. MDC has
readily admitted that President Mugabe rigged the July 2013 elections. What
Tsvangirai has been very coy on is admit that MDC failed to implement even one
reform in five years because they did not want to admit that they sold-out.
President Mugabe saw
to it that when Tsvangirai et al joined him in the GNU they were granted the
same gravy train privileges that Zanu PF ruling elite took for granted, the
ministerial cars, generous salaries and allowances, etc. For the first few
months of the GNU the working relationship between the partners was more like a
donkey yoked with an ox, Tsvangirai even threatened to withdraw his MDC party. President
Mugabe bought Tsvangirai the $4 million Highlands mansion and the later never
criticized Mugabe ever again for the rest of the GNU and he kicked all reforms
into the tall grass!
There is no doubt
that Tsvangirai sold-out during the GNU and President Mugabe rewarded him the
gravy train lifestyle, the $4 million Highlands mansion, etc. Considering the vast
fortune President Mugabe has continued to pocket thanks to Tsvangirai’s corruption
and incompetence; even a corrupt and murderous tyrant can afford to be generous
to those who have done him a great favour. Mugabe has pocketed as much as $ 2
billion from Marange diamonds in 2012 alone, according to Partner Africa Canada;
the $70 000 donation would be the equivalent of a few coins you and me would
give a beggar!
Besides, President Mugabe
spends $3 million every time he flies to Singapore for an eye check-up or some
such routine health check. In 2012 he made eight such health trips and
Tsvangirai, as Prime Minister, publicly defended the reckless spending.
The birth of Mugabe’s
grandson early this year must have costed the nation $10 million, at least,
given the Bona, the daughter, and Grace and their entourage were in the Far
East for two months for the birth. Mugabe then commandeered an Air Zimbabwe for
three days to go himself to the Far East to pick them up.
Today even big
referral hospitals like Mpilo and Harare Hospitals, saving the health needs of millions
of ordinary Zimbabweans, have often stopped carrying out even the most basic and
simple operations because there are no drugs, clean running water, etc.
following decades of poor funding.
A few people have
since started to question the rational of the nation spending $10 million on the
birth of one child in out-of-this-world facilities when hundreds of babies are
dying every month for the lack of something as basic as incubators in our
hospitals and clinics up and down the country. There is no chance of any MDC
supporters join the descending voices; the donation to their leader’s medical
needs have bought their silence just as the $4 million Highlands mansion bought
Tsvangirai’s silence during the GNU.
President Mugabe is
shrewd enough to know that his victory in the 2018 elections is totally dependent
on him keeping corrupt and incompetent leaders like Tsvangirai, Joice Mujuru,
etc. as his opponents. We all know MDC-T is stone-broke still Mugabe will
bankroll the opposition, his legitimacy after the elections depends on creating
the impression that there was a serious political contest!
“I would never for
one day bash Morgan Tsvangirai for taking what he is entitled to,” wrote Ndisi
Gauke.
Where in the new or
old constitution does it say an ex PM is entitles to keep his government
mansion, pension, free medical cover, etc.? Tsvangirai is no more entitled to
the $4 million Highland mansion or $70 000 donation than Mugabe is entitled to
his $5 billion Blue Roof Mansion, 14 commercial farms, regular Singapore health
trips at $3 million @, etc.
Millions of
Zimbabweans are out of work and are living in abject poverty, basic public
services like health and education have all but collapsed, there is no clean
running water, no electricity supply, etc. all because of the decades of
mismanagement and corruption by the ruling elite. Public resources which should
be used for the good of us all are being creamed off to gratify insatiable
greed. They have fooled the public into believing it is their entitlement and
some naïve and gullible members of the public believe it.
If Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC village idiots had used their time in the GNU to stop the extravagant waste of money on such trips as the $3 million for an eye checkup and used the money on rebuilding our health service then Tsvangirai would not need to travel outside Zimbabwe for his medical treatment.
ReplyDeleteWe should never forget that Tsvangirai was the most senior government official who visited Marange and Chiadzwa diamond operations in 2012 and said everything was above board. This was contrary to the reports by the likes of Tendai Biti, Eddie Cross and Chindori-Chininga who said corruption was rampant. President Mugabe has since confirmed that corruption was indeed rampant with the admission that $15 billion of diamond revenue was "swindled".
Weeks after his glowing Marange report Tsvangirai was living it on an luxury Cruise Liner with one of his many floozies. The trip must have costed him a pretty penny, $250 000 at least. He came back to Zimbabwe and had to pay another one of his floozie $300 000 to shut her up. If he was doing all this with his own money and ill got money from bribes and corrupt activities then he must be loaded. Why would he now need a $70k donation.
Of course Tsvangirai is corrupt and incompetent and all he has ever done in his days in power was loot as much as he can. People elected him to stop the looting and tyranny by Mugabe and his cronies but as soon as he got into power he joined them in the looting.
Tsvangirai was convinced that President Mugabe had accepted him and his MDC friends as life-members of the privileged ruling elite, they will always have a seat on the gravy train no matter what. MDC would have implemented ALL the democratic reforms if it had ever occurred to them that Mugabe would rig the elections and boot them off the gravy train.
There is no doubt that if he really want too Mugabe could have won all the seats in the 2013 elections but he is smart enough to now that would have called into question the fairness of the election and thus his legitimacy. Mugabe needs opposition parties led by corrupt and incompetent leaders like Tsvangirai, Mujuru, Biti, Ncube, etc. they offer the political opposition he needs for his legitimacy without ever being a serious threat to his hold on power!
To say Tsvangirai is entitled to the $70k, the $4 million Highlands mansion, etc. is to say he is entitled to betray the nation and sell us all for whatever he can get from the tyrant Mugabe and to loot as much of the nation's riches as he can! It is easy for people like Gauke here to say that because they see themselves and the rest of us the populous as like more than slaves entitled to whatever our masters, the ruling elite, throws at us and nothing more!
It is this engrained subservient mentality that has made Zimbabweans hear of that $15 billion in diamond revenue is being looted and all they have done is shrug their shoulders. Of course a more assertive populous will have demanded a thorough investigation, have those responsible punished and forced the government of the day to resign for sleeping on the job! Indeed, with a more assertive and vigilant electorate, corruption will have never reached the nauseating height we see in Zimbabwe! Never!
@ Gudo
ReplyDeleteWell Mugabe did fight in the war of independence but the fact that he has since independence become a corrupt and murderous tyrant is ok for you.
And what has Tsvangirai ever done for Zimbabwe other than promise the nation that he will bring democratic change and then betray the nation by failing to implement even one reform during the GNU landing us all in this mess?
Tsvangirai is a corrupt and incompetent village idiot and those who reminding the voters who are intellectually as blind as a blind mole are doing the nation a great service. In the blind moles elect a village idiot again at least they were warned of the folly.