(TALKZIMBABWE) MDC needs a forensic audit as a party

MDC needs a forensic audit as a party
Prince Kahari – Opinion
Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:39:00 +0000

DEAR EDITOR – The just ended Extra-Ordinary Summit of the Southern African Development Community was once again inconclusive. Many Zimbabweans waited with bated breath for an outcome that would help Zimbabweans find that much needed solution to the current crisis in the country.

The bickering over the Ministry of Home Affairs has left so many questions in our minds. I do not mean to join the bandwagon and just start blaming Zanu PF for holding on to that ministry, but as Zimbabweans I think we are now really missing the point.

I think the two parties, if I am correct, have been locked in discussions since the beginning of 2007 – a process that culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and also a power-sharing deal on September 11, 2008. Many of us onlookers were sceptical about such a deal, but the principals, including the leaders of the two MDCs, convinced us that the deal was worth it – and we believed them.

We are now coming to two years since these negotiations started, and are shocked that the parties to this deal are willing to let it fail because of the control of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

There are two very disturbing issues to consider here.

One is that the MDC, by signing an “inadequate document” on Sept. 11 shows their lack of judgment and lack of leadership. I remember, fully well, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai coming out the conference room at the Rainbow Towers saying, “We have a deal!” and saying that then President Thabo Mbeki will make an announcement about the deal. Tsvangirai went on to attend an official ceremony on Sept. 15 where he made a statement himself about the deal. My concern is: What deal did he sign? Almost two months later, the MDC leader is still arguing against the lack of good faith on the part of Zanu PF.

The key question here is: Can Tsvangirai be trusted with running institutions of State when he has such bad judgment? How could he sign an incomplete deal? What was the urgency of signing that deal? If he was duped by President Mugabe and former SA President Thabo Mbeki that means him (Tsvangirai) and his team could well make serious errors of judgment as leaders of the country, and this concerns me very much.

Secondly, the MDC seems to be going through a tough time as a party with secretary-general, Tendai Biti issuing statements that conflict the party president’s. Are there ideological weaknesses in the MDC and is Tsvangirai really in control as the leader? Biti recently issued a statement condemning the leadership of the Republican US President, George W. Bush, yet the relationship between the MDC and the Bush administration has been very cordial and mutually respectful.

Some of us were shocked to read Biti’s statement accusing Bush of unilateralism, when they seemed to be on the same side regarding the Zimbabwean question.
It is such weaknesses in the MDC party’s leadership that concerns most of us and the ideological weaknesses. It is also the inherent lack of synchrony in the statements issued by the MDC. Tendai Biti’s statement in response to Sen. Barack Obama’s appointment is not published on the MDC’s official website, only that of the party President is published. This is very revealing and the power struggles are now becoming very nauseating. The MDC needs to show leadership.

I have noticed that many contributors to this forum who used to write in defence of the MDC have backed down. It is becoming increasingly difficult to defend a party that fails to control the quality of its own product. The PR department of the MDC is now in tatters. Many individuals appear and disappear and we do not really know who the spokesman in that party is. Sometimes Biti takes on the role of spokesman reserved for Nelson Chamisa. There’s also George Sibotshiwe, who only seems to emerge whenever there is a conference in South Africa and many other unofficial MDC spokespersons in the UK, US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and party supporters who have knee-jerk responses whenever an issue arises.

For a party that is trying to take Zimbabwe to the next level, these structural and individual weaknesses are concerning and until the MDC resolves these intra-party weaknesses, they will always find it difficult to unseat Zanu PF and President Mugabe. It is one thing to continue hammering on the weaknesses of Zanu PF – which the party itself has admitted to in various fora – and quite another to espouse your own policies. The MDC needs to carry out a forensic audit of where they are as a party before they call for equitable power-sharing. Ten years after its formation, the party is still looking very much juvenile.

Prince Kahari