Opinion / Columnist
Dorcas Sibanda aka Dorcas Shumba is not Ndebele Mr president, Don't impose
17 Apr 2018 at 17:41hrs | Views
Dorcas Sibanda was born Dorcas Shumba in Zvimba many years ago. She changed her name to Dorcas Sibanda after relocating to Bulawayo. It is quite unfortunate that the MDC-T president is about to make his biggest blunder for he wants to appoint Dorcas Sibanda aka Dorcas Shumba as the vice president of the party.
Without being tribalist, the second vice presidency should be given to a Ndebele native not an imposter like our Dorcas Shumba. Not only does it make sense to appoint a real Ndebele but it shows respect for the Ndebele people who have been sidelined by Zanu-PF for decades.
In Matabeleland we have charismatic leaders like Hon Felix Sibanda who are more senior and respectable according to the Ndebele culture and are also Ndebele royal blood. Ndebele people will prefer a father figure as the regional leader over a imposter imposed on us because MDC T has a law that states that Bulawayo can only have a Vice President and that Vice President can only be a woman. This means that Bulawayo can only have a Vice present who is a female hence making sure that Ndebele male figures can never rise to president no matter how qualified there are. I find this repugnant to imposes unqualified people who are only chosen because they're are female. If Bulawayo provides leadership, then it should be the person we like as Matabeleland. For the past 14 years, Matabeleland has Thokozani Khupe as the regional party leader. We tolerated her even though she was imposed upon us by the maShona people. She was rude and was spectacularly so disrespectful to the male Chiefs of our region. She had them come to her because her power was so huge in her head. She was also very rude and chaotic to the extent that she made bad decisions with the need to prove her power. She became an Idi Amini of a leader. She humiliated Bulawayo and Matabeleland and her conduct suppressed the vote of some people in Matabeleland, not because she was a lady but because she didn't understand how to apply her power. If she was challenged, she quickly resorted to the words, "You say this because I am a woman and a Ndebele." It significant because we Ndebele people are warriors and our woman support is as Ndhlovu Kazi.
I want a competent and culturally relevant Father Mqabuko type of fugue in our region. I want someone I am able to love not loathe because she is insecure and only there because she is a Ndebele woman elevated by Triablist maShona who are afraid of our man close to the power structure.
Some of our local leaders have proven leadership prowess and support for you Mr. President and have immense support in the region and yet you are bent to subjugate the will of our people.
When Khupe was humiliating our province, Dorcas was quiet because she is a known Khupe loyalist and she preferred Khupe to Chamisa. We would love a Ndebele to rise to president, but we know that maShona people are too Tribalist to vote a maNdebele at the helm.
We have to find that one MDC maShona who can help dislodge The Gukurahundi Party from power. It has been our objective for the past 38 years to remove Zanu PF and we are realistic to accept the VP post for now until Zanu PF is removed. Our own Ndebele leader can never be accepted to win a national election at this time. We know this and we accept it.
We are now close to dislodging the evil Zanu PF empire with Chamisa, who is sympathetic to our cause since he is also married to our Ndebele sister.
If MDC T is bent on imposing female leaders upon us, because they want the gender balance, then they must also remove all our male Chiefs and convert them to females. I underhanded that this their Hand plan to also impose female chiefs in Matabeleland.
Remember, I am not against a woman at the helm, but this business of having to put a law that states that, all top leadership and Matabeleland leadership must be female is highly scoffed at, because these people don't understand our culture. They don't understand why voter registration is still low in Bulawayo and Matabeleland.
Chamisa wants to repeat the same mistake that he once made when he made sure Thokozani Khupe was imposed upon us by maShona people. Khupe also went on to destroy the career of famed Ndebele leaders like Sibanda by rigging primary votes with the help of Chamisa.
This news to destroy Ndebele male leadership is shocking. It is alleged that Chamisa wasn't to angle his friends too.
How many more mistakes will we allow you Mr. President to make. Stop choosing your enemies over your loyalists. My suggestion to you Mr. President is to sit down and appoint someone who is loyal to you and who is also loved by the people of the region. Someone who can talk to our chiefs and fight for the ordinary little guys.
Recently we have seen self motivated placard bearing MDC-T supporters delivering the message to him... One and only Felix Magagela Mafa Sibanda for the vice presidency. The people have already spoken and remember Mr. President the voice of the people is the voice of God. Remember you can only ignore the voice of God at your peril. A true leader listens to his followers and Mr. President you should lead by example if you are a true leader.
Mr president, it's now time that you put personal vendettas aside and appoint honorable Magagela Sibanda without fear and favuors. This will certainly ensure that votes stay in the house. Another small word of advice M. President is, when in Matabeleland addressing our people, yes m, you may speak in Shona, but have an interpreter. The Ndebele people need to be respected too.
By appointing Dorcas Shumba Mr president you would be abusing the amaNdebele culture. The Ndebele are patriarchal in nature. Remember for the past fourteen years the Ndebeles had been saddled with the dictator Khupe. This was against our culture. Mr president, don't mute the Ndebele males over women.
It is quite unfortunate Mr president that you are being towed to fulfill an agenda to belittle and denigrate Ndebele culture by appointing women into crucial posts over men. I hear Mr president you want to coronation women chiefs in Matebeleland. After being under the York of Khupe who ruled Matebeleland without love but drama, you now want to give us another unqualified woman vice president in the form of Dorcas Sibanda aka Dorcas Shumba. It would be a shame Mr president. Remember to respect the Ndebele culture sir.
Matebeleland MDC-T should have a vice and that she must also be female--Crazy. That's what they want you to do, Mr president-- to reduce Matebeleland to a female dominated leadership that they can control. Imagine if Welshman Ncube was vice president to Morgan. He would be president today without questions. If Matebeleland does not accept female chiefs, how hard was it for Khupe to organize in the rural areas where the chiefs rule. They know she was only in leadership because of favors not competency. They knew she could never ascend to power as president hence now Mr president you are about to give us a Shona who change her name from Shumba to Sibanda.
Mr president, please don't impose a Shona in Matebeleland let alone a woman and very importantly, wait till after elections do you can imposed a your friends Bekhi, who has been in South Africa. For 15 years. We will not be used Mr. President. Not this time!
I am woman and I demand senior male leadership from Matebeleland.
Thabetha Mangena, PhD - Social Anthropology and African Culture, University of Cambridge
Masters in Southern African History - KwaZulu
ThabithaHlubakazi@gmail.com
Thabetha Mangena writes these articles in his personal capacity as a Zimbabwean who analyzes cultural inclinations and beliefs of different cultures.
Without being tribalist, the second vice presidency should be given to a Ndebele native not an imposter like our Dorcas Shumba. Not only does it make sense to appoint a real Ndebele but it shows respect for the Ndebele people who have been sidelined by Zanu-PF for decades.
In Matabeleland we have charismatic leaders like Hon Felix Sibanda who are more senior and respectable according to the Ndebele culture and are also Ndebele royal blood. Ndebele people will prefer a father figure as the regional leader over a imposter imposed on us because MDC T has a law that states that Bulawayo can only have a Vice President and that Vice President can only be a woman. This means that Bulawayo can only have a Vice present who is a female hence making sure that Ndebele male figures can never rise to president no matter how qualified there are. I find this repugnant to imposes unqualified people who are only chosen because they're are female. If Bulawayo provides leadership, then it should be the person we like as Matabeleland. For the past 14 years, Matabeleland has Thokozani Khupe as the regional party leader. We tolerated her even though she was imposed upon us by the maShona people. She was rude and was spectacularly so disrespectful to the male Chiefs of our region. She had them come to her because her power was so huge in her head. She was also very rude and chaotic to the extent that she made bad decisions with the need to prove her power. She became an Idi Amini of a leader. She humiliated Bulawayo and Matabeleland and her conduct suppressed the vote of some people in Matabeleland, not because she was a lady but because she didn't understand how to apply her power. If she was challenged, she quickly resorted to the words, "You say this because I am a woman and a Ndebele." It significant because we Ndebele people are warriors and our woman support is as Ndhlovu Kazi.
I want a competent and culturally relevant Father Mqabuko type of fugue in our region. I want someone I am able to love not loathe because she is insecure and only there because she is a Ndebele woman elevated by Triablist maShona who are afraid of our man close to the power structure.
Some of our local leaders have proven leadership prowess and support for you Mr. President and have immense support in the region and yet you are bent to subjugate the will of our people.
When Khupe was humiliating our province, Dorcas was quiet because she is a known Khupe loyalist and she preferred Khupe to Chamisa. We would love a Ndebele to rise to president, but we know that maShona people are too Tribalist to vote a maNdebele at the helm.
We have to find that one MDC maShona who can help dislodge The Gukurahundi Party from power. It has been our objective for the past 38 years to remove Zanu PF and we are realistic to accept the VP post for now until Zanu PF is removed. Our own Ndebele leader can never be accepted to win a national election at this time. We know this and we accept it.
We are now close to dislodging the evil Zanu PF empire with Chamisa, who is sympathetic to our cause since he is also married to our Ndebele sister.
If MDC T is bent on imposing female leaders upon us, because they want the gender balance, then they must also remove all our male Chiefs and convert them to females. I underhanded that this their Hand plan to also impose female chiefs in Matabeleland.
Remember, I am not against a woman at the helm, but this business of having to put a law that states that, all top leadership and Matabeleland leadership must be female is highly scoffed at, because these people don't understand our culture. They don't understand why voter registration is still low in Bulawayo and Matabeleland.
Chamisa wants to repeat the same mistake that he once made when he made sure Thokozani Khupe was imposed upon us by maShona people. Khupe also went on to destroy the career of famed Ndebele leaders like Sibanda by rigging primary votes with the help of Chamisa.
This news to destroy Ndebele male leadership is shocking. It is alleged that Chamisa wasn't to angle his friends too.
How many more mistakes will we allow you Mr. President to make. Stop choosing your enemies over your loyalists. My suggestion to you Mr. President is to sit down and appoint someone who is loyal to you and who is also loved by the people of the region. Someone who can talk to our chiefs and fight for the ordinary little guys.
Mr president, it's now time that you put personal vendettas aside and appoint honorable Magagela Sibanda without fear and favuors. This will certainly ensure that votes stay in the house. Another small word of advice M. President is, when in Matabeleland addressing our people, yes m, you may speak in Shona, but have an interpreter. The Ndebele people need to be respected too.
By appointing Dorcas Shumba Mr president you would be abusing the amaNdebele culture. The Ndebele are patriarchal in nature. Remember for the past fourteen years the Ndebeles had been saddled with the dictator Khupe. This was against our culture. Mr president, don't mute the Ndebele males over women.
It is quite unfortunate Mr president that you are being towed to fulfill an agenda to belittle and denigrate Ndebele culture by appointing women into crucial posts over men. I hear Mr president you want to coronation women chiefs in Matebeleland. After being under the York of Khupe who ruled Matebeleland without love but drama, you now want to give us another unqualified woman vice president in the form of Dorcas Sibanda aka Dorcas Shumba. It would be a shame Mr president. Remember to respect the Ndebele culture sir.
Matebeleland MDC-T should have a vice and that she must also be female--Crazy. That's what they want you to do, Mr president-- to reduce Matebeleland to a female dominated leadership that they can control. Imagine if Welshman Ncube was vice president to Morgan. He would be president today without questions. If Matebeleland does not accept female chiefs, how hard was it for Khupe to organize in the rural areas where the chiefs rule. They know she was only in leadership because of favors not competency. They knew she could never ascend to power as president hence now Mr president you are about to give us a Shona who change her name from Shumba to Sibanda.
Mr president, please don't impose a Shona in Matebeleland let alone a woman and very importantly, wait till after elections do you can imposed a your friends Bekhi, who has been in South Africa. For 15 years. We will not be used Mr. President. Not this time!
I am woman and I demand senior male leadership from Matebeleland.
Thabetha Mangena, PhD - Social Anthropology and African Culture, University of Cambridge
Masters in Southern African History - KwaZulu
ThabithaHlubakazi@gmail.com
Thabetha Mangena writes these articles in his personal capacity as a Zimbabwean who analyzes cultural inclinations and beliefs of different cultures.
Source - Thabetha Mangena
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
