Opposition leaders will only accept reforms if their lives, not povo's, or burnt bar shed were on the line

A few months ago, Tendai Biti, PDP President's rural home was attacked in what he claimed was a politically motived move. On Tuesday night, it was Elias Mudzuri, one of the three MDC-T VPs whose home was attacked. A grass thatched shed cum bar, was burnt down.

"For me, this is nothing less than malice. It cannot be theft. It's targeted destruction," said Mudzuri.

"It is difficult to discount politics or anything else for that matter."

"Hekanhi waro!" (Saves you right!) as one would say in Shona.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to feel sorry for anyone of these politicians when they are the victims of the country's political violence because they are the ones who have not only failed to end it when they had many chances to do so but, worse still, they are the ones who are helping to perpetuate the culture. The best chance, by a long mile, to end the Zanu PF dictatorship was during the GNU when all MDC leaders had to do was to implement the democratic reforms agreed in the 2008 Global Political Agreement. They failed to get even one reform implemented in five years. Not one!

President Mugabe lauded the MDC leaders with the trappings of high office; ministerial limo, very generous salary and allowances, a former white owned farm and a $4 million mansion for Welshman Ncube and Morgan Tsvangirai respectively, etc. Tsvangirai & co. responded by kicking all the reforms into the tall grass. Not even repeated reminders by SADC leaders to implement the reforms got the MDC to do anything on the matter.  

MDC leaders had a last-minute chance to redeem themselves and finally get the reforms implemented in June 2013, just a month before the July 2013 elections. All they had to do this time was to refuse participating in the elections until the reforms were implemented.

"Of course, they (the elections) can (now) be postponed," explained Dr Ibbo Mandaza.  "In 2013 the Maputo Summit, in June 2013, before the elections, the Maputo Summit was all about having the elections postponed – the SADC summit. I went there.

"I was there at the Summit and Mugabe pretended to agree to a postponement of the elections. If you recall, the postponement was based on the need to reform at least electoral laws.

"And after that Summit, Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube, all of them were called to a separate meeting by the Heads of State of SADC in the absence of Mugabe, that same evening. And they were told; I was sitting there outside the room with Mac Maharaj; they were told 'if you go into elections next month, you are going to lose; the elections are done'."
 
But once again, MDC leaders did not pay any heed to the warning, even when they witnessed the blatant vote rigging with their own eyes they still contested the flawed elections regardless as David Coltart, former MDC Senator and Minister of Education, admitted in his book.

"The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn't now do the obvious – withdraw from the elections," confessed Coltart.

"The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility."

Everybody, including the MDC leaders themselves know that the nation gained absolutely nothing from contesting the July 2013 elections. Instead we have suffered the double blow of having Zanu PF rigging the vote and staying in power for another five year. And, worst of all, we have forfeited yet another chance get the all important reform implemented!

If we do not contest next year's elections we will force Zanu PF to accept the implementation of the reforms. It is therefore infuriating that it should be none other than the same sell-out MDC leaders who are doggedly seeking to contest next year's elections the results and consequences are almost certain to be a repeat of the July 2013 elections!

Tendai Biti has already said he would be contesting next year's election regardless of the attack at his home. Mudzuri will probably do the same. It is not that these politicians are not scarred of the violence, they are. They are the worst cowards one will ever meet; it is just, like any coward, they provoke but always with an eye on their escape route.

Zimbabwe's opposition politicians are renowned for encouraging povo to confront by Zanu PF thugs head on but are rarely ever present to lead by example. Last time Tsvangirai got wind of someone was after him; he made a mad dash for the Netherlands Embassy, not even Usain Bolt would have caught him.

There is no doubt that both Biti and Mudzuri would soil their pants if they learnt of a determined attack on them. It is one thing that is guaranteed to force them to finally accept that Zimbabwe's political culture of violence is a very serious and immediate problem to be dealt with here and now. If Biti, Mudzuri and the rest knew it was their own life and limp and not that of povo, whom they consider to be no more that pawns in their high stakes chess game, at stake if they contest the flawed elections they never contest and election ever until all the reforms are implemented.

Mugabe needs Tsvangirai and company to contest his flawed elections to give the process credibility as David Coltart rightly pointed out in the quotation above. It would be foolish for the tyrant to eliminate the opposition's big chess pieces so easily and expose their credibility. So Mudzuri knows Mugabe would have told his henchmen to take it easy on the matches, burn the bar and not the house! Just as Mugabe has allowed Tsvangirai to keep $4 million Highlands mansion but the tyrant is even paying the MDC leader's SA hospital bills.

The saving grace for Zimbabwe is that the international community especially SADC can see that Tsvangirai and his opposition camp friends have lost all political credibility and the only reason they continue to contest flawed and illegal elections is for the scraps Zanu PF offers them. SADC would particularly want to put an end to this electoral sham because Zimbabwe's worsen economic crisis is threatening the political stability of not just Zimbabwe but the whole Southern Africa region.

Only the other day, Zimbabwe's Social Welfare Minister, Priscah Mupfumira, confirmed in a speech read of her behave, that 72% of the people in the country now live in poverty. There is no doubt that another rigged election will trigger a new flood of Zimbabwean economic and political refugees into neighbouring countries, especially SA.

There are 3 million or so Zimbabweans in SA at present and the country is fighting a losing battle of xenophobia attacks targeting foreigners accused of taking jobs from the locals. No SA government would want to be seen to be encouraging the political chaos in Zimbabwe to continue by endorsing rigged elections. The pay back for that will be certainty of a new flood of Zimbabwean refugees!

SADC leaders KNEW Mugabe rigged the July 2013 elections a month before the voting, hence their warning of MDC leaders not to contest. They allowed Mugabe to get away with it then but not so this time, there is a lot at stake. The possibility of SADC rejecting next year's flawed elections is hanging over Mugabe's head like the sword of Damocles!