Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Morgan and Biti: If truth be told

Morgan and Biti: If truth be told
Greta Mutengani - Opinion
Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:11:00 +0000

I THINK Zimbabweans are expecting too much from the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai is not really concerned about what is going on in Zimbabwe. He has not even been in the country to assess the extent of the humanitarian suffering for himself.

He does not even know what effect the cholera epidemic has dealt on the people of Zimbabwe, leaving that task to his “assessors and subordinates” while he is globetrotting and getting Class A treatment in Brussels, France and Germany and just next door in Botswana.

Tsvangirai has mastered the art of “gaining in opposition”. He realises that he stands to gain more from opposing than being PM, a position that gives him a salary and keeps him at home, where the niceties he currently enjoys are not forthcoming.

For the better part of the ten 10 years the MDC has been in power, the MDC leader has enjoyed autonomy in running that organisation called the MDC and that may soon come to an end when he becomes PM. He dreads that!

He wants to control the cheque, the budget of the MDC, the amount paid to all his staffers and leave some for his family and children. No one has benefitted out of opposition politics than this man.

Tsvangirai would rather fly to Brussels and Australia and South Africa where his financiers are to receive 'the cheques' himself than send an MDC Treasurer, Roy Bennett, who seems stuck in South Africa all the time.

I wonder if the MDC has ever submitted audited accounts to the Government of Zimbabwe as required under law there and accounted for his endless trips abroad -- not to the Government, but to his party and its supporters. Afterall he preaches transparency.

He has managed to get away with “murder” thus far, and the post of PM will constrict his movement. He simply does not want that.

No wonder why none of the members of the MDC know where he is or what he is doing anymore. He is playing Houdini with them as well, acting like he is doing something; just to buy time and wait for the next cheque.

Simply put, conflict pays and the "willing buyer, willing seller principle" works well as the modus operandi between Tsvangirai and the West.

Poor MDC MPs who fought hard to win in their constituencies are still waiting in the wings for Tsvangirai to make 'the next decision'. They flip flop, as he flip flops. Their exasperation with their 'leader' is becoming all too clear now.

He communicates with them via video link once in a while; even when they make crucial decisions. The party is now run like a family unit, with a mom and dad at the top and a first son reflecting the attitudes and deeds of the father.

Tsvangirai would rather be border-jumping into Botswana from South Africa than dealing with the everyday issues in Zimbabwe. He would rather be acting like he's doing something, than dealing with the issues in Zimbabwe.

And when he is in Zimbabwe, he still goes to embassies for sanctuary, or for food rather, acting like he's in danger only to emerge when he is about to leave the country.

He looks well-fed and his family is neatly tucked away in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. His mortgage is paid for.

The wild West knows that they can achieve their objective through him. Zimbabwe’s opposition never had such a person before. Dr Joshua Nkomo, Edgar Tekere, Enoch Dumbutshena, Wurayayi Zembe, etc were too smart for the West, were too ideological and could not be puppetised.

All the opposition leaders before Morgan had ties to the Liberation Struggle and could not be manipulated in that way.Morgan ran away from that struggle. He's the perfect fit for a Western agenda.

The West and big business interests will hold on to Tsvangirai for as long as possible to achieve their “big business” goals. In any case, they have already invested millions, they are not about to let go now.

For Morgan and for Biti, it works well. The Western agenda fits in neatly with their personal agendas. Opposition has become a career project, and who lets they career go to waste? They are spoilers in a process that they are key players. That is the strategy, and it is a simple one.

The rest of the MDC leadership and supporters are really sincere in their desire for change, but do not have the leadership required for that change to happen.

Point is they do not realise what is at play. The two leaders (Biti and Tsvangirai); God knows where they are today or what they are doing, have got their strategy well-mapped out, together with a few top MDC leaders. The rest are a bunch of sincere and dedicated fighters of change who are leaderless.

Zimbabwe and its people, in the meantime, will continue on the slow death process.

That is the reality of opposition politics as it stands today, otherwise the two opposition leaders who have been leading their 'flock' in Zimbabwe. Think of a sherperd that leaves his sheep to die looking for a way to make them survive.

gmutengani@yahoo.com

Labels: MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, TENDAI BITI

posted by MrK @ 10:12 PM