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MDC MUST NOT SUGGEST CENSORSHIP BECAUSE OF ZANU-PF JINGLES
Elliot Manyika might be late but the praise singing he popularized with the infamous Jonathan Moyo continues as ZANU-PF has shot off from the starting line in preparation of the next elections.
The MDC is not aware that electioneering has started; they are just complaining as they munch on the few morsels that Robert Mugabe has allowed them to have.
The Movement for Democratic Change must simply rise to the occasion; they can’t continue complaining.
The MDC has to hit back; after all, they are the ruling party.
But I am getting ahead of myself; I forget they are the ruling party with absolutely no power.
I do not know how many supporters Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai lost since exposing himself to ridicule in this government of national unity and then failing to instil any unity within the group.
I do not know how many followers the MDC has lost since ditching serious politics of liberating the country for a circus whose ringmaster, Robert Mugabe, never gave them a chance to entertain or show their capabilities to the nation.
I concede I also do not know how many followers and admirers the MDC picked up for entering this marriage of inconvenience.
It was clear from the outset that Mugabe was never going to relinquish the reigns of government and power.
And the MDC has always known this yet it has now become the loudest of cry babies, after unilaterally installing themselves within a government they did not even have to belong to.
The MDC has now become notorious for frequently crying out to the ineffective South African presidency, to the useless SADC and the moribund African Union.
When it comes to the removal of sanctions, the MDC smiles inside the lapels of their jackets while urging those countries that slapped sanctions on Mugabe and his greedy bunch to come and invest in our country.
The MDC is no longer guided by determination; they are being led by the instinct to survive.
They cannot come up with counter measures to ZANU-PF but yell to the international community every time they are outwitted by ZANU-PF.
The MDC must stop whimpering about useless things they should be taking care of as the ruling party, with all the power and authority to effect change.
I am thrilled about something though; very thrilled.
And I will tell you what and why.
Since many years ago, I, among others, always urged the MDC to keep its identity and not compromise.
For years, week after week, broadcast after broadcast, I have urged, criticised, supported and accommodated the MDC.
Mr Tsvangirai and his party fail to realise the dynamism of what they did.
Aspects of the silly agreement they signed more than a year ago had to change as they “progressed” in their coalition government.
Just a couple of weeks ago, ZANU-PF said it wants elections next year.
The MDC has no answer but to, justifiably, state that there has to a new constitution first.
Yet the MDC is powerless and can only watch as state sponsored violence and intimidation disrupts the constitutional outreach programme.
Without this constitution, we cannot have an election yet the end result has already been compromised as citizens are threatened, while others are made to flee their homes.
It is ironic that the ruling party is the effective opposition party while the party that lost to the MDC is the opposition party but, in fact, is the ruling party.
No one knew more than Tsvangirai what Mugabe is capable of doing.
We, including Tsvangirai, saw what Mugabe did to Ndabaningi Sithole.
We, including Tsvangirai, saw what Mugabe did to Joshua Nkomo.
Tsvangirai himself experienced first hand Mugabe’s malice, just as the other opposition leaders before him had done.
Is there any special reason why he thought he would overwhelm Mugabe?
Mugabe has always believed that Zimbabweans owe him something; we don’t owe him anything.
Mugabe owes us a lot more than he can ever pay back.
A man who soils his pants while riding on a bus will not stand up, no matter how you may try to coax him.
Fellow passengers, overcome by the stench and while holding their noses, will get him up and off the bus.
Tsvangirai should have known, like some of us did, that Mugabe would not move from where he is sitting.
He is sitting on a valve that would let lose the rancid smell of corruption, nepotism, human rights violations and all sorts of ills that has destroyed our country.
And murder has no statute of limitations!
The MDC has to be wiser than it has been so far.
But I don’t see that happening because there are already accusations that Tsvangirai, like Mugabe at the same stage, has now surrounded himself with his relatives and friends.
Mugabe had a committee of 12 or 24? Tsvangirai is said to have a “kitchen cabinet”.
Zimbabweans are in the same cycle again, always restarting their expectations.
Just like Mugabe did, those who gave Tsvangirai proper advice have been sidelined.
Honestly, Tsvangirai can see that Mugabe is a prisoner of his past.
If Tsvangirai cannot learn from that bit, then the MDC and Zimbabwe has a bigger problem than we thought.
Currently, the MDC is raising a lot of dust about the jingles being played on state radio.
This has always been the case.
We, together with the MDC, went through the whole rubbish when ZANU-PF mites, like Tambaoga, the late Marko Sibanda, Comrade Chinx and others, bombarded us with nonsense about ‘hondo yeminda’.
Remember Tambaoga’s ‘Rambai Makashinga’ and others?
They were catchy little ditties with melodies one could not ignore except that the nice songs were mocking us.
But they failed to help Mugabe in anyway.
Today, the old geezer is at it again and the MDC is screaming hell is freezing.
Tsvangirai “was forced to complain in cabinet about the resurfacing of jingles on state television” that he said are demeaning to the coalition government.
Now the MDC is into censorship?
Don’t even try it, MDC, you hear?
Instead of fighting for editorial independence, they are suggesting censorship.
The MDC should be fighting for the inclusion of their own songs.
They are the ruling party, aren’t they?
Instead of trying to censor what is aired by state radio and television, the MDC should rather fight for equal opportunity and bring songs by their own praise singers, Reckless and Sister Fearless, a duo that produced very good songs in praise of Tsvangirai and some MDC people.
Jonathan Moyo threatens to sue the cabinet for instructing ZBC to stop the jingles. He is full of things that even plumbers won’t touch.
The MDC’s shortcomings not withstanding, the cabinet has the authority to make such a directive, especially for national security concerns.
My advice to Moyo is to campaign in Tsholotsho rather than at State House.
The heart of the matter is that the MDC should not even try to tell the media what to say and what not to say.
If the MDC starts telling the media such, when and where will they stop?
My advice to the MDC is never to come close as to wanting to control the media or hint at what the media should say or not say.
The MDC must not be like ZANU-PF that wants a say in what the media does and says.
The MDC must stay away from the media.
What do you think?
Send me your comments to tano@swradioafrica.com
The MDC must fight for an independent media and should fight the proven media assassins in the likes of Jonathan Moyo and Tafataona Mahoso.
In my broadcasts, I have repeatedly reminded Mr Tsvangirai that he should either abandon this nonsensical government of national unity because he has no power or that he should come up with a better alternative.
Now ZANU-PF is heckling him, singing about his political impotence, so he now wants to censor what the media does.
One song tells Tsvangirai that he is way down the ladder of power, somewhere after Mugabe, Joyce Mujuru and John Nkomo.
The other song simply reminds Tsvangirai that people know that it is Mugabe who is in charge.
Truth is cruel.
If the lyrics do not contain any insults, do not incite violence, have no pornographic or hate messages, then the songs should run. MDC should not complain but exert its authority, if it has any, to have music from all other political parties, including itself, to be played on public radio.
On my part, the ZBC must play those songs 60 times a minute maybe Tsvangirai may understand that he is nothing in this arrangement.
With no power and with no authority.
I am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is the way it is today, Thursday July 29th, 2010.
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