MDC-T seeks relevance through Demonstrations

The MDC-T has become so predictable that whenever it opens its mouth to speak, they talk about either mass protests or election boycott. True to that, the party recently announced its intention to engage in mass demonstrations.

"The main opposition MDC-T has threatened to roll out a series of mass protests soon to force the Zanu PF government to urgently address the worsening economic situation," screamed the Newsday.

The spokesperson of the MDC-T, Obert Gutu reportedly told the Newsday that his party's organising department and the youth wing were seized with logistical arrangements.

An organising department of a party on fire like the MDC-T must be seized with the issue of dousing the raging fire that is threatening the existence of the party. The party is being ravaged by infighting that has split it into numerous fragments. As the First Lady, Amai Dr Grace Mugabe once mockingly remarked, the MDC splinter groups will soon run out of names after exhausting all the alphabets. Apart from the existing splinter groups, there will be additional MDC-A to MDC-Z.

We are told that Nelson Chamisa has established a centre of power around himself and very soon, there will be MDC-C. Knowing Morgan Tsvangirai, the youthful and intelligent politician will soon be chucked out of the so-called big tent. Obert Gutu and Doglous Mwonzora will be surely there to throw Chamisa into the deep sea, the Biblical Jonah way.

With the numerous pressing issues bedevilling the party, the leadership is expected to engage in more meaningful and constructive commitments.

The MDC-T must not take people of today as fools. They are now politically very conscious. They know for sure that demonstrations will not bring food on their tables, neither will they change their fate. Since its formation in 1999, the MDC has been associated with demonstrations and violence. Unfortunately, that barbaric acts or threats have never yielded anything. Even those who used to sponsor them to engage in demonstrations have since stopped, for they have discovered that they were investing their money in a futile venture.

 In any case, the demonstrations that Tsvangirai successfully masterminded while he was the secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU), worsened the economy. These demonstrations saw business losing millions of dollars in revenue. These demonstrations heralded the nose-dive trend of the national economy.

The MDC-T is accusing Zanu PF of a crime that it is guiltier of. Ever since its birth, MDC-T has been crafting economic blueprints that had flowery promises for the suffering masses. They joined the inclusive government where they could have fulfilled their promises. And what did they do? They forgot about their promises and engaged in self-aggrandisement.

As the MDC-T mulls demonstrations, it must be remember that it significantly contributed to the decline of the national economy. The jobs that the MDC-T is demanding from Zanu PF were lost because of the MDC-T actions.

The MDC-T called for illegal sanctions to be imposed on Zimbabwe. One does not need to be clever to understand the effects of these illegal sanctions. The whole industry collapsed because of the evil sanctions with millions of workers consequently losing jobs. These are the same people that Tsvangirai wants to hoodwink into the streets to demonstrate.

The learned people of Zimbabwe are politically conscious. They can tell when someone tries to use them for political expediency. They have concluded that antagonistic approach to issues does not help. They know the root cause of their suffering. Therefore, the MDC-T has slim chances of luring the citizens to join the demonstrations.

They may succeed to drunk a few hoodlums and set them onto the streets where they will, of course meet the high alert security officers.

After his 2013 drubbing, Tsvangirai told a South African television channel, E-TV's 360 Degrees in an interview that, he was working on strategies to force President Mugabe to an early election. He also told his supporters during the party's 15th anniversary celebrations in Masvingo last year, that his party would adopt confrontational approach against Zanu PF government.

Confrontational approach against the ruling party will not catapult the MDC-T into power. They must sell their policies to the electorate in preparation for the 2018 polls. They must also come up with alternative proposals to lift the country out of the economic quagmire. It is the MDC-T that invited the current misery and it is the same that must stop it.