Opinion / Columnist
MDC-T officials willing participants in Zanu-PF factional fights
17 Apr 2014 at 15:15hrs | Views
The lead story in yesterday's edition of the NewsDay (16 April 2014) made interesting reading. Apparently some Zanu-PF MP's have been feeding their MDC counterparts with information in the fight to succeed Mugabe as the leader of Zanu-PF.
It would appear that the MDC MP's are willing recipients of this information. And they have not stopped at receiving. They are willing participants in the Zanu-PF factional fights. " In Parliament, we are being fed by both factions. We choose which side to attack. Others say we die if we speak, but we don't care," gushed the MDC Organising Secretary, Nelson Chamisa.
So. Chamisa confesses to working with elements in Zanu-PF in order to assist them to achieve their objective of placing a candidate of their chioce as the leader of Zanu-PF? That candidate surely cannot be Morgan Tsvangirai. This means that Chamisa is using his Parliamentary presence to assist a candidate of his choice to take over as the Zanu-PF leader, does it not? Chamisa does not disclose to his audience which candidate he supports in Zanu-PF, nor does he reveal the identity of the MDC parliamentarians with whom he is in common purpose in his quest to influence the Zanu-PF succession battle. He however declares that his accomplices and himself are fearless in this mission. "We don't care," he is quoted as having declared.
I am willing to fiercely defend Chamisa's Constitutional right to speak his mind in Parliament and to support a candidate of his choice in the Zanu-PF succession saga. He should never be harassed or beaten up for supporting anyone's Presidential bid. But I am intrigued. Is this not the same Chamisa who has accused Elton Mangoma for committing the serious offense of working with Zanu-PF by suggesting in a letter that Morgan Tsvangirai step down as MDC leader? Has he not openly advocated for, and it appears succeeded in getting Mangoma expelled from the MDC for asking Tsvangirai to step down and for working with Zanu-PF? Is he suggesting that whereas his colleagues in the MDC are not allowed to work with Zanu-PF on pain of being beaten up and expelled from the party, he is?
The silence of the trigger happy MDC leadeship in the aftermath of Chamisa's confession is revealing. The majority of the members of the MDC's standing committee have been falling over each other in their vociferous criticism of Mangoma for asking Tsvangirai to step down. Judging by the recent events in MDC, one would have expected Chamisa to be roundly criticized, beaten up outside Harvest House, suspended and expelled from the party (in that order). One would have expected all this to happen with the approval of the MDC leadership. As it happens, none of them has publicly taken Chamisa to task for his utterances. It would appear that the privilege of working with Zanu-PF is only extended to a few within the Movement for "Democratic" Change. It appears that in the MDC, as was the case in Orwell's "Animal" Farm, all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
In the same NewsDay article referred to above, Chamisa is reported to have criticized Zanu-PF for recycling Ministers since Independence. The same Chamisa is fiercely against any discussions of the removal of his leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. He is on record as having stated that he does not believe the neck should never replace the head in his defense of the status quo in the MDC leadership. The neck never becomes the head. It appears therefore that Chamisa believes that the MDC leader should never be challenged or removed. Never. Yet he thinks that the Zanu-PF leader should be removed and that Cabinet membership should be changed from time to time. Strange logic that.
The MDC's silence on Chamisa's weekend utterances demonstrates that contrary to age old wisdom, what is good for the goose is not always good for the gander.
It would appear that the MDC MP's are willing recipients of this information. And they have not stopped at receiving. They are willing participants in the Zanu-PF factional fights. " In Parliament, we are being fed by both factions. We choose which side to attack. Others say we die if we speak, but we don't care," gushed the MDC Organising Secretary, Nelson Chamisa.
So. Chamisa confesses to working with elements in Zanu-PF in order to assist them to achieve their objective of placing a candidate of their chioce as the leader of Zanu-PF? That candidate surely cannot be Morgan Tsvangirai. This means that Chamisa is using his Parliamentary presence to assist a candidate of his choice to take over as the Zanu-PF leader, does it not? Chamisa does not disclose to his audience which candidate he supports in Zanu-PF, nor does he reveal the identity of the MDC parliamentarians with whom he is in common purpose in his quest to influence the Zanu-PF succession battle. He however declares that his accomplices and himself are fearless in this mission. "We don't care," he is quoted as having declared.
I am willing to fiercely defend Chamisa's Constitutional right to speak his mind in Parliament and to support a candidate of his choice in the Zanu-PF succession saga. He should never be harassed or beaten up for supporting anyone's Presidential bid. But I am intrigued. Is this not the same Chamisa who has accused Elton Mangoma for committing the serious offense of working with Zanu-PF by suggesting in a letter that Morgan Tsvangirai step down as MDC leader? Has he not openly advocated for, and it appears succeeded in getting Mangoma expelled from the MDC for asking Tsvangirai to step down and for working with Zanu-PF? Is he suggesting that whereas his colleagues in the MDC are not allowed to work with Zanu-PF on pain of being beaten up and expelled from the party, he is?
The silence of the trigger happy MDC leadeship in the aftermath of Chamisa's confession is revealing. The majority of the members of the MDC's standing committee have been falling over each other in their vociferous criticism of Mangoma for asking Tsvangirai to step down. Judging by the recent events in MDC, one would have expected Chamisa to be roundly criticized, beaten up outside Harvest House, suspended and expelled from the party (in that order). One would have expected all this to happen with the approval of the MDC leadership. As it happens, none of them has publicly taken Chamisa to task for his utterances. It would appear that the privilege of working with Zanu-PF is only extended to a few within the Movement for "Democratic" Change. It appears that in the MDC, as was the case in Orwell's "Animal" Farm, all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
In the same NewsDay article referred to above, Chamisa is reported to have criticized Zanu-PF for recycling Ministers since Independence. The same Chamisa is fiercely against any discussions of the removal of his leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. He is on record as having stated that he does not believe the neck should never replace the head in his defense of the status quo in the MDC leadership. The neck never becomes the head. It appears therefore that Chamisa believes that the MDC leader should never be challenged or removed. Never. Yet he thinks that the Zanu-PF leader should be removed and that Cabinet membership should be changed from time to time. Strange logic that.
The MDC's silence on Chamisa's weekend utterances demonstrates that contrary to age old wisdom, what is good for the goose is not always good for the gander.
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