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Jan 28, 2010
Is the MDC really in government?
There is absolutely no doubt that the Movement for Democratic Change, led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, is in free fall.
Seemingly leaderless and definitely directionless, the MDC, led by people who only react and react late, now only has Tendai Biti in a somewhat deserved spotlight.
The rest, including the Prime Minister himself, seem to have sunk back to enjoy whatever Mugabe allows them to have.
Because, you see, the MDC has no power in any direction and its functionaries now obviously feel too comfortable because they are no longer experiencing the hopelessness that once made them our heroes.
We once shared our pains together with them and that brought us closer and closer together.
Today, the MDC no longer shares our pains; they now only read about it.
We once felt honoured to bandage their wounds, which they had earned from the courage to stand with us.
I still cannot stomach those photos of Tsvangirai, looking like a damaged vagrant with a bleeding skull and puffed up eye sockets, thanks to Mugabe.
I break into a sweat when I look at Nelson Chamisa’s ghostly near death appearance, with streaks of blood webbing his face adorned with dilated, glazed eyes.
They suffered like that because they were there for us; they stood with us and preached our message to the lost souls of ZANU-PF.
I cannot say they have now run out of ideas because they never seemed to have any ideas in the first place.
At least, even today, they have still not been able to espouse any political or economic doctrine that sets them apart from the rot that has ruined Zimbabwe.
Up to this day, the MDC cannot be identified with any political or economic doctrine of its own but are doing what ZANU-PF has been doing for decades but with the hope that they can do better.
The MDC seems to have been concerned more with being in government than with changing the way Zimbabwe is being run.
Now they have become part of the problem.
Many issues that we have always hoped would be dealt with by the MDC remain and, in most cases, are getting worse.
They joyfully joined this abusive and murderous government and are now behaving happily when issuing endless press statements that are not accompanied with any real action.
Tsvangirai’s MDC cannot honestly stand before us and tell us that their presence in this obnoxious government has made a difference; and please don’t tell me the hogwash about supermarkets now being full of foodstuffs. It is not free food and most of our people do not have access to the required foreign currency.
By the same vein, don’t even bother to espouse the nonsense about the introduction of a three tier monetary regime.
All these developments were inevitable; Zimbabwe had hit rock bottom and there was no other way to go but up.
These often trumpeted “improvements” are always erroneously being put forward as examples of what the MDC has brought to Zimbabwe since joining the unity government.
Spare me the agony, please!
It had absolutely nothing to do with the MDC.
It is almost a year now since the so-called Government of National Unity (GNU) was supposedly consummated.
It is almost a year now since Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC became partners with Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF in this supposed government of national unity.
Under the curious excuse of wanting to save Zimbabwe from itself, South Africa, SADC and the African Union, invalidated the electoral imperative of the Zimbabwean people and, instead, imposed a power-sharing arrangement just to accommodate an old, murderous senile man who continues to abuse the nation to this day.
Zimbabwean people, instead of being supported in their fledgling quest for democracy, were betrayed by the world.
I offer that, today, the MDC has now become part of our problem, just like ZANU-PF, if not worse.
You see, the MDC is legitimizing Mugabe and ZANU-PF’s inhuman activities. Now it is difficult to criticize Mugabe and ZANU-PF because of the presence of the MDC, who are now benefitting from our chaotic relationship with ZANU-PF.
Thus, Tsvangirai and his MDC are the best thing that ever happened to Mugabe and ZANU-PF.
Apparently, the world community feels that they cannot criticize the government of national unity without criticising Tsvangirai and yet it is Tsvangirai who now has to be criticized more than ZANU-PF and Mugabe.
Tsvangirai is clearly shielding Mugabe and both are benefitting from this unsavory partnership.
Take, for example, the continued arrest of MDC officials and activists. The MDC has practically failed to eliminate this obnoxious ZANU-PF practice.
People continue to be arrested and abused and no one seems able to stem the tide yet the MDC, which thinks it is the ruling party, fails to put an end to this.
It is one of many signs that the MDC has no power at all. Whereas before people used to blame ZANU-PF for these excesses, now the MDC is as much responsible for this as ZANU-PF is.
The MDC is now treading carefully because they do not want to rock the boat; they want the GNU to succeed because they are accommodated.
Tsvangirai recently rebuked South African President Jacob Zuma for calling for fresh elections in Zimbabwe, yet he and his MDC watch as people are being subjected to violence as Mugabe has started to campaign for the acceptance of a draft constitution that leaves his powers intact.
People have started to be beaten up, with some being chased away from their homes as the campaign for a new constitution hits up. Such are the documents the MDC intends to use to hold new elections.
The MDC is again powerless to stop ZANU-PF from using violence among the people.
Meanwhile, farm invasions have picked up sharply since the GNU came into existence and the MDC is watching helplessly as their impotence is being exposed.
“The MDC lacks real power and does not consistently speak out against the continued abuses, possibly seeking to save the fledgling power-sharing government,” said Human Rights Watch, adding that ZANU PF continues to use its control of the security forces and the judiciary to harass, abduct, torture and kill those it considers opponents, including senior MDC figures.
And the MDC has no answer to that.
So what really is the MDC doing in this government of national unity when all these things continue to be perpetrated by a government of which they are part of?
The MDC still has failed to influence the repeal of obnoxious media laws and those curtailing freedom for the ordinary Zimbabwean.
When the issue of ghost civil servants was uncovered, the MDC talked tough but now the issue has died down because most of those ghost workers were ZANU-PF people who are well protected by their party.
It was not enough to terminate some of the beneficiaries; there must have been prosecutions.
And it is being reported that almost a year after the formation of the inclusive government, at least 21 political detainees from the MDC are still locked up in the country’s filthy and inhuman prison cells in Manicaland Province, a fact confirmed by MDC spokesperson for Manicaland.
Only the MDC can explain why it has so far failed to have their people released.
The heart of the matter is that the MDC’s presence in this government is protecting Mugabe and ZANU-PF as they continue to violet human rights and abuse the citizenry.
The MDC’s priorities have shifted, hardly a year after entering government. There is now a clear indication of individuals putting themselves before national interest.
While some people believe that the coalition government, despite the problems dogging it, should be given credit for stabilizing things in the country, I do not believe there is any justification for that.
There are many other things which should also have been given priority not to choose a few and then brag about it saying they have achieved something.
Do we say there is stability when people continue to be beaten up and arrested for no reason?
Is it stability when the judiciary, the police and the army abuse citizens for the sake of ZANU-PF?
IF the MDC had any power, wouldn’t they long have corrected all these anomalies?
By its sheer presence in this government, the MDC is clearly shielding Mugabe and ZANU-PF. And how does the MDC exonerate itself from all these political and economic atrocities being committed by its partners in government? Already there is now an increasing number of MDC people accused of corruption.
What really is the MDC doing in this government of national unity when all the things that it is opposed to continue being perpetrated right under their noses?
What do you think?
Send me your comment to tano@swradioafrica.com
The MDC long forgot about the kind of mandate the people gave it, haven’t they?
I am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is the way it is today today, Thursday, January 28, 2010.
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Comments
Dear Tano
I congratulate you on the article ' The Heart of the Matter'.
I found your comments extremely insightful & perceptive. I urge you to continue with your invaluable work.
I read all articles I can find on Zimbabwe & I have found your comments to be the most meaningful by far. You correctly point out that the MDC has been hoodwinked by ZANU PF. As you correctly imply the MDC seems to have no 'Plan B'.
The people who keep on stressing that the GNU is ' the only game in town' - are clearly doing us a disservice.
Let us remind ourselves that the MDC gave Mugabe and ZANU PF legitimacy and the cloak of legality. It would seem that they have received nothing in return.
What is even more serious, is that before the MDC signed the fateful accord three quaters of the world were demanding that Mugabe stand down. All of that momentum has been lost. The MDC leadership have made themselves an international laughing stock. And for Tsvangerai to be urging the removal of 'sanctions' that surely must make all right -thinking people in the free world howl with laughter.
Keep up your good work
Rob Gass
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