News / National
Tsvangirai takes MDC-T fight to UK
22 Jul 2014 at 03:14hrs | Views
Opposition leader and MDC-T president Morgan Tsvangirai will, this week, take the acrimonious fight for control of the opposition party to Britain.
Tsvangirai is expected to address renowned British policy-think-tank, Chatham House, before meeting the party's structures in the UK and Ireland, as his fight with hawks agitating for regime change turns to the diplomatic arena.
Chatham House last week extended an invitation to the former prime minister to discuss the future of the country after last year's elections and the leadership crisis in his party.
"The MDC-T, Zimbabwe's main opposition party, is now assessing its future direction as issues of party leadership and funding come to the fore," reads part of the invitation.
Tsvangirai's information czar Luke Tamborinyoka confirmed his boss would address the think-tank, but claimed the opposition strongman's appearance in London had nothing to do with the fight for diplomatic recognition with his former comrades.
"The MDC president will make a presentation and use his time there to meet with structures in the province of Britain and Ireland before addressing a rally in Birmingham on Saturday," Tamborinyoka said.
"His presence there has nothing to do with the renewal team and it would be wrong to look at it as a diplomatic offensive or re-establishment of relations with the British."
The trip has already drawn the ire of a shadowy state media columnist Nathaniel Manheru, suspected to be President Robert Mugabe's spin-doctor George Charamba.
Manheru poured vitriol on "Britain's characterisation of Tsvangirai as "leader of the opposition".
"It is to bore and sink deep, to bury Britain's thinking limb, all to enable and allow a dreamy view of the world above the sand, without the inconvenience of reality's dunes, bushes and pelting winds," wrote Manheru at the weekend.
Chatham House, with close links to Britain's ruling elite, prides itself in being "…the home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs for more than 90 years".
Tsvangirai has been under intense pressure to quit the leadership of the opposition party he has led for 15-years and after three failed bids at dethroning President Robert Mugabe.
Tamborinyoka said Tsvangirai's sojourn has nothing to do with resuscitating relations with Mugabe's arch-foe and the country's former colonial master.
"If anything, Tsvangirai has links with the people of Zimbabwe and it would be wrong to look at his invitation as anything more than just a presentation at Chatham House and meeting with the party's structures," he said.
Mugabe has always accused Tsvangirai of leading a party with a foreign umbilical cord, and formed to effect regime change in Zimbabwe by the West angered by the veteran Zimbabwean leader's "pro-people policies".
Following another demoralising and humiliating poll defeat last year, hawks in the MDC-T raised cat-calls for Tsvangirai to step-aside and allow for an elective congress. Then fronted by former Energy minister and party deputy treasurer general Elton Mangoma, the group now going by the name MDC-Renewal, accused Tsvangirai of "eating into his and the party's legacy" due to his errant behaviour, particularly his escapades with a litany of women at home and abroad.
In the melee that followed his letters to Tsvangirai, Mangoma was attacked by rogue youths before he was suspended. He was, however, immediately joined in the chorus against Tsvangirai by secretary general Tendai Biti, who convened a national council meeting that suspended Tsvangirai and six other top leaders.
A tribunal then sat and expelled Tsvangirai along with national chairman Lovemore Moyo.
In response, Tsvangirai called for his own national council and expelled Biti, Mangoma and other members who sympathised with the group.
The renewal group's spokesperson Jacob Mafume, however, downplayed the significance of Tsvangirai's invitation to address Chatham House and the address to external structures.
"As he bows out of the political landscape we should expect more of those invites. That kind of forum is a safe haven for people running away from their failures or trying to keep a high profile and have a say in global affairs," said Mafume.
"Tsvangirai has had numerous trips before this one and we still do not have a solution to the Zimbabwe political and economic problems. This one will not be any different."
Early this year, Australian ambassador to Zimbabwe Matthew Neuhaus, who chairs a group of western diplomats known as the Fishmongers, told The Zimbabwe Mail in an interview that the Fishmongers supported efforts to bring the warring factions together.
"We don't recognise any sides and are totally neutral. We hope the factions can come together to work for democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe. I welcome the efforts of Senator Sekai Holland in that regard," Neuhaus said.
However, the faction led by Tsvangirai has scoffed at Holland (chairperson of the opposition party's respected Guardians Council)'s efforts to reconcile the two groups.
Biti and Mangoma have since announced they would form a party from the ashes of the MDC-T, while Tsvangirai turned around and called for an elective congress that he had refused at the behest of his erstwhile lieutenants.
Tsvangirai is expected to address renowned British policy-think-tank, Chatham House, before meeting the party's structures in the UK and Ireland, as his fight with hawks agitating for regime change turns to the diplomatic arena.
Chatham House last week extended an invitation to the former prime minister to discuss the future of the country after last year's elections and the leadership crisis in his party.
"The MDC-T, Zimbabwe's main opposition party, is now assessing its future direction as issues of party leadership and funding come to the fore," reads part of the invitation.
Tsvangirai's information czar Luke Tamborinyoka confirmed his boss would address the think-tank, but claimed the opposition strongman's appearance in London had nothing to do with the fight for diplomatic recognition with his former comrades.
"The MDC president will make a presentation and use his time there to meet with structures in the province of Britain and Ireland before addressing a rally in Birmingham on Saturday," Tamborinyoka said.
"His presence there has nothing to do with the renewal team and it would be wrong to look at it as a diplomatic offensive or re-establishment of relations with the British."
The trip has already drawn the ire of a shadowy state media columnist Nathaniel Manheru, suspected to be President Robert Mugabe's spin-doctor George Charamba.
Manheru poured vitriol on "Britain's characterisation of Tsvangirai as "leader of the opposition".
"It is to bore and sink deep, to bury Britain's thinking limb, all to enable and allow a dreamy view of the world above the sand, without the inconvenience of reality's dunes, bushes and pelting winds," wrote Manheru at the weekend.
Chatham House, with close links to Britain's ruling elite, prides itself in being "…the home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs for more than 90 years".
Tsvangirai has been under intense pressure to quit the leadership of the opposition party he has led for 15-years and after three failed bids at dethroning President Robert Mugabe.
Tamborinyoka said Tsvangirai's sojourn has nothing to do with resuscitating relations with Mugabe's arch-foe and the country's former colonial master.
"If anything, Tsvangirai has links with the people of Zimbabwe and it would be wrong to look at his invitation as anything more than just a presentation at Chatham House and meeting with the party's structures," he said.
Mugabe has always accused Tsvangirai of leading a party with a foreign umbilical cord, and formed to effect regime change in Zimbabwe by the West angered by the veteran Zimbabwean leader's "pro-people policies".
Following another demoralising and humiliating poll defeat last year, hawks in the MDC-T raised cat-calls for Tsvangirai to step-aside and allow for an elective congress. Then fronted by former Energy minister and party deputy treasurer general Elton Mangoma, the group now going by the name MDC-Renewal, accused Tsvangirai of "eating into his and the party's legacy" due to his errant behaviour, particularly his escapades with a litany of women at home and abroad.
In the melee that followed his letters to Tsvangirai, Mangoma was attacked by rogue youths before he was suspended. He was, however, immediately joined in the chorus against Tsvangirai by secretary general Tendai Biti, who convened a national council meeting that suspended Tsvangirai and six other top leaders.
A tribunal then sat and expelled Tsvangirai along with national chairman Lovemore Moyo.
In response, Tsvangirai called for his own national council and expelled Biti, Mangoma and other members who sympathised with the group.
The renewal group's spokesperson Jacob Mafume, however, downplayed the significance of Tsvangirai's invitation to address Chatham House and the address to external structures.
"As he bows out of the political landscape we should expect more of those invites. That kind of forum is a safe haven for people running away from their failures or trying to keep a high profile and have a say in global affairs," said Mafume.
"Tsvangirai has had numerous trips before this one and we still do not have a solution to the Zimbabwe political and economic problems. This one will not be any different."
Early this year, Australian ambassador to Zimbabwe Matthew Neuhaus, who chairs a group of western diplomats known as the Fishmongers, told The Zimbabwe Mail in an interview that the Fishmongers supported efforts to bring the warring factions together.
"We don't recognise any sides and are totally neutral. We hope the factions can come together to work for democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe. I welcome the efforts of Senator Sekai Holland in that regard," Neuhaus said.
However, the faction led by Tsvangirai has scoffed at Holland (chairperson of the opposition party's respected Guardians Council)'s efforts to reconcile the two groups.
Biti and Mangoma have since announced they would form a party from the ashes of the MDC-T, while Tsvangirai turned around and called for an elective congress that he had refused at the behest of his erstwhile lieutenants.
Source - Zim Mail
