Three things seriously wrong in MDC-T Bulawayo Rally!

Serious mismanagement went wrong in the MDC-T Bulawayo rally on Saturday 7th, 2018 that need our comments. Do I need to ask myself which politician can get such a bumper rally today at White City Bulawayo? Even if there were Bulawayo outsiders who attended the rally, still it was a bumper rally indeed. Thousands of Bulawayo residents made an extreme effort to come to the rally to hear what the young man Advocate Chamisa had for them in store. For those I have spoken to, much as they really want this party to win the elections, they could not hide their disappointments. To many residents, they had expected the MDC-Alliance to respect the fact that Bulawayo is generally Ndebele speaking town. How is it possible that MDC-T Alliance political leaders come all the way from Mashonaland and dominate in language that few can understand in Bulawayo?  

The leadership of MDC-Alliance took the residents of Bulawayo for granted, a complacent lot and arrogant. Apart from Welshman Ncube who spoke in Ndebele, all others decided to speak in Shona. The leadership knows how delicate this language issue is in this region. This region is wary of teachers and nurses who speak to the Bulawayo residents and the region in Shona and never made an effort to learn the language. Now come Chamisa at the Saturday rally speaking in Shona just like the Shona teachers and nurses speaking to their pupils and patients in Shona.  

For Chamisa at his age, with a wife supposedly coming from Mathebeleland should have known the sensitivity of speaking at a public rally in a language that is not generally spoken or understood in this region by many. Biti spoke in Shona, Ngarivhume spoke in Shona: Chamisa spoke in Shona: when the residents decide to speak and ask why a language many do not understand, they are ready-made answers to this: you are labelled a tribalist, immature and you are a Zanu PF member. They will even tell you: those are petty and trivial things not worthy of note because this is how Mathebeleland has been perceived all along: trivialized Mathebeleland region. They never made an effort to field an interpreter at least to translate for them the message they brought with them.

I listened to all the speakers at the rally. The message I got was: spaghetti highways, teachers must speak the local language; Matobo must be turned into town status. King Lobhengula will be coroneted, Gugurahundi victims will be compensated: Leaders must learn national languages. Mostly it was threshing Zanu PF, how illegitimate it is and so forth. My sincere question is this enough to give the vote?  I now understand and appreciate why Nkosana Moyo does not make rallies. The MDC-T Bulawayo rally attendance was very good, but the messages they put across were poor and substandard. But what a waste of time! People who came from faraway places risked lives for those few messages! It was just a show of face: the dear Leader Chamisa.

It is one thing to see a sea of red MDC-T party members all gathered to hear what MDC-T has for them: what is in the MDC-T blueprint, what is in their manifesto, is it good for the region, it is also another thing to go to the rally and you come out empty, many residents did not understand the bullet-train-boy fully to appreciate his leadership. The young man should be in a position to articulate his manifesto in all languages well. There is no need to promise things that are not possible e. g. the bullet train, spaghetti roads. Can you tell us how you are going to offer people bread and butter in three months, in one year, in 5 year tenure of your time in government.  

The other thing that was a big minus in that bumper rally was the absence of women in the panel of speakers. It was a boy-club as usual. The only woman who was at the panel was an MC. We have talked about the absence of women in this organisation; it appears they do not want to change their modus operandi. This MDC-T alliance with its anti-women will not attract women folk to vote for them at all. Dear Chamisa where are the women, we want to see them in all rallies taking part fully, speaking at rallies equally with men. We cannot be second to men all the time. The absence of women in MDC-T rallies is an affront to women; you are subtly saying they are second to men. A party that has very little respect for women is a dead party indeed. You