Naive docile - Morgan Tsvangirai should resign

It's sad that I have come to this conclusion. It was in 1999 when the MDC party was formed, Zimbabwe a country we all love had suddenly derailed and was heading towards nowhere, I was young then a F2 student in Mash East but with my young mind, I quickly knew that Zanu-PF had failed and a new regime needed to be formed and take over from Zanu-PF. I was happy when Morgan Tsvangirai was elected as the MDC party leader and since 1999 I have always been a staunch supporter of change thru MDC. We can't hide the fact that the road we have travelled has been bumpy, a lot of our cadres died, some were killed by Zanu-PF, some like Patrick Nebanyama were made to disappear without trace. We will not forget people like Gift Tandare who was shot at point blank in Harare and his body was later stolen from a Harare mortuary, Tonderai Ndira ,Tonderai  Machiridza etc. Indeed, the road has been bumpy, it hasn't been that easy but I applaud the people of Zimbabwe who are still resilient even up to today.

Fellow Zimbabweans it's been 17 years when MDC was formed and I can tell you today no one in 1999 thought that we could get to 2008 let alone 2016 with Zanu-PF still at the helm. But where exactly are we failing? Today I had a deep introspection of myself and the party i love. Probably it's me who is not playing a part as a citizen of Zimbabwe and a member of MDC-T. Maybe it's the leaders who are not doing their jobs properly? What have I contributed to the democratisation of Zimbabwe. These were some of the questions which came into my mind today.

It's not a secret that the only time we had a realistic chance of dislodging Zanu-PF totally out of power was 2008, indeed we had a realistic chance of removing it. Industries had collapsed, inflation was ranging around a million percent, investors had taken their money out of Zimbabwe. I was in Zimbabwe on that day March 28 2008, we went and we voted. Zanu-PF manipulated the electoral commission ZEC so that it delays in announcing the Presidential election result. We waited for almost 2 month for us to get an election result. The rest is history for we know what later happened. A compromise government was put in place and MDC-T though it had garnered more votes than Zanu-PF was co-opted in a coalition government not as an equal partner but as a junior partner. This was one big blunder which the MDC-T made and even up today, all the problems which have rocked the MDC-T camp can all be traced back to this one big blunder which the leaders made.

The MDC-T party was too naïve in 2008, to think that Zanu-PF was sincere yet they was strong evidence which proved otherwise. They were naïve to think that they could reform Zanu-PF from within but little did they know that they have actually given Zanu-PF a Lazarus moment to recollect and resuscitate itself. It's well known that Zanu-PF was about to die and face extinction but MDC-T came to its rescue thru its acceptance to partake in the GNU unholy communion. The signing of the GNU gave Zanu more ample time to go back to the drawing board and re-strategize. They were given more time to perfect their art of rigging and thieving by the MDC-T. Personally, i was and still is against any coalition or any marriage of convenience with Zanu-PF. I preferred MDC-T leaving Zanu-PF to rule on its own in 2008 until it crumbles like a deck of cards. They had lost a rigged election which was not even free and fair, they had no legitimacy whatsoever so yes definitely the Zanu-PF Government was not going to go anyway after all. What Morgan failed to understand was that, we the people of Zimbabwe didn't want change on a piecemeal basis, we wanted a complete change of government.

Since he had already appended his signature to this unholy government called the GNU which Job Sikhala once called ‘Garaiwo Nesu Udye' we had no choice but to support the GNU. I stayed in Zimbabwe during the whole GNU era. Yes life changed, shops now had goods, some notable investments started to trickle in, But again MDC-T failed to master the most important goal, the very reason why they were in the GNU was and is to wrestle power from Zanu-PF that's all. The MDC-T focused on the economy which was good for the population but Zanu-PF was more focused on consolidating their grip on power. The MDC-T thought that a new constitution was the ultimate solution to our crisis and that if a constitution is there and becomes the supreme law of the land then automatically and ultimately a free and fair election would be possible. MDC-T didn't fight on some key issues which I had thought were the very reason why they were in the GNU eg Security sector reform, electoral reform etc. They also failed to understand that General elections are different from Church elections were an elder is elected this year and next year if he is not elected he will gracefully agree to step down and allow others to take over. MDC-T and Co were also too naïve to think that Zanu-PF would agree without force to implement any reforms which would level the electoral playing field, truth is Zanu-PF clearly knows that agreeing to any electoral reform would ultimately usher them out of power. Mind you they are not prepared to relinquish power at all costs.

It will not be fair if i ignore the fact that Tsvangirai lived a reckless life after his wife passed away. Morgan knew that he was a public person who should lead by example. It's not easy to forget that when he was Prime Minister he would go with many of his concubines overseas. One rule he failed to understand and master was that if you have enemies who want to take you out, don't do anything that will give them more arsenal to take you out. The sex scandals tainted his image and it did cost us vital support during the 2013 presidential election. He was forced to pay $400 000 of party funds to silence Lorcadia Karimatsenga Tembo, a Central Intelligence Organization operative he had sex with and falsely promised marriage. Another woman, Mashabane from South Africa was also paid an unknown amount after the former prime minister took her on an Indian Ocean ride at state expense on a yacht called the 'Legend of the Seas. Tsvangirai also has a child, Ethan, with a Bulawayo woman he impregnated while she was still a teenage college student. To be honest these were own goals which Morgan scored himself. We tried to extinguish the flames but the flames were just too much, Zanu-PF quickly capitalised and even used the sex scandals in their 2013 election manifestos and printouts to further denigrate the name of the MDC-T party and its leader.

