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The MDC has become part of the Zimbabwean problem
Regrettably, I feel sorry for Botswana President Ian Khama for having taken a principled stand on the Zimbabwean tragedy, particularly against Robert Mugabe’s inglorious rule and the aftermath of the country’s aborted elections.
On this our continent, African presidents are cheap and low; they never behave in the manner that Khama did.
Zimbabwe is, indeed, a tragedy and yet all of Africa still refuses to treat it as such.
What Senegalese President AbdoulayeWade referred to as “a trade union of despots” is alive and real but, hopefully, Botswana will not join the group, for the sake of all concerned.
Khama’s stand on Zimbabwe was worthy it.
It was necessary; it remains relevant.
I salute him on that.
Khama’s support for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is appropriate since that party had won the elections.
It was the only logical thing to do, not only for Khama but for the rest of Africa.
I hope he stays the course.
On his latest visit to the United States last week, MDC leader and Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai did not criticize Mugabe, his partner in the very troubled government of national unity.
Instead, Tsvangirai denounced other African presidents for their habit of looking the other way, while fellow presidents abuse their citizens, just like what is happening in Zimbabwe today under Tsvangirai himself and Mugabe.
While outside Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai praises the unity government of which he is part of.
Tsvangirai and his party have, clearly, become part of the Zimbabwean problem.
A the same forum, a fellow victim of African presidential stupidity, Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, publicly denounced post-election prescriptions being forced upon African nations by the African Union.
Odinga, like Tsvangirai, is the presumed winner of his country’s elections but, like Tsvangirai, he was forced, by the African Union, to play second fiddle to the loser.
The revolting and retrogressive prescription was conjured up by none other than Kofi Annan, a one time UN ambassador responsible for refugees, who rose to become UN Secretary General.
Annan’s prescription was a god-send, tailor-made for African dictators.
Annan, disregarding democracy and popular vote, recommended accommodating a losing African president by creating a new post for the winner, which left the losing president in virtual control.
With what I would like to call “intellectual laxity” on his behalf, Kofi Annan catapulted himself from defender and protector of refugees to creator and persecutor of refugees.
Look how many refugees were created in both Kenya and Zimbabwe in the aftermath of this so-called compromise!
Zimbabwe is still reeling from the same prescription that Annan conjured up for the African Union.
In his name, Kenya and Zimbabwe are crying out in pain. Other African dictators have taken note and I will be surprised if any one of them relinquishes power after losing the elections.
Annan set Africa back by many decades.
If motor companies, medical drug manufacturers and book publishers can recall their products, why can’t Kofi Annan renounce this deplorable prescription he imposed on Africa, starting with Kenya and Zimbabwe, before African dictators cling to this unworkable solution that exists to appease politicians at the expense of the people?
Has it helped in Kenya? Is it helping in Zimbabwe?
Odinga, the man who won the election, does not think so, meaning the nerves are still electrified.
But at least Odinga does not praise a faulty solution at every corner like Tsvangirai does.
One time Tsvangirai says all is well then a day later he complains about it and, in the end, no one really knows what to believe.
Khama gave Tsvangirai and his MDC so much support, politically, morally and even, to some extent, financially, but now, if truth be told, Khama is embarrassed by what is happening.
What is happening in Zimbabwe? Does anyone know?
Khama’s efforts sadly remind me of a kid’s heartbreak as he watches waves and waves of water cascading over his meticulously architectured sand castle on a river bank.
Only that we are not talking about kids and sand castles.
We are talking about the deaths of people nations, abuse of citizens, politicians and presidents on the international chessboard.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC party should have played a more significant and appreciative role to complement the assistance that was being given them by countries like Botswana.
Imagine what Mugabe could do on the international stage with the kind of support Tsvangirai is getting from Khama!
It is a trend that I have noticed for sometime now and I am really beginning to wonder what this is intended to convey.
Something is not right!
Whenever Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai leaves Zimbabwe and heads north into Africa, Europe and America, he tells all who receive him that all is going on well with the unity government.
But as soon as he gets back home, he either calls or visits South African President Jacob Zuma to emphatically complain about how Mugabe is grossly undermining the unity government and how he refuses to implement some of the terms of the agreement.
His party even writes to SADC, urging the regional organisation to get tough on Mugabe and ZANU-PF since they are not holding up their end of the deal.
I just don’t get it.
And this dangerous behaviour has even permeated his cabinet ministers who say one thing about an issue while something else is happening.
Tsvangirai himself and his minister Sekai Holland, who we all wish could be doing something about reconciliation and national healing, gave us the latest example of such misleading behaviour.
Early this month, as Tsvangirai was wooing investors, he said that the situation in Zimbabwe no longer posed a risk to investors and that the political crisis that destroyed the economy "no longer exists". As he was saying that, villagers in Mudzi and Muzarabani were being abused and threatened with death over the constitutional outreach programme.
If things are as rosy as Tsvangirai says they are, why are as many as 300 Zimbabweans fleeing to South Africa everyday to seek asylum, be it political or economic? South Africa’s security forces are on alert, alarmed by both the number of people who continue to pour into SA and the increase in the number of violent crimes against Zimbabweans, especially, murder, rape and muggings, at popular ungazetted points of entry into SA.
At the same time, in Muzarabani, chief Changara also ordered church leaders not to allow supporters of the MDC to worship in their churches.
Look at the time that is being wasted on the Roy Bennett issue? Is that how a government of national unity should be operating?
What then is Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai praising about the unity government?
Raila Odinga said at the same time that the Kenyan example is not a model to be followed because it is a compromise that was reached as a result of a crisis.
“It is not an example for Africa to follow,” he said. “Zimbabwe followed because it was seen that the incumbent has lost and refuses to leave power.”
The heart of the matter is that the only solution to the Zimbabwean problem is fresh elections. We should be seeing more effort being put into levelling the political play ground, like repealing repressive laws, unchaining the media, restoration of the rule of law, writing of a new constitution, etc, etc instead of trying to glorify a faulty marriage of convenience that continues to bleed our nation economically and in human terms.
New elections are the way to go.
What do you say?
Send me your comments on tano@swradioafrica.com.
Tsvangirai should remember why the unity government was formed and not praise it at one forum then denounce it at another.
He, like Odinga does, should be denouncing it at every turn because it was a stillborn idea that has wasted so much time for the MDC, has cost so many lives and is propping up political rejects at the expense of the people and at the expense of MDC itself that were given a clear mandate by the people.
The MDC must always remember what Jacob Zuma’s intentions are. The MDC must always remember, like Odinga said, the ineffectiveness of the African Union to take the lead and a firm stand on issues where democracy is in danger.
That is the reason why we end up with such kind of compromises.
Harvest House must be reminded that the government of national unity, like a spare wheel, is to get you to the nearest garage; it’s not meant to take you all the way to your destination.
The MDC must be careful not to become part of the Zimbabwean problem.
I am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my compatriots, is the way it is today, Thursday, May 20th, 2010.
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