Tsvangirai and Mujuru Should listen to the right advisors; Open Letter to opposition leaders and members

Advisors play a critical role in the policy making processes of political parties. Most of the time leaders of political parties áre much removed from the people and their advisors therefore play án important role in bridging the gap between the people and the lofty leaders. In the mid 90s charges of corruption rose against big fish of the ZanuPf party. Tekere was one of the people who shouted loudest against corruption. Mugabe's cronies who were mostly corrupt themselves told Mugabe that Tekere was playing to the tune of the worst. Instead of fighting corruption Mugabe set up an arsenal to fight Tekere. He won the subsequent elections but corruption rose to frightening levels. When the MDC was formed in 1999 riding on popular discontent and disenchantment,  instead of looking at the real causes Mugabe's cronies advised him that it was all a western ploy to reverse the "gains of our won independence." He swallowed that, line, hook and sinker.

Instead of ratifying the situation Mugabe put the country on a war footing. Vast amounts of money were put up to fight the opposition. Bases were set up where rape, murder and assault became the order of the day. The situation in the meantime deteriorated for the rest of the country. An intelligent president must ensure that he surrounds himself with the right type of advisors. Furthermore he must put in place a system that connects directly to the people. More often than not politicians want to surround themselves with spaniel fawning sycophants who want to tell the topman what he wants to hear and not what he should hear.  Mostly these are people who benefit from presidential patronage. They, in order to gain Judas favours start worshipping the very ground upon which the "great leader" steps. The moment they do this they are safe. They can steal half of Zimbabwe and still remain untouched and untouchable.

Unfortunately this way of thinking is usually swallowed in toto by Opposition.  Leaders in this camp also surround themselves with yes man many of whom beg for a bigger crumb from the new master's table.

One of the things they do is sing praises to the leader reminiscent of those sung in praise of the old Pharaoh leader. This praise singing inflates the ego of the leader, resulting in a personality cult of which the leader himself becomes its chief follower. As in the case of Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator, the problem with powerful propaganda is that the spinners start believing in their own lies. Thus Mussolini began to believe that his nation was a super power when it hardly merited the description of "power."

It is with this in mind that I call upon Brother Morgan Tsvangirai and Sister Joice Mujuru to look beyond personal egos, see through the schemes of their compromised advisors and see the broader picture; the task ahead, to remove a cutthroat dictator is far more important than personal egos.

Remaining at the helm of the biggest opposition party can only benefit individual who occupy that helm but will achieve nothing for the country.

I would like to warn the two esteemed leaders to be very wary of praise singers singing, " gandanga rinechivindi" or "chete chete." These people must be regarded with caution as their cause may not be so pure after all. Please note that ZanuPf fears a coalition of opposition parties. This makes those opposed to the same very suspicious. The "Big Tent" they belong to includes in it the stinking skunk that is ZanuPf

In calling for a coalition of like minded organisations the PDP is not in any way admitting to any form of inferiority or inadequacy. We as a party are confident in our strength and believe 100% in our cause. But we have the bigger picture in mind. We have the events of 27 June 2008 to learn from and do not want a replica of the same.

To those who want to go it alone we say, go ahead" and "good iuck." If your venture brings positive change we say "bravo." But we contend in our hearts that returning the country to ZanuPf in 2018 is not an option.

We hope and believe the other opposition parties will see sense in what we are agitating for.
Please note that we as PDP already have our presidential candidate in Servant Tendai Biti a hard working cadre of the struggle. We have the capacity to field councillors and MPs throughout the country. We have the right like any other party to hope and dream of victory in the coming elections. However, we are not blind to the possibility of dividing votes and giving victory to ZanuPf on a silver platter.

This scenario is too ghastly even to contemplate.

All the known leaders of opposition parties have credentials of one sort or another. We need each other as a team to achieve our goals.

At this juncture may it be noted that personalities play a very minor roles. It is our conviction that the only condition in any coalition talks is that there is no condition. We are prepared as PDP to go it alone come 2018 but we do not believe that the people of Zimbabwe are prapared to live with the consequences of such a decision for the next five years.
It is with this in mind that we call upon our brothers and sisters in opposition to? come together and deliver the final blow to the evil system of ZanuPf that has become the scourge of our time.

An opposition united in common purpose against the enemy of the nation and indeed of all progress is the greatest new year gift we can give to our people. They deserve it. May you you all have a prosperous 2017.

Cde. Nqobizitha Dumakude Khumalo.
Provincial Spokesperson.
Harare Province.
PDP.