News / National
MDC-T invites CIA
13 May 2013 at 03:45hrs | Views
The state media reports that the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has invited three Central Intelligence Agency agents to attend its policy conference set for this Friday as part of last ditch efforts to formulate an appealing election manifesto ahead of the impending harmonised polls.
The party has failed to produce a manifesto, with insiders saying its policy, Jobs, Upliftment, Investment, Capital and Environment, or Juice, which was launched last year had failed to measure up to Zanu-PF's indigenisation and economic empowerment drive that has spawned 59 Community Share Ownership Trusts and several Employee Share
Ownership Schemes countrywide, leaving Harvest House without an appealing message with the inclusive Government in its twilight.
Zanu-PF has since finalised its manifesto centred on empowering Zimbabweans to take control of their destiny, prompting MDC-T to outsource its manifesto.
The Herald is reliably informed that the three CIA agents were also behind MDC-T's security policy document which is expected to be tabled at Friday's meeting.
In the document titled "Policy Discussion Papers ' Security Sector Cluster: 1. Defence and National Security 2. Home Affairs", MDC-T announces plans to fire all serving security chiefs with a Zanla or Zipra background and hire what it termed senior police staff from Western countries to instil "professionalism" in the force should it attain power.
It is understood that the US spies were expected to arrive sometime this week to work on the policy document that would be launched at the close of the national policy conference.
MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora confirmed the invitation of foreigners although he refused to divulge their countries of origin.
Mr Mwonzora preferred to call the foreign delegates "observers".
"We will be allowing foreign observers who may want to observe our national policy conference," he said.
"We will allow them to observe what we will be doing at the policy conference."
After the conference, Mr Mwonzora said, his party would have a ''brilliant manifesto''.
Mr Mwonzora said the MDC-T holds a national policy conference on the eve of every general election to prepare itself for governance if it wins the polls.
Although Mr Mwonzora claimed that the MDC-T had enough manpower to write its manifesto, impeccable Harvest House sources confided to The Herald that the party was sweating to come up with a marketable policy document.
"The party is really dealing with a crisis here. There is a draft policy document crafted sometime in March but it was felt that it is not powerful.
"To perfect the document, there are three CIA members who have been invited under the banner of foreign observers.
"It was assumed that Juice was extensively publicised and it was not possible to abandon it.
"After this realisation, it was agreed at a very senior level to enlist the services of some foreign technocrats to improve the document," said an MDC-T source.
The source said the three spies have been sneaking into the country since February and have helped the party draft some of its strategic documents.
The MDC-T leadership, the source said, met several times but failed to come up with a sound policy document.
"At one point the standing committee retreated to Nyanga in a bid to come up with a clear policy document but nothing meaningful materialised," added the source.
This is not the first time that the MDC-T had sought foreign help in drafting its important documents.
In 2009, the party invited Mr Charles Heatly, also known as Heartly, to draft a document titled "The Roadmap to the Elections" which it attempted to pass as a Government policy document without success.
Mr Heatly was also behind the ill-fated 100 Days MDC-T policy document the party tried to smuggle into Government for implementation but which failed to see the light of day.
He is also the brains behind the Government Work Plan which MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai religiously follow every year.
Last year Mr Tsvangirai attempted to take the whole Government to Nyanga under the guise of the GWP.
The party has failed to produce a manifesto, with insiders saying its policy, Jobs, Upliftment, Investment, Capital and Environment, or Juice, which was launched last year had failed to measure up to Zanu-PF's indigenisation and economic empowerment drive that has spawned 59 Community Share Ownership Trusts and several Employee Share
Ownership Schemes countrywide, leaving Harvest House without an appealing message with the inclusive Government in its twilight.
Zanu-PF has since finalised its manifesto centred on empowering Zimbabweans to take control of their destiny, prompting MDC-T to outsource its manifesto.
The Herald is reliably informed that the three CIA agents were also behind MDC-T's security policy document which is expected to be tabled at Friday's meeting.
In the document titled "Policy Discussion Papers ' Security Sector Cluster: 1. Defence and National Security 2. Home Affairs", MDC-T announces plans to fire all serving security chiefs with a Zanla or Zipra background and hire what it termed senior police staff from Western countries to instil "professionalism" in the force should it attain power.
It is understood that the US spies were expected to arrive sometime this week to work on the policy document that would be launched at the close of the national policy conference.
MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora confirmed the invitation of foreigners although he refused to divulge their countries of origin.
Mr Mwonzora preferred to call the foreign delegates "observers".
"We will be allowing foreign observers who may want to observe our national policy conference," he said.
"We will allow them to observe what we will be doing at the policy conference."
Mr Mwonzora said the MDC-T holds a national policy conference on the eve of every general election to prepare itself for governance if it wins the polls.
Although Mr Mwonzora claimed that the MDC-T had enough manpower to write its manifesto, impeccable Harvest House sources confided to The Herald that the party was sweating to come up with a marketable policy document.
"The party is really dealing with a crisis here. There is a draft policy document crafted sometime in March but it was felt that it is not powerful.
"To perfect the document, there are three CIA members who have been invited under the banner of foreign observers.
"It was assumed that Juice was extensively publicised and it was not possible to abandon it.
"After this realisation, it was agreed at a very senior level to enlist the services of some foreign technocrats to improve the document," said an MDC-T source.
The source said the three spies have been sneaking into the country since February and have helped the party draft some of its strategic documents.
The MDC-T leadership, the source said, met several times but failed to come up with a sound policy document.
"At one point the standing committee retreated to Nyanga in a bid to come up with a clear policy document but nothing meaningful materialised," added the source.
This is not the first time that the MDC-T had sought foreign help in drafting its important documents.
In 2009, the party invited Mr Charles Heatly, also known as Heartly, to draft a document titled "The Roadmap to the Elections" which it attempted to pass as a Government policy document without success.
Mr Heatly was also behind the ill-fated 100 Days MDC-T policy document the party tried to smuggle into Government for implementation but which failed to see the light of day.
He is also the brains behind the Government Work Plan which MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai religiously follow every year.
Last year Mr Tsvangirai attempted to take the whole Government to Nyanga under the guise of the GWP.
Source - Herald
