Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) Diplomacy not doomsaying will unite parties

Diplomacy not doomsaying will unite parties
by Thokozani Mabhena
17/12/2010 00:00:00

THE kind of political communication that was displayed by Methuseli Moyo in his article “MDC-M put down your cross” does not only harm the reputation of the writer but is also corrosive to the image of the organisation that he is associated with.

In that article, Moyo, who is ZAPU’s director of communications and marketing, exposes himself and ZAPU to a lot of unkind attention and damaging conclusions that ZAPU might fail to recover from.

In fact, if ZAPU as a political party can have its seriousness and purposes deduced from what Moyo says and how he says it, then fair-minded people will be forgiven for concluding that it is not a revived ZAPU but a suspicious new political organisation with sinister agendas that is dressed in the name of ZAPU to dupe unsuspecting supporters.

To be fair to Moyo, I will give clear reasons why I believe, as most people will, that his article is more dangerous to ZAPU than to those organisations and individuals that he thinks he is attacking.

A few weeks ago, in a forceful article with the title “ZAPU does not owe Tsvangirai any favours”, he confronted one Sibusiso Dhlodlo and Nevanji Madanhire, editor of the Standard, for calling ZAPU a “small party” and perpetuating Tsvangirai’s misguided agenda of trying to bully other political parties into some alliance with MDC-T in next year’s elections. That is a good fight that Moyo fought and many people congratulated him for hitting the nail on the heard and putting MDC-T in their place.

The same Methuseli, armed with the same arrogance and big party mentality of Dhlodlo and Madanhire, tries to minimise the Arthur Mutambara-led MDC to a “small party” that must urgently join ZAPU or face “doom”. For good measure, Moyo bets “one of” his “bulls” that without joining ZAPU, MDC-M has no future.

Now, Moyo has to work overtime to distinguish himself from the Dhlodlos and Madanhire’s of our time and one hopes that such double standards and self- contradictions that bespeak massive confusion are not indicative of the state of affairs in ZAPU as an organisation.

Whoever told Moyo and his anonymous friend that the bad political advice that they tried to sell to MDC-M and failed is a strategy was wrong by a very wide margin. A strategy is normally a map of action, well researched, which answers the whats, hows and whens of action with a projection of results and or consequences of the action.

Advising MDC-M to rejoin MDC-T and disengage later, or to go regional, does not come near being a strategy by any stretch of the dictionary as we know it. It is simply bad political advice that was blind to the factors and reasons that caused the MDC split which included tribalism and the Americans funding the spilt.

These are factors that are well known to Methuseli as he mentions them in his challenge to Dhlodlo and Madanhire. For Methuseli to conveniently ignore these factors, then arm himself with the “I told you so attitude” by claiming that had MDC-M taken his advice they were going to win elections, tells us more about his own simplicity than the mistakes of MDC-M.

Methuseli accuses the leadership of MDC-M of failing to assume leadership and going to “hire Mutambara” from “Mashonaland” to lead the party. My God! For a whole journalist and director of communications like Moyo to try to reduce Mutambara’s political value in Zimbabwe to that of a politician for “hire” is neither fair nor funny.

What happened to political memory? Morgan Tsvangirai achieved his first recognition in oppositional politics in 1988 when he pledged solidarity with Auther Mutambara who had been arrested after he Generalled University of Zimbabwe students in a direct confrontation with Mugabe. It was the biggest mass action ever in Zimbabwe where students and ZCTU opposed the one party state agenda and corruption in government.

Mutambara’s political and other CVs do not need research, only a modicum of memory. To try and compress this formidable politician to a hireling is unforgivable street wisdom, the kind of thinking that we have learnt to associate with the MDC-T. Mutambara is a formidable politician with solid credentials besides coming from Mashonaland, and Moyo cannot be easily forgiven for purveying such pedestrian analysis.

When The Chronicle “generously” covers MDC-M and not Dumiso Dabengwa, Moyo cries foul. It is a Zanu PF strategy to black-out ZAPU. How Methuseli comes to blame MDC-M for a clear strategy by Zanu PF is strange.

He goes on to lampoon MDC-M and doubts “if they still have any” members left and that they can “even join Zanu PF” if they want to survive. This kind of indecorous communication and insulting behavior is not expected from a party like ZAPU that is looking for supporters and allies against MDC-T and Zanu PF.

Methuseli might claim that he is speaking in his personal capacity, but as a person who is aware of ZAPU’s internal communication policy, his words inevitably indicate what ZAPU is about. As a leader within ZAPU, his manner and attitude is likely to spread with bacterial speed amongst the party membership, reducing the party to an unfortunate gathering of political snobs who are chasing people away from the party than proselytize.

If Moyo’s purpose in communicating thus is to encourage unity or alliance talks between ZAPU and MDC, which is a noble purpose, then he is going about it the wrong way. If his agenda, like Dhlodlo and Madanhire, is to bully and intimidate MDC-M into joining ZAPU, then he is ill- advised because in politics it is diplomacy and not doom-saying that unites political parties.

Moyo’s apocalyptic threats of “doomsday” for MDC-M and the crucificial “cross” that he is talking about is neither diplomatic language nor is it good for ZAPU’s own image management needs.

Moyo, like many other serious people, knows it in letter and verse that a unity or alliance between ZAPU and MDC-M might close out MDC-T and Zanu PF from Matabeleland and the Midlands, which will be a political good harvest for both parties and a good beginning for the political and economic recovery of the region. It is, therefore, unfair and very sad for a senior ZAPU official like Moyo to approach that subject with such carelessness and reckless abandon.

To ridicule, minimise and prophesy “doom” against MDC-M is disrespect of a strong potential ally for ZAPU, and an ally which already has some sitting members of parliament and a wealth of experience on its side. It cannot be over emphasised that ZAPU and MDC-M are political parties that need each other, which makes respect and diplomacy between them more important.

Moyo should carry himself, intone his communication and order his attitude in a sober and sound manner that befits the name of ZAPU and exudes the aura of the late Joshua Nkomo and his successor Dumiso Dabengwa -- serious leaders with a historical liberatory agenda. If Methuseli is impatient with the conduct of some officials in MDC-M, he can as well take the war to the boardroom, not in the media, which has the unintended consequences of arming the opposition with free fuel for propaganda.

Most of us who are persuaded to the idea of a possible alliance or even unity between ZAPU and MDC-M are aware than both political parties must prepare for a propaganda and information war that Zanu PF and MDC-T will unleash towards the coming elections.

Soon enough, Methuseli and others should be bracing for fierce battles of ideas and opinions. There is definitely going to be blood. One hopes that both ZAPU and MDC-M will not be found unprepared. The season of sleepless nights and burning of candles responding to propaganda and challenging lies from Zanu PF and MDC-T will soon be upon you Methuseli, extend the hand of diplomacy to your potential allies and not burn bridges before the rainy season!
Thokozani Mabhena is a member of MAGEM in the United Kingdom. He writes in his personal capacity. Email: thokozanimabhena@rocketmail.com

Labels: MDC-M, METHUSELI MOYO, ZAPU

posted by MrK @ 3:10 PM