(TALKZIMBABWE) MDC-T insults African leaders

MDC-T insults African leaders
Mgqitshwa Ndlovu - Opinion
Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:57:00 +0000

THE MDC formation led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, commonly MDC-T, has, since its formation on October 12, 2005, stood out as a great insult to the respect, dignity and pride of Africa, its institutions and leadership as a whole.

Firstly, there are posters stuck in various street corners around Bulawayo and Harare written "Tsvangirai Africa’s second blessing". The question that comes first to an average mind is: Who then is Africa’s first blessing?

Again an average mind will conclude that Nelson Mandela is probably Africa’s first blessing? This summarily means that in the MDC-T’s wisdom or lack of it Morgan Tsvangirai has done better for the African continent than Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Samora Machel, Sam Nujoma, Augustino Neto, Kenneth Kaunda, Jomo Kenyatta, Thabo Mbeki, Joshua Nkomo, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Francisca Baard amongst many others.

There can be no better insult to a society than denigration of its founding fathers to levels below those of a man who has failed to unite a political party let alone a nation and a continent. The denigration of founding fathers of societies seems to be integral in MDC-T’s operations judging by the defence offered by the likes of Bekithemba Nyathi, Bulawayo Province youth chairman of the Matibenga faction of MDC-T, to Sekai Holland for her denigration of King Mzilikazi Khumalo.

The founding fathers of Africa have helped build strong revolutionary and ideologically rich political parties. On the other hand, Tsvangirai has failed to properly run the MDC since its formation. He has with time developed a serious syndrome, which fractionalises his support base every two years in October.

In October 2005 he split the united MDC by overthrowing the national council’s democratic decision to contest the senatorial elections due on November 26, 2005.

Two years later his then called Anti-Senate MDC almost split again when he allowed rich people like Theresa Makone to use economic power to oust popularly elected people like Lucia Matibenga. This was through the extraordinary and violent congress held on October 10, 2007 at the Fast Climbers Restaurant owned by Thokozani Khupe.

In October 2009 his party is again divided over two crucial issues.

The first issue is the undemocratic nature in which the MDC-T constitution has been amended to satiate Tsvangirai’s personal power hunger by allowing him to stand for a third presidential term in the party. Over the years the MDCs have been critical of leaders who want to amend constitutions so as to cling on to power.

Firstly, it was one of the MDC-T’s partners NCA amending their constitution to extend Lovemore Madhuku’s stay in power. The majority of that party’s supporters are shocked that their leadership is so quick to indicate left but turn right.

The second divisive issue is the new constitution draft presented to MDC-T legislators whose origin is far less people-driven than the Kariba Draft. In fact, it remains very unclear on which streets of London that draft was made and by which department of the Council of Foreign Relations.

To then stick posters around towns insinuating that a man who runs such a movement has done better than the founding fathers of Africa is a serious insult to pan-Africanism.

Secondly, many leaders of MDC-T, including Tsvangirai himself, have over the years found pride, relief and satisfaction from standing on rooftops of the tallest building in every city describing Sadc leaders like Mbeki, Mswati, Pohamba, Santos, Guebuza and Kabila as cowards. In essence, this is a small political party, which has struggled to gain power.

This small political party, which has hardly ever amassed one-and-a-half million votes, is unashamedly spending billions in various European currencies denouncing legitimate choices of more than 100 million citizens of Southern Africa. The MDC-T seems to believe that it is cowardice for South Africa to house Zimbabweans and provide them with basic services like electricity and water just like they do to South Africans.

But is it cowardice for the DRC to assist Zimbabwe with electricity when it needs it? Is it cowardice for Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia to provide Zimbabwe with maize when it needs it? These are the lies and propaganda that the MDC-T has used to get close to power. Along the way they have distinguished themselves as a serious insult to African leaders and leadership institutions.

Thirdly, there are some MDC-T supporters in media houses who have had the audacity to call Tendai Biti ‘‘Africa’s best finance minister’’. This is again to say he has done better for the African continent than finance ministers from prosperous countries like South Africa, Ghana, Egypt, Botswana and Nigeria.

Perhaps it may be his decision to grant duty-free import status to alcohol that has prompted some to think that he is the best finance minister in Africa. In fact, the only thing he is known to have done passionately since his swearing-in is drumming up support for the ousting of RBZ Governor Dr Gideon Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana.

His personal reasons for the ouster of these officials are somewhat hidden but clear if unpacked. Biti is a practising lawyer and will thus be interested in having an Attorney-General who is loyal to him and the MDC-T for which he is secretary-general. As Finance Minister, Biti would like Gono to go for various reasons that include achieving a situation whereby he may have his yes man as central bank governor.

Such a person will help Biti formalise the financing of the operations of the parallel government. To then say that the best finance minister in Africa is a man who wants to use personal issues to cause confusion in the inclusive Government and the nation at large is a fallacy that we need to disabuse ourselves of.

Fourthly, the MDC-T has undermined the efforts of Sadc and the AU, who supported, mediated and guaranteed the formation of the inclusive Government.

Whereas the Sadc/AU-supported Global Political Agreement says the offices of the President to be held by Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister to be held by Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC-T has created its own parallel government whose President is Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister-cum-Foreign Minister Gorden Moyo and Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Tendai Biti.

This is to say that the efforts of African leaders like Thabo Mbeki, Olusegun Obasanjo and Bakili Muluzi, who began the talks in 2004, were just a nullity. To agree that you will be part of a collective effort but move on to set up individual efforts to sabotage that collective effort is not different from being a renegade and a sellout.

Fifthly, Article VI of the GPA mentions the Kariba Draft as a document of reference in the constitution-making process. The Kariba Draft is a 164-page document; each one of those pages has the signatures of Tendai Biti, Lovemore Moyo (both MDC-T), Professor Welshman Ncube, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga (both MDC), Nicholas Goche and Patrick Chinamasa (both Zanu-PF).

However, today the MDC-T has reneged from that arrangement and made its own draft. This draft will cause confusion in the constitution-making process and derail progress in the inclusive Government. At the end the new constitution will not be there as per the GPA timeline and that will be an egg on the faces of the African leaders who guaranteed that there would be progress in the inclusive Government.

A party fond of disobeying inter-party agreements will certainly not honour international agreements if it gets into power.

Is it the change Zimbabwe wants?

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* Mgqitshwa Ndlovu is a Bulawayo-based socio-political analyst.