Mphoko is an embarrassment - PDP

PDP Response to VP Mhpoko continued stay at the Rainbow Towers Group Hotel

It was Mark Twain who once said- "It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

This clearly applies to VP Mphoko's response to his unjustified stay at Rainbow Towers Group hotel for more than 553 days at a huge cost to a country whose economy is on the brink of a man-made fantastic collapse and where millions are facing hunger because of the leadership failure.

In our view, VP Mphoko response is not only despicable, dishonourable, crass, selfish, untimely, uncouth, thoughtless but downright cheeky and unforgivable. His attitude reflects the very essence of the value system which we are all fighting against. A value system of lack of leadership accountability and unnecessary profligacy in the midst of poverty simply because one happens to be in a leadership position.

Our message to VP Mphoko as PDP is that thank you very much for sacrificing your time to briefly join the armed struggle before you absconded to Mozambique. We appreciate your sacrifice and that of many others who are unfortunately still living in poverty to this day, despite their selfless contribution to the first chapter of our fight for total freedom and emancipation.

However that does not entitle you to anything else except our appreciation. That does not entitle you to waste our resources and claim that you alone are special. Many others contributed much more than you did and participated for the entire duration of the struggle and yet they are claiming nothing because they did it for the country and not for selfish ambition.

Clearly there is something very wrong with regard to who qualifies to lead us. If a whole VP can justify that he must squander resources as payback for his suffering and even has the audacity to threaten to stay longer, then imagine how much is owed to the thousands who have not claimed anything for their participation in or contribution to the liberation struggle.

Our country continues to be plundered and bankrupted by ZANU (PF) and its appendages at the expense of the majority. As PDP we are calling for substantive political and economic reforms now in order to quickly arrest this race to the bottom. Zimbabweans today are worse off than they were during colonial rule simply because of bad leaders and nothing else.

It is indeed true that the character of a man is exposed by his responses to circumstances and we at PDP have no respect whatsoever for leaders like VP Mhpoko who have this warped sense of entitlement regardless of the cost to the country. That unfortunately has become a common trait especially within ZANU (PF).

This is why we are where we are. We have incompetent, selfish and hardly respectable leaders and we should not expect much from them. We have a President who has lost us and cost us billions due to incompetence and has mismanaged the affairs of the country but still insists on staying in power and wants to die in office. In VP Mphoko, we have a VP who has added no value whatsoever to the country but insists on a lavish lifestyle funded by the sweat of the poor. That is unforgivable.

Based in the public outcry to this unnecessary extravagance, we expect that Zimbabweans are certainly going to respond more directly to this insult and we at PDP cannot blame them.  Enough is enough.

Another Zimbabwe is possible!
Jacob Mafume and Vince Musewe
PDP Spokesperson and PDP Secretary for Finance and Economic Affairs respectively