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(NEWZIMBABWE) Moyo: The art of contaminating debate

Moyo: The art of contaminating debate
by Maxwell Zimuto
04/09/2009 00:00:00

THE hullaballoo about Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara’s remarks at the Nyanga Cabinet retreat has amply demonstrated the level of intolerance that has pervaded our nation, and the extent to which some in our midst have seized the opportunity to attack his person.

The resistance by Zanu PF ministers to acknowledge and embrace divergent views as necessary lubricants to enlightened and progressive debates demonstrate beyond any reasonable doubt the extent to which certain individuals have remained entrenched in their denial mode.

I hope they will get to understand that even those who hold opposing views to theirs have a right to freely express themselves without being subjected to intimidatory and embarrassing threats of walkouts and boycotts.

It was manifestly disconcerting and hypocritical, that while those opposed to Mutambara’s views, particularly the ministers from Zanu PF, fell on each other, scrambling for the opportunity to appear on national television to dismiss Mutambara’s speech as provocative and a violation of the spirit of the GPA, the same media could not be afforded to the D.P.M. to allow him to clear the air on the matter.

Granted as it might have been, that he could have been off the mark, democratic practice recognises his right to give his own side of the story and the circumstances upon which the remarks were made.

It was also intriguing to note that those that hardly engage in any form of national discussion without making reference to the history of our country, were infuriated by the mere mention of our recent past elections, which invariably, are part of our history.

This shows a serious selective sense of outrage, which should not be allowed to define our democratic values as Zimbabweans, given the fact that we have, as a nation, established an institution called the Ministry of National Healing, Reconciliation and National Integration, whose prime objective is to interrogate the past in order to allow for forward planning and development.

How is this Ministry expected to function when the mere mention of the past makes our leaders nervous? Granted as it might be, that the recent past was painful, we can only avoid its recurrence if we talk about it.

I found it strange that describing our recent past elections as a “nullity and fraudulent” translates into hate language. If this is hate language, how do we define the language that is consistently and persistently used in which members of certain political parties are called puppets that take instructions from their handlers? I hope that this is not double speak on the part of some of our national leaders.

The entry of Professor Jonathan Moyo, the MP for Tsholotsho North, to contribute to the debate over the Nyanga incident contaminated the atmosphere of the debate.

In my view, Professor Moyo showed excessive emotion and anger on behalf of Zanu PF and as such, failed to provide a credible, objective and balanced analysis of what transpired at the retreat and what should not have happened. He seems to have come in simply to settle a personal vendetta with D.P.M. Mutambara by ridiculously and maliciously attacking him.

An analysis of Moyo’s article on the matter which appeared in the Herald of August 25, 2009, corroborates my point.

Professor Jonathan Moyo’s article carried the opening line:“The self evident fact which Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara has sought to hide through his attention seeking statement that are manifestly inconsistent and insane is that while he is a political principal on paper, as per his signature on the GPA, he is not a political principal in reality on the ground.”

There is no dispute that this is a loaded statement full of innuendos and insulting language that must have been crafted with a view to vilifying D.P.M. Mutambara. Moyo came up with profound arguments, aimed at poisoning the minds of the readers and one such nonsensical claim was that D.P.M. Mutambara is not a principal. He, however, could not state the credentials that qualifies one to be a principal which D.P.M. Mutambara failed to meet.

D.P.M. Mutambara is on record for having stated that all the leaders to the agreement owe their roles and responsibilities to GPA. They are all products of a negotiated settlement, the D.P.M has further reiterated. Moyo acknowledges this in his article, when he points out that the 2008 elections were inconclusive.

Unfortunately, Moyo enjoys engaging in senseless theories, one such is that, Mutambara made the Nyanga statements in order to get support from the MDC-T group. While there is nothing to stop him from doing that, it is in fact Moyo himself whose sickening shrills about Mutambara and members of the opposition are meant to impress the powers that be in Zanu PF in order to earn himself rehabilitation back into the Zanu PF gravy train through the back door.

As for his claims that Mutambara is inconsistent, I have no energy for that but suffice to say, there is no better example of an inconsistent politician in Zimbabwe than Professor Moyo. Anyone who believes this hyperbolical theorist risks being taken through the garden path.

The last time Professor Moyo attempted to introduce a national road map on media reforms via his self inspired AIPPA, during his tenure as the Minister of Information and Publicity, the nation ended up in hell, with everyone being criminalised. The residual scars that have been inflicted on the population by his administration are there for all to see.

It is evident that Moyo is infuriated by Mutambara’s achievements in his role as one of the top national leaders in the country and for him to refer to Mutambara as a nobody, is profound political hallucination.

Let me end by sharing this secret with Jonathan Moyo and others like him. Arthur Mutambara is his own man and will always say what has to be said not what people necessarily want to hear. True leaders stand by what they say and Mutambara is one such leader.

Maxwell Zimuto is the MDC’s national director of information and publicity. He writes in his personal capacity

Labels: ARTHUR MUTAMBARA, JONATHAN MOYO

posted by MrK @ 5:48 PM