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Shona hater joins MDC-T

by Nobubelo Sindiso Ncube
03 Nov 2011 at 08:37hrs | Views
FORMER Imbovane Yamahlabezulu and Zapu 2000 activist who rose to fame after declaring in a Bulawayo Dialogue public meeting that Ndebeles must get spears and kill Shonas has joined the Movement for Democratic Change formation led by Prime Minister Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, we reveal today.

In a press statement made by Alice Mhlanga the MDC T Secretary for Information and Publicity Mkhwananzi who was Zapu's ( Dr Dumiso Dabengwa led) chairman for Pretoria defected alongside his deputy Musunungulu Mbongolwane and another Zapu member only known as Innocent Moyo.

He and others were welcomed into the party by MDC-T district chairman - Kwanele Moyo who said:

"It is good that you have seen the light. We have to finish what we all started twelve years back. The government of Robert Mugabe must go and our people must be free," he said.

Mkhwananzi is a former English Literature teacher at Sizane High School who left teaching to meddle in Bulawayo Dialogue politics at the instance of an invitation by his long time buddy - State Enterprises and Parastatals minister.

Mkhwananzi is popular for hating Shonas, not speaking their language and advocating for their violent elimination from Matabeleland.

Zapu could not be reach for comment at the time of publishing.

Below we publish one of Mkhwananzi's best works on Morgan Tsvangirai and Shonas:


Source: www.newzimbabwe.com

Ndebeles and Zimbabwe national leadership

By George Mkwananzi
Last updated: 11/12/2009 14:59:16
RESPONDING to enquiries on the divisions allegedly rocking the opposition MDC made by SABC Africa recently, Professor Welshman Ncube, who is the organisation's secretary-general dismissed the claims that he was vying for the party presidency as untrue and unfounded.

Prof Ncube then gave a glowing exaltation of the MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai, whom he depicted as an indispensable asset to the party without whose visionary leadership, there cannot be any MDC to talk about. It is not the object of this write-up to contest this view which I must admit makes excellent public relations effort by the professor to project the party in positive light. His comments should, however, have ended there.

Unfortunately, the good professor decided to insult himself and his fellow Ndebele-speaking people in an exaggerated and overzealous attempt to convince his interlocutors that he had no presidential ambitions. The man said he was unqualified to become MDC president on the basis of ethnicity as Ndebeles cannot make national leaders in Zimbabwe. To illustrate this point, the professor alluded to the case of Joshua Nkomo and PF-Zapu who could not govern Zimbabwe on account of this tribal qualification.

As if this was not enough, Paul Themba Nyathi, spokesman of the MDC, reiterated Prof Ncube's criteria for leadership eligibility in Zimbabwe in the Chronicle of 27 July 2005 by saying: "There is no way Matabeleland can produce a national leader in this country."


"How does one justify leadership criteria which worship tribalism and banish ability? Isn't this the cause of this country's ills?" -GEORGE MKHWANANZI


Gentlemen, I am not saying that your reading of the Shona mindset is inaccurate, but don't you think that by publicly pronouncing such uncritical stereotypical statements with such a sense of finality as a way of exonerating yourselves from blame you are endorsing Shona tribalism against Ndebele speakers? I am even surprised that no-one saw anything wrong with it up to this day. The media should be printing screaming headlines in disgust of such sick mentality on the part of those opposed to Ndebeles assuming national leadership positions.

Is it therefore worth it for people like Gibson Sibanda, Ncube, Nyathi and others of their kind in the MDC to continue to sacrifice their lives trying to install other people into positions of authority or retain them at great personal risk when the same cannot be done for them?

Incidentally, many of these Ndebele speaking leaders of the MDC have been subjected to cruel treatment by the regime for a cause that discriminates against them. Do you remember the long incarcerations Prof Ncube and Renson Gasela suffered for the sake of Tsvangirai in the Ari Ben Menashe saga? Do you remember how much suffering Sibanda and Nyathi experienced following the abortive Final Push? Do you remember how Fletcher Dulini lost one of his eyes fighting a cause that does not fully recognise his sacrifice?

When you erect prison walls around people's desire to experience unhindered freedom, you are providing them with a solid cause to rebel and overthrow that inhibition. Was it not this same apartheid system which compelled black people in this country to seek to free themselves from a legislated culture that oppressed them? The sacrifice and contribution of Sibanda's, Ncube's and Nyathi's people in Matabeleland and the Midlands in that struggle in which they excelled are well known. Since that struggle seems to have bone fruits whose nourishment excludes you, do you think it is wise to continue to uphold it?

In any case, why is it in Zimbabwe only where people from fewer national groups such as the Ndebele are distrusted as national leaders? Bakili Muluzi of Malawi came from the small Tumbuka tribe and was president of a country which is dominated by Chewa speaking people. In Kenya, Daniel Arap Moi came from a small tribe in a country dominated by the Kikuyu and Luo speakers. In South Africa, Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki belong to the Xhosa people who are not the majority ethnic group in that country. What is it with the Ndebele which makes the Shona dread them with such alacrity?

As parties which claim to be 'nationally-based', both Zanu PF and the MDC are expected to shun tribalism. The people of Matabeleland, who sacrificed their 'regionally-based' parties on the altar of national outlook, certainly feel betrayed and cheated when they discover that their leadership ceiling is fixed lower than that of their Shona counterparts on tribal grounds. This makes a mockery of their attempt to forge national unity. If the MDC sincerely wishes to be a nemesis to Zanu PF, then it must stop exuding the Zanu PF odour.

How does one justify leadership criteria which worship tribalism and banish ability? Isn't this the cause of this country's ills? Although the Ncube's and Nyathi's in the MDC may engage in self-effacing endeavours and forego their claim to national leadership, the people of Matabeleland know very well that it is their resources which fuel the economy of the country. In spite of their fewer numbers, their region contributes 40% of the country's GDP. It is their coal which makes Zimbabwe's tobacco competitive. It is their electricity which illuminates the whole country and powers the industries. It is their tourism and beef which bring the limited foreign currency. It is their timber which decorates homes and anchors railway lines throughout the country. It is their gold, chrome, cement, nickel, iron ore and other minerals which are the mainstay of the country's economy.

There is only one word to describe a situation where a people's resources are exploited without allowing them to contribute at the highest level of national affairs: COLONIALISM. This is an enemy we are prepared to lay down our lives for.

George Mkhwananzi is president of the Matabeleland pressure group Imbovane Yamahlabezulu and writes from Bulawayo


Source - Byo24News | NewZimbabwe
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