Opinion / Columnist
Tsvangirai: GNU is now history
17 Jun 2014 at 09:23hrs | Views
The embattled MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has become a daydreamer by claiming that he holds solutions to the economic situation in the country. Tsvangirai, who has failed to solve his personal problems and that of his once popular party, would have us believe that the economic problems which the country is experiencing can only be solved by his intervention and the formation of another government of national unity (GNU). He claims that without his involvement into the ZANU PF led government; the economy will remain in doldrums.
The MDC-T leader chose to tell those who still hold hope in him that he holds keys to the economic revival of the country but failed to tell the same why he is unable to solve the problems which the MDC-T is currently facing. He failed to explain to the nation why he has failed to acknowledge that there is a crisis in the MDC-T, which needs urgent attention as the party is facing imminent political oblivision. Tsvangirai also failed to explain to the public why he is unable to embrace leadership renewal that has now left the MDC-T on the precipice of extinction. He further failed to explain to the people why he is against leadership renewal in his party yet the majority in MDC-T is calling for it?
Tsvangirai keeps on saying that he holds keys to the economic revival of the country and that another GNU is needed yet he failed to make the economy grow when he was the Prime Minister of this country during the Government of National Unit (GNU). During that time when he was in the GNU, Tsvangirai travelled extensively outside the country with his various girlfriends. He enjoyed a lot of his stay in the GNU as he was pictured in various beaches across the globe with a host of girl friends as he abused tax payers` money when back home civil servants were crying to get their salaries adjusted.
The problem with Tsvangirai is that his political personality is now waning fast and he wants to remain relevant in front of his supporters by claiming that he holds keys to the economic survival of this country. Tsvangirai is now suffering from monetary problems and knows that once he is in government, he would solve his monetary problems like what he was doing during the inclusive government era. People should not be fooled into taking his words seriously as Tsvangirai has not been saying the truth all along. He is good at dramatizing people`s sufferings and problems for his political gains.
People should recall that Tsvangirai, who always brags that he holds keys to the economic revival of this country, once told the expectant gathering at the City Sport Centre in 2009, soon after he was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, that he was going to make sure civil servants are handsomely paid. Despite that vivid promise from the Prime Minister but some civil servants had to wait for the entire life of the inclusive government era with no increment only to get it when ZANU PF romped to power.
As if that City Sports statement, which he misled civil servants was not enough, Tsvangirai followed later with another statement saying that his mission in government was to make sure that salaries of civil servants were quarterly awarded to them so that they are paid well but all such announcements by Tsvangirai were never fulfilled. So one wonders how Tsvangirai would revive the economic situations of this country when he is someone who does not support what he says or turn out his statements into action.
Tsvangirai`s call for another GNU is a move by him to replenish his dwindling personal coffers as he is quite aware that once in government his fortunes will return full time. While in the inclusive government, Tsvangirai made sure that with money in his pocket, his policy was to always change girlfriends the way he used to change his clothing, resulting in him becoming an open-zip policy strategist. So the call for another GNU by him is not sincere but it is the way by him to fatten his pockets.
With Tsvangirai being the Prime Minister in the discredited GNU, money was not a problem to him and he showed that by renovating state of the art mansion in Highlands, which chewed about $1,5million in taxpayers` money at a time when civil servants were wallowing in poverty. Tsvangirai, who failed to come up with strategies to revive the economy when he was in the GNU, thinks that hoodwinking the people into believing him on what he says, would revive his political career. He knows quite well that his political career is dwindling so fast as the leadership renewal team is not going back in their fight to make sure that there is a new leader in the opposition party. Tsvangirai is quite aware that what he always brags about cannot materialise but he is trying to revive his political career which was tattered by the heavy defeat by ZANU PF which he received in the July 31, 2013 harmonized elections.
Tsvangirai, who has no leadership qualities that can make him a leader of this country, cannot claim that he holds keys to economic revival of this country. He knows quite well that he failed to make sure civil servants are handsomely paid despite being the Prime Minister and leading the country with both the Finance and Public Service Ministries being led by the MDC-T ministers. A lot of people, especially civil servants, had hopes that the MDC-T, which superintended over the two important ministries, were going to use those ministries in favour of the workers but alas, their expectations were shuttered by Tsvangirai`s maladministration and lack of seriousness in running government affairs.
Surprisingly, Tsvangirai, who failed to make sure that government programs were run effectively during the time when he was the Prime Minster, is now saying that he holds keys to the economic revival of the country and that another panacea to economic revival is the formation of another GNU. Tsvangirai spent the entire years of the inclusive government doing nothing economically but only managed to have a chain of girlfriends, thereby spending his time flying to very expensive hotels around the world enjoying a lot with them. So what makes him think that his second coming in government would bring change for the betterment of the economy?
Tsvangirai enjoyed a lot as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe forgetting that he was not going to be there for the whole of his life. In stead of instructing his western friends to remove sanctions in Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai brags about of having keys to the economic revival of Zimbabwe. He forgets to tell the nation that Zimbabwe is suffering because of the sanctions which he asked for from the western countries to be imposed on Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai knows quite well that without the suffering of the people his political career may be dumped into the political dustbin so his silence on sanctions speaks volumes.
Now that he is not in government, Tsvangirai wants the people to believe him that he holds keys to the economic revival of our country. He failed to make sure that Zimbabwe has an economic boost when he was in government and what makes him believe that his second coming in government would do wonders for the country. Those who are still remembering how Tsvangirai failed to make civil servants get handsomely paid despite promising them that should dismiss him with the contempt he deserves.
While the MDC-T and Tsvangirai is failing to acknowledge and see that the ZANU PF train has already started to move but those with eyes are now seeing that there could be light at the end of the tunnel, only time would tell. When it took the IG four years failing to award civil servants salary adjustment but it only took ZANU PF less than a year to do that. Whilst the MDC-T is calling for the formation of another GNU, ZANU PF is busy trying to stamp out corruption which has turned out to be a cancer in the country.
As such people should let ZANU PF run the country without disturbances. The fact that the July 31,2013, harmonized elections gave ZANU PF the mandate to rule for the coming five years let that be the case and the MDC-T should just accept the fact that they are no longer in government. In actual fact if they feel that they have something to contribute on how the country could be run, the MDC-T should use the parliamentary forum to air out their views as it has some parliamentarians in that august house.
Source - John Mukumbo
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