November 12, 2009

MDC suffering from bad case of indecision
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After all the humiliation they have gone through at the hands of Robert Mugabe since even before the formation of the unity government, one would have expected that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC learned a very important lesson about Mugabe, SADC and South Africa.

If ever proof was needed that Tsvangirai and his troops are now a confused and directionless lot, his latest capitulation is yet another piece of evidence that they have completely thrown the script away.

What the MDC is doing now is dictated by their desperation to stay in the government, but more for their personal gain than anything else.

The MDC clearly has a deficiency in ideology and fails to articulate and hold on to their own position.

The MDC is displaying a very unfortunate and embarrassing ineptitude and their behavior now can only be described as betrayal.

Whenever the MDC has an upper hand, they give it all away to Mugabe.

The MDC was given a mandate by the people, a mandate they immediately abused by joining Robert Mugabe’s government against the advice of the people. After joining the so-called unity government, the MDC treated us to one blunder after another.

Since the inception of the unity government, the MDC has been aware that they held neither power nor the respect of its partners.

They were humiliated at every turn and were offered enough plausible reasons to quit the unity government.

But they did not; they stayed in there and even travelled the world saying all was well within the unity government.

The people started complaining after noticing stagnation and ineffectiveness of the MDC and Tsvangirai was forced to instigate a national consultation of the people on whether or not to remain in government.

Many times before, Tsvangirai has embarrassed himself by giving ultimatums, only to do nothing after nobody paid any attention to his threats.

Zimbabweans are getting tired of the MDC’s flip flopping on important issues and at critical turns.

Calling Mugabe and ZANU-PF “dishonest and unreliable”, Tsvangirai effected a partial “disengagement” from government on October 16, 2009 and announced that he and his ministers would not be attending cabinet meetings or deal with ZANU-PF until “all outstanding issues have been resolved”.

This clearly rattled Mugabe and got diplomats and SADC flying in and out of Zimbabwe in an effort to save the collapsing unity government. There is no question that the boycott was effective, in spite of the false brave face Mugabe tried to project.

The so-called SADC Troika called Tsvangirai to Maputo for a meeting and Tsvangirai, once again, handed them the little momentum he had generated.

“We have suspended our disengagement in the government,” Tsvangirai told reporters after the talks in Maputo.

But they had not given him anything in return, except another ultimatum.

Tsvangirai said the summit “had resolved that the three main political parties will meet within the next 15 days to decide how outstanding issues stalling the unity pact be settled”.

This, honestly, is ridiculous.

The summit’s final communiqué urged the Zimbabwe parties to hold talks “with immediate effect within 15 days (and) not beyond 30 days”. It went on to say that this would include all outstanding issues related to the implementation of the unity pact.

Is SADC really not aware that it is those outstanding issues that had caused the crisis because Mugabe refuses to honour the agreement?

The communiqué went on to say that “the parties should not allow the situation to deteriorate any further.”

Just what kind of nonsense is this? And what kind of games is SADC playing with the suffering Zimbabweans?

Outstanding issues are only a problem because of Mugabe. Without Mugabe, there are no outstanding issues. Is SADC blind?

This is what SADC has been saying since they forced this agreement on Tsvangirai. SADC did not bother to zero in on Mugabe, the one man who is causing all these problems, but, as usual, they confronted their patsy, Tsvangirai, and ordered him to sit down and iron out the problems he has with Mugabe.

Tsvangirai was not given anything to take back to the people yet he gave away his advantage and must now return home to take orders from Mugabe until he gets fed up again and threaten to quit once more.

It is becoming difficult to keep supporting Tsvangirai when he has hung the future of the nation on the shoulders of three “unwanted” men: his confidant Roy Bennett, Attorney General Johannes Tomana and Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono.

Zimbabwe is bigger than these three and these men should not be used to hold the entire nation hostage.

Tsvangirai was there when Tomana was sworn in and said they would deal with the Tomana issue later, just like they said when they signed the agreement even after finding out that Justice Minister Chinamasa had changed some paragraphs. They signed it saying they would deal with the outstanding issues later.

Now look where we are with Tomana and the GPA itself.

The MDC had many instances that they could have pointed out to SADC to justify their total exit from this illogical government.

Now they are back in a government in which they have no power.

They will resume fighting for Roy Bennett and for the expulsion of Gono and Tomana.

In fact, Bennett, whose ill-treatment by Mugabe supposedly sparked the partial disengagement by the MDC, goes on trial in earnest today, meaning that Mugabe is pressing ahead with his refusal to accommodate Bennett.

Tsvangirai could not even get something from SADC for Bennett but, as usual, he rejoined the government and will deal with outstanding issues later.

It has happened before and in the same way, with SADC reportedly “resolving to dispatch South African President Jacob Zuma after the 15 day period to evaluate progress”.

It is the same political choreography which the MDC has always been made to dance by.

Do we really believe that, finally, SADC, whose leaders are reportedly “constantly losing patience on Zimbabwe”, are now ready to arm-twist the old dictator and toughen their stand against him?

Meanwhile, fighting for press freedom takes a back seat. They will not be championing the repealing of retrogressive legislations.

People have started disappearing again. Violence against perceived MDC symphatisers is picking up. MDC officials continue to be arrested and charged with treasonous acts. People have resumed “committing suicide” while in police custody, the list is endless.

The heart of the matter is that the MDC should have withdrawn from this government of national unity to fight for the implementation of those policies they had mapped for the nation.

They made a mistake to join Mugabe.

They made a mistake to walk out of that unity government when they did.

And they made a mistake when they rejoined Mugabe the second time.

The MDC appears to have a deficiency in ideology. They seem to lack alternatives.

They can’t seem to want to fight to the end. They must be principled.

The MDC must, of necessity, rediscover itself and reset its agenda and stick to it.

They must listen to the people.

They have to be serious and should immediately stop thinking of themselves because without the people, they are just as bad as ZANU-PF.

The MDC needs to re-establish its imperatives and to use the mandate given it by the people. They must simply take control of the situation and take principled stands on important issues.

Now that they came crawling back into government, which they had not really left in the first place, they must show the nation proper justification why they had left and came back on their own and without achieving anything through their ultimatums and threats.

What do you say?
Send me your comments on tano@swradioafrica.com.

Surely, we have more serious problems in Zimbabwe than Bennett, Gono and Tomana.

The MDC cannot afford to continue flip-flopping. They are eroding their believability.

After hard-headedly remaining in the unity government for months, they left and came back on their own accord without achieving any of their targets.

Ironically, they are stronger outside government than they are inside and we are all waiting to see what magic they can conjure from within.

One thing is for sure, the MDC must stop behaving like kindergarten kids and get serious. Playing to the gallery will no longer work. People want progress, stability and continuity. Not the kind of shadow dancing that the MDC is involved in.

I am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is the way it is today, Thursday, November 12, 2009.

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Responding to Tanonoka Joseph Whande’s Heart of the Mater “MDC suffering from bad case of indecision"

By Godfrey Chigona 13/11/09

Tano, fighting a dictator that has everything to loose is not easy and requires strategies,

Here are some of the factors you fail to take into considerations when you analyse the political situation in Zimbabwe,
1. Taking up arms against Mugabe or mass protest like the ones experienced in other parts of the world are not options in Zimbabwe and I know you may elude this to the weakness on the part of MDC and its leader, but the fact still remains the same.
2. Zanu PF and Mugabe are very aware that people do not want them and that if there was to be a free and fair election tomorrow they will be given their marching orders loud and clear.
3. Mugabe and his cronies know that if Morgan and MDC are to take over the government tomorrow, they will all be going to jail for past human abuses and corruption related crimes.

With this in mind, there is no way Mugabe is going to give up power without a fight and the events in March 2008 had indicated to him that his time was up and it was all the way to the Hague, and hence they dug in and there is nothing the MDC or the world can do except to pressure him to follow the specifications of the coalition he agreed to, like what happening now. I know that you Tano are very bitter that MDC went into this GPA and unity government in the first place but the fact of the matter is that there was no alternative. MDC and Morgan did very well, against a barrage of pressure from all corners to sign and get on with it, to have a GPA that contained a substantial amount of their demands which are now proving a thorn in the flesh for Mugabe to ignore.

Morgan then went out to show the world that he was not only willing to work with Mugabe despite continued violations of the GPA, suspicion of an assassination attempt on his life when his wife died and in subordination by some Zanu pf ministers but was also prepared to paint a good working relationship to the contrary with Mugabe for the sake of progress. You Tano called him weak and dumb for doing this but to many in Zimbabwe this was statesmanship because it led to the small economic recovery and the stabilization of violence in the country. I know you would have wanted him to walk out of the GPA at the earliest and maybe let the government collapse but what you do not say is how the resulting violence against MDC members was going to be prevented.

You are on record of saying Morgan flip flops in his decision making; well I think most Zimbabweans at home regards this as a negotiation tactic. You must remember that MDC is operating in very hash conditions and is negotiating power away from the dictator rather than wrestling it out and this requires wisdom, negotiating skills, shrewdness and above all patience. I am convinced that they are winning on this front taking in consideration that he Morgan, just last year, was a puppet who wanted to sell out to the west and was not trusted by any African leader and now he can knock on any state house door anywhere in the world and get an audience, all achieved in less than nine months,

I could not help but deduce your anger about the last meeting in Maputo and I appreciate the fact that that anger is as a result of your love for the country. Yes you are very impatience with the pace of change and I am sure you are not the only one with these feelings but the fact is, MDC and the country at large derived more benefits from the meeting than Mugabe and his cronies. For one, the Troika meeting confirmed that it was Mugabe who was not playing ball in Zimbabwe and not the MDC. From the communiqué, released after the Maputo meeting it is clear that SADC wants the GPA and the February 29th 2009 Communiqué to be implemented in full which includes the outstanding issues of Tomana, Gono, Bannet, Governors, etc, which is what Zanu has been refusing to do all along. The troika also confirmed that MDC could not remove and therefore should not be held responsible for the removal of the so called sanctions but the west. Now the ball is fully in Mugabe’s court. Yes they may drag and delay as much as possible but at the end of the day the world at large through SADC expects them to implement the GPA to a certain degree. The other benefit that came out of the meeting is the confirmation of the entrance of Zuma in the crisis and for all intend and purpose, Zuma will be different from Mbeki and I for see the GPA being implemented in full albeit slow at first and MDC can only but benefit from this.

I how ever disagree with you strongly on your assessment of the issues of Tomana, Gono and Bannett. These three men are so important in the politics of the GPA and as long as they remain outstanding, no much movement towards the democratization of Zimbabwe can be realized. Yes in as far as the functioning of the GPA and its future connotations to absolute power in Zimbabwe, there is nothing more important at this stage than these three men. For without power no tangible change can occur on the ground. It is important to remember at this stage that all parties in this marriage maybe with the exception of Mutambara ‘s party are anticipating elections in the near future and are all thinking about life after the GPA and what it would mean to them.

For the MDC to insist on the appointment of Bannet is not only about principle or that he is a white man as is being alluded by Zanu pf, its all about land reform and food production which is the only remaining argument Zanu pf has got left that it can take to the electorate come next election. Zanu pf is arguing that the land reform is working and that productivity is actual better since land reform and there is no formal way of verifying or disputing this at present. Zanu pf has Minister Made who can fly over the country and officially claim that Zimbabwe is focusing a bumper harvest anytime he wants. According to official statements, Zimbabwe this year is expecting to harvest more than 1.2 million tones of maize just about 500 000 tones short of the country's requirements and all this has come through the success of the new farmers. This is all not true and everybody except Made, Mugabe and Zanu pf knows this. With Bannet as Deputy Minister of agriculture, this misrepresentation of the situation on the ground will not be possible and Mugabe knows this. Bannet will also be able to point out officially all land being under utilized and the names of the present owners, something Zanu would not want the people to know before elections. Bannet will also be able to exert his farming experiences on rural farmers like he used to do in Chimanimani and ensure they increase their productivity thereby exposing Mugabe further. Mugabe knows very well that Minister Made will not be able to handle Bannet and will soon officially loose the land reform argument to the people.

As for Gono, MDC wants the guy gone because this will unlock all the financial assistance they require for the economy to take off. Financial assistance in the form of grants and lines of credit at reasonable costs are not forthcoming because of the continued presence of Gono. Biti was out spoken on this issue recently in parliament. MDC would like the economy to grow so that they can show the people the change they are capable of bringing come elections. A considerable growth of the economy now will also expose Mugabe to the fact that all his blame for the economic melt down to sanctions was just a lie all along. Mugabe is happy for the economy to limp on until after the elections. Mugabe also wants Gono to be near the treasure chest so that he can be in arms length to grab and finance the party if need be and MDC are aware of this and still remembers how this loot can be used to deploy the meltia against their supporters.

Tomana in the eyes of the MDC is the man who is preventing the prosecution of people like Kitsi yatota who killed Talent Mabika, Morgan's driver, in broad daylight in Buhera in 2002 and many other who tortured and killed people in June 2008. They see all Zanu pf murders roaming the streets without prosecution as an encouragement of yet more violence against the people in future. Currently Mugabe has control of the Judges, the police and the prosecution in Tomana and hence only MDC people who are in most cases the victims are arrested and prosecuted while the perpetrators are allowed to go Scot free. Mugabe can't risk the prosecution of the mobs that killed, tortured and raped MDC supporters on his behalf in June 2008 before the next election especially now as it appears he may be loosing his strong grip on judges, he knows he will surely be buried by Morgan in that case.

Tano, I know its taking way too long to arrive at the Promised Land but we just have to be patient. It was never going to be easy to wrestle power from a dictator who has been at it for the past 28 years. As they say in our mother tongue, "Kumhanya Hakusi Kuswika". We must remember Zanu had imbedded into all forms of life in Zimbabwe and this can't be un done that easily or over night. I also think that it is easier for us people in the Diaspora to advocate for a hard stance on the part of the MDC when dealing with Zanu pf but we have to remember that Zanu pf kills people. Advocating for the withdrawal from the GPA and then people are killed either for uprising or during next elections is not very clever. I would rather have this inconvenience marriage last until 2013 than have anyone else killed.

Godfrey Chigona