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(NEWZIMBABWE BLOG) Zanu PF or MDC - A hard but simple choice

Zanu PF or MDC: A hard but simple choice
By Psychology MaziwisaPolitics Last updated on: January 19, 2012

ZANU PF’S reputation had become severely adulterated by 1999, especially in the face of ever mounting evidence that its officials were selfishly feeding upon public funds and national resources and were now neglecting the very country and people they were supposed to care about.

And so when the MDC surfaced, promising to change that state of affairs, many were readily seduced. In theory, the promise looked appealing, almost genuine. But that was before compelling evidence started to emerge of the MDC’s true intentions.

Even at the very beginning, the party had tellingly incorporated within its top ranks white officials of questionable backgrounds who had accumulated obscene wealth out of farming on some of Zimbabwe’s most productive land.

These whites, of whom Roy Bennett and Eddie Cross are the most notable, were prepared to do anything to circumvent any pro-people policy that had the potential to divest them of their privileges. And so they supported, campaigned on behalf of and even funded the MDC.

Thirteen long years since its formation, and despite clear proof that millions of Zimbabweans have now seen through the façade, the MDC’s general character has not altered one bit.

Instead, they have maintained their treacherous disposition, even reinforced it. For a party that claims to champion the aspirations of the common man, it bodes ill.

Time after time, the MDC-T has been blamed for the economic sanctions that have weighed down Zimbabwe’s economy and led to the country’s isolation internationally. Curiously, it has not denied the allegations.

When this admission of guilt is viewed in conjunction with the British government’s confession that it would accept guidance on the subject of sanctions only from the MDC-T, there is no doubt as to whose interests the MDC-T was created to promote.

Meanwhile, Tendai Biti, a terrible appeaser of the west who has made a name for himself internationally by starving his own people, has been widely rumoured to be America’s point man in Harare.

He has been influential in determining who goes off the sanctions list and who stays, which companies to target and which ones to forgive – a task that is now the subject of a heated exchange between himself and the US government ostensibly because the latter did not consult with him when it included Mbada Diamonds and Marange Resources on its latest sanctions list.

If it smells like treachery, looks like treachery and sounds like treachery then it is bloody treacherous.

Let’s put it this way: Zanu PF may have had its fair share of blame as far as Zimbabwe’s economic challenges are concerned, but by a very long distance, the real culprit has been the MDC-T.

Whereas the former has consistently embarked on pro-poor policies (like the land reform exercise which benefited hundreds of thousands of families and now the indigenisation drive whose capable driver, Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, has given even the pessimists reason to hope), the MDC-T seems to think the only way out of our economic mess is if we remain in positions of perpetual subservience.

Quite evidently, Morgan Tsvangirai and his pseudo-liberal apologists in the MDC-T establishment don’t get it: Zimbabwe is an independent nation and that freedom includes the right to guard jealously against the unfair exploitation of the country’s natural resources.

To be a guest on Studio 7’s Live Talk about a week ago was to debate MDC-T’s so-called jobs plan with Douglas Mwonzora (an otherwise great man who, like many in the MDC-T enterprise, finds himself playing the devil’s advocate not really because he believes in what his party stands for but apparently out of sheer financial necessity).

Mwonzora fluently stated his party position and argued that the MDC of Morgan Tsvangirai wanted foreign investors virtually to take charge of Zimbabwe’s economy. That way, reasoned Mwonzora, unemployment would be done away with and our economy would be considerably enhanced. Nonsense!

There was massive direct foreign investment coming into the country in the 1980s and 1990s yet that didn’t do much to improve our infrastructure or the general welfare of our people. In their heart of hearts those in the MDC-T know this is the truth.

Contrastingly, the land reform exercise has helped scores of our people become self-reliant and economically stable even as the traditionally powerful nations struggle financially. The astronomical rise in tobacco production in recent years tells the story and the benefits of that to the country’s revenue cannot be overstated.

With more experience and more support from government (which support has lately not been forthcoming because Biti’s wickedness knows no limits) it is hoped that agriculture will once again contribute substantially to the country’s GDP in the not too distant future.

In the meantime, the benefits of the indigenisation drive have been quite palpable. Scores of hitherto impoverished communities have been empowered in a way that is unprecedented not just in Zimbabwe or Africa but anywhere in the world. It is no small thing and it is ample evidence of Zanu PF’s determination to address the socio-economic disparities of the past once and for all.

Of course Eric Bloch, an apologist for evil and one of Tsvangirai’s foremost supporters, sees absolutely no reason why locals should own a majority stake in the management of their resources. It is part of the exploitative mentality that lies at the very heart of MDC’s existence and it is a mindset that should be viewed with contempt not least because it does nothing to improve our economic situation.

In circumstances where there is, on the one hand, a party that appears genuine in seeking to liberate the country from decades of economic bondage but whose record in government has been anything but liberating and, on the other hand, a party whose purported message of democracy is appealing in principle but whose officials have incessantly demonstrated that they just cannot be trusted, it is fair to say Zimbabweans face quite a tough choice at the next election.

At present, it’s better to go for the tried and tested, and to remember that wolves often come in sheep’s clothing. Treachery, selfishness and sycophancy are the hallmarks of the MDC-T and it would be naïve to assume that they are sincere just because Zanu PF has made some serious mistakes.

Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS (ZIMBABWE), INDIGENIZATION AND EMPOWERMENT ACT (ZIMBABWE), LAND REFORM, MDC, NEOCOLONIALISM, NEOLIBERALISM

posted by MrK @ 10:10 AM