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(TALKZIMBABWE) MDC-T: party of excellence, my foot

MDC-T: party of excellence, my foot
By: Frank Banda
Posted: Thursday, September 2, 2010 6:08 am

THE Movement for Democratic Change party led by Mr Morgan Tsvangirai has called itself "a party of excellence". Many of us know that the party is engaged in mindless political point scoring which needs to be backed up by concrete action.

More than a year after the formation of the inclusive Government, it would suffice to measure to what extent the MDC-T's claims have been backed up by action on the ground. A postmortem of the performance of the MDC-T party reveals some concerning issues.

The first and most important issue is the issue of parallel government. It was reassuring to hear that many of the people working in the PM's office have now had their positions made official by being formally appointed by the Public Service Commission. This includes the once famous and now infamous, James Maridadi.

However, the appointments have not been backed up by "excellence" in performance by some of the MDC-T individuals working in government.

Ministers are political appointees, who on their appointment are advised by permanent secretaries and principal directors in ministries. These are the most senior civil servants in ministries.

These functionaries report to, and advise, the minister on various technical issues. They are the equivalents of Chief Executive Officers of companies, who report to the Chairman and the Board of Directors.

It was, therefore, interesting to hear the MDC-T, at the formation of the inclusive Government, say they also wanted to "fill" the posts of permanent secretaries -- a role carried out by the Public Service Commission. Anyway, that is now water under the bridge,as the MDC-T dropped that ridiculous demand.

Then came a somewhat interesting demand by the Prime Minister, at one of his rallies, that the MDC-T wanted a "peace-keeping force" to monitor the next general elections in Zimbabwe.

Peacekeeping operations are reserved for conflict areas where international peace and security is threatened.

The United Nations Charter gives the United Nations Security Council the power and responsibility to take collective action to maintain international peace and security. For this reason, the international community usually looks to the Security Council to authorize peacekeeping operations.

It is inconceivable that the UN would have authorised such a force for Zimbabwe -- where there is a unity government, and where there is no internal conflict that warrants such intervention.

Prime Minister Tsvangirai visited South Korea this year, soon after North Korean President Mahmood Ahmadinejad visited Zimbabwe to strengthen relations.

PM Tsvangirai's visit had all the hallmarks of some Cold War mentality, where America and the Soviet Union fought for "spheres of influence". It came at a time when North and South Korea where involved in a major conflict. US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton visited South Korea to show support following a deadly naval attack blamed on North Korea.

Prime Minister Tsvangirai seems to be a pawn that is used by the US in a ‘cold war’ between the US and North Korea (and Zimbabwe). His trip to South Korea was of no consequence, just like his position in the inclusive Government

Infact, what made that trip really interesting was that PM Tsvangirai went on to sign a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) on behalf of the Government of Zimbabwe; albeit a mock one.

BIPPAs are serious agreements signed for the reciprocal encouragement, promotion and protection of investments in each other's territories by the companies based in either country (or State). They are not ideology free and often reflect a common ideological position between two countries. The purpose of these agreements is to create such conditions which are favourable for fostering greater investments by the investors of one country in the territory of the other country.
Generally, these bilateral agreements have, by and large, standard elements and provide a legal basis for enforcing the rights of investors in the countries involved.

BIPPAs give assurance to the investors that their foreign investments will be guaranteed fair and equitable treatment, full and constant legal security and dispute resolution through international mechanism.

BIPPAs are signed by President Mugabe who is the Head of State and Government and Commander in Chief of the Defense Forces. PM Tsvangirai is not the Head of State or Government, therefore, he is not authorised to sign such agreements.

A thinly veiled attempt was made by then Minister of State in the PM's Office, Gorden Moyo, to explain how PM Tsvangirai came to sign a BIPPA with South Korea; but he could not fool anyone.

Prime Minister Tsvangirai, in his desperate attempt to outshine President Mugabe lied to civil servants that he will pay them in foreign currency a "living wage". That is yet to be realised. Infact, he and Finance Minister Tendai Biti, have embarassed themselves in public fighting over the wage freeze.

Biti denounced his leader saying that there will not be any wage increases for the foreseeable future. This was after Mr Tsvangirai, in his populist moment of madness, told a Chitungwiza crowd that "There won't be any wage freeze."

Various incidents have happened in the MDC-T party including cross border trips by MDC-T ministers into South Africa, Botswana, etc without notifying the host countries. A classic case was that of Fidelis Mhashu getting mugged in South Africa when he was on a clandestine meeting with businessman Mutumwa Mawere, without the knowledge of South African authorities who would have accorded him state protection.

The MDC-T has also hoodwinked the people of Zimbabwe saying they will publish the list of assets held by MDC-T members of Cabinet in the name of transparency. It's coming to almost a year since MDC-T spokesman Nelson Chamisa announced that the document will be published.

The media also made a big issue of an announcement by PM Tsvangirai that he would not go into an official residence availed by government. He has now secretly moved into his official residence in the plush surburb of Highlands. He even hosted his daughter's wedding there this year.

MDC-T ministers are also being chauffer-driven in their official Mercedes Benzes and MPs in their 4x4s. Nothing wrong with that, only if the MDC-T had not made some grandstanding comments denouncing such activity. Even the fired ministers in the PM's "MDC-T Cabinet reshuffle" have maintained their official cars which they are, presumably, using for MDC-T work.

Minister of Finance Tendai Biti, the secretary general of the MDC-T, is also said to have failed to consult a parliamentary committee on the budget, as required by a law that he was instrumental in formulating -- the Public Finance Management Act.

This is the second time he failed to consult parliament, on matters of such importance. Parliament has an oversight role, on behalf of constituents, to ensure proper accountability and use of public funds.

This is a snapshot of some of the "excellence" exhibited in the MDC-T party. Each time the PM hears about some of these incidents, he is quick to reassign and reshuffle.

At the time of writing this piece, Maridadi has been appointed "Chief of Protocol". One can sense the desperation by the prime minister to achieve some semblance of relevance.

Overshadowed by corrupt councillors in almost every council they run, MDC-T leaders do not have a semblance of excellence in them. The results of the forthcoming election will prove that. The complacency of the MDC-T in believing that they can repeat their electoral fluke will deal a huge blow at the next election.

In the meantime, Zanu-PF is soldiering on with work and getting results in agriculture, mining and various other sectors.

Now who can believe these MDC-T people when they blurt about being a "party of excellence".

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*Frank Banda is a columnist for TalkZimbabwe.com

Labels: JAMES MARIDADI, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI

posted by MrK @ 5:31 AM