Even when he knew that he had failed as a leader to implement electoral and security sector reforms he still force matched us to a stolen and rigged election. Zanu-PF had done their homework and they did rig nicely. In 2008 we waited for 2 month for ZEC to announce a Presidential election result but since Zanu-PF had done their homework during the GNU course, ZEC only took two days. MDC-T lost and again we were left licking our wounds and crying foul. We failed to realise that elections especially against Zanu-PF are big battles and those who can't battle enough will lose. We can say rigging was partly the reason why we lost but we also fail to realise that indeed we crucified ourselves on our own. We imposed candidates against the wishes of the electorate eg Simba Makoni , Ambrose Mutinhiri's wife who had no history in the party at all. Again, we were too naïve to think that these Zanu-PF rejects would bring in miracles and win the seats for the party. My view in future is that we should welcome additions to numbers but certainly not to leadership. No one should be accommodated in the top echelons of the party until their loyalty have been proved for example say after 5years service as loyal ordinary party member.

From 2013 to now, conditions in Zimbabwe has worsened and all the gains of the GNU have been quickly eroded. Zanu-PF has failed dismally that is the truth. But what have we done as MDC-T to alleviate the situation, the answer is nothing except having rallies throughout the country. But is having rallies countrywide with many people flocking to the rallies the main panacea to our problems. What is the real reason why we are having these rallies, seriously you call someone who is jobless, hungry and struggling to feed his family to a rally in Gutu, he wait for you for 4 hours in the sun until you come, you tell him your vision for the country as if he doesn't know the vision because truth be told you have been telling the same person the same vision since 1999, after finishing he goes back home with your vision in his head, but will your vision give him food? Then the following day Newsday Newspaper and The Herald will report that in Gutu ten thousand people turned up for the rally where Morgan was the main speaker?? Seriously I feel we are exploiting our citizens. If you cannot offer a tangible and quick solution to the people, then don't go to them. Only go to them when you have something solid to say. I applaud Sten Zvorwadza who recently told us the truth that Tsvangirai MDC-T is no longer seized with taking Zanu-PF Head -ON, MDC-T is now organising rallies not to put pressure on the government so that it reforms and listen to its citizens but rather to prove that they are still popular. Seriously the time to prove that you have more people on your side did ended a long time ago. We now need results.

We decided not participate in any election in Zimbabwe unless and until ZEC had reformed but we go back using a backdoor route and support Themba Mliswa, what are we saying really? Are we still being guided by our founding values or confusion and complete disorder has taken centre stage in our party. If we say we will not participate in any election then why are we using our resources to support Mliswa, again another Zanu-PF reject with a bad past of thieving and intimidating innocent people. In 2008 we supported Jonathan Moyo but where is he now? Why are we so desperate and naïve at the same time? If there is a time when we should go back to our founding institutions and values, then this is the time. Right now, Mliswa is blasting you left right and centre when he clearly knows that he used your energy and resources to make him win the Norton seat. My last question to MDC-T is that why are we so quick to embrace Zanu-PF rejects but we make it so hard for our erstwhile colleagues eg Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti, Mangoma, Roy Bennet etc. to come back to the party. As coalition talks in preparation for the 2018 elections are gathering momentum who should we really talk to for a coalition possibility, Joyce Mujuru or Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti? My view is that let's leave Zanu-PF rejects alone especially those who had to wait to be fired by Zanu-PF. We must never lose sight of the fact that Zanu-PF discards only those of its members it feels have no value addition to its main objective of retaining and consolidating power. When the Zanu-PF party realises it has made a mistake, it will do everything to woo back its disruptive yet crowd pulling elements into the fold. We would never know this unless we test the value of our possible allies in a less risky environment ie certainly not in a general election. This s logic and common sense.

I applaud the youths of Zimbabwe who have joined this fight against tyranny. The first who started it all was Itai Dzamara, he started Occupy Africa Unity Square and I feel had Itai received support from MDC-T he wouldn't have disappeared without trace. His call was genuine and so was the cause he was fighting for. What he lacked to me was the support from the MDC-T. This to me is one of the biggest problem we have in the party which is, we fail to support and capitalise when fellow citizens come up with robust initiatives which would ultimately put pressure on the Govt. Last week Tajamuka comrades took to the streets and demonstrated against Bond notes, the only notable person I saw was Tendai Biti only, where was Tsvangirai and others? I don't know but I would guess that maybe he was busy relaxing in a Zanu-PF house in Highlands and receiving secret monies from Zanu-PF as well. I heard even the VP Eng. Elias Mudzuri was in Victoria Falls the time when active demonstrators had been arrested in Harare for exercising their democratic and constitutional rights.

Good people the party we all love has truly derailed from its founding ethos and values. There is complete disorder and confusion has indeed taken over at the Harvest House. if I had my own way I would call upon the person or the board which decided that MDC-T should back Mliswa in the Norton by-elections to resign. To my leaders let it be known that we have a movement to protect and that we have suffered enough, some even died for this struggle but what have we done, nothing except scoring own goals. The sad part is that whilst we are busy sleeping and scoring own goals, Zanu-PF is busy perfecting its art of rigging and thieving. 2018 is around the corner, we cannot afford another 5 years with Zanu-PF at the helm so instead of scoring own goals MDC-T please go back to the table and think hard.

Umzukulu Ka Sitsha is a Zimbabwean who writes in his personal capacity.