Opposition in Zimbabwe is always in terraces whilst Zanu-PF is in the 18 area

For years opposition in Zimbabwe has been crying foul, claiming rigging issues, irregularities and reforms but today we need to put facts together, and reason beyond doubt what exactly, what kind of opposition do we have in Zimbabwe? Do we have a worthy while opposition to talk about, or we have a good opposition but they lack intellectual experience. Since the inception of a vibrant opposition, there have been several talks about the opposition. What exactly does the electorate need in Zimbabwe? Should Zanu Pf go it alone in Zimbabwe? Are opposition parties worthy while to talk about. Yes SADC may come in but what is the opposition offering table for the electorate to really decide on voting for the opposition. The way I see we have a confused opposition, which needs serious guidance interms of intellectual experience.

Bay 1 - Self Centred

We have a vibrant opposition, but their main weakness is that they are self centrered. If you look at the ongoing coalition talks that have been happening, everything is centred on self, they don't have the nation at heart. In fact we have dangerous opposition in the country who mainly thrive on pompy and self-centric ideas. Coalition which has to do with position. They have always been questions surrounding the issue of talks and many people have been saying this coalition will never come to pass because everyone wants to be the president. For example we have Mujuru who formed a political outfit little known as NPP, a bedroom or briefcase party which she moves with always. Mujuru has been the state republican Vice President who enjoyed state perks, state benefits for ten years, who has been a Government minister since independence, she is agitating to be the president of the coalition. What kind of a leader is she? What is the difference between the Mujuru of 2008 and the Mujuru of 2018? Can someone tell what has changed? We need to be realistic with facts, what exactly has changed with Mujuru? We have Maxwell Shumba who is masquerading as the President of Zim First, how many people does he have to claim that he can lead the coalition?

Bay 2 - Lacks Intellectual Capacity

We have an opposition which believes in newspapers, Twitter, Facebook, rumours, gossip and they don't believe in facts. As we speak if we are to go to an election today, opposition will be lucky to get 35 seats in parliament. In fact they are heading for their biggest shock of life. You need to come down from terraces and face reality of what is happening on the ground. We have wrong advisors for the opposition, they focus on the urban electorate which constitute 35% of the electorate whilst the remaining 65% of the electorate is found in rural set up. How then do you win an election? In 2013 Mdc lost the election because most of their supporters did not vote, absence of electoral reforms yet Tsvangirai who was the then State Prime Minister of Zimbabwe spend five years in the Government without doing anything on electoral reforms.

Bay 3 - Hatrage

If you look at the kind of hatrage and insults which the opposition is trading against each especially on social media platforms, I tell you Zanu Pf is celebrating. We have a childish opposition, which always cry when they loose elections yet the DE campaign each other. For example Tendai Biti was quoted in the media referring Tsvangirai as "Gumbura" how then do you come up with a formidable coalition when you trade such insults. We have seen opportunists like Jealousy Mawarire who claim to know everything attacking Tsvangirai and daily news. This is the kind of opposition which wants to form the next Government with such calibre.

Bay 4 - Lack of Resources

The problem with our opposition is they go into an election with lack of preparedness. Imagine Zanu goes with 365 cars fuel and everything, the opposition they cannot even account for the little they get from well-wishers, and these are the people we are expecting to run the affairs of the country in future, managing the country's purse. We need to be realistic interms of our analysis. In 2013, MDC T went into the election without enough to shirts yet the resources were there, so how then can you expect to win a national election?

Bay 5 - Social Media

The opposition is always on social media, nevertheless they have been trading insults and nothing fruitful comes out. Majority of them they are always on social media. This is the same method used by Hillary Clinton and when time came for announcement came she lost the popular vote. She relied much on social media, analysts and commentators. Trump was on the ground campaigning whilst Hillary relied much on media. Zanu Pf is on the ground and they are busy working with potential voters whilst opposition is in the terraces sitting in the terraces watching the match whilst Zanu is working hard with its own resources.

To be continued...

Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo writes in his personal capacity as the Head of MINDS and he is also a development analyst who focuses on policy analysis and research. He can be contacted at greatorminds@gmail.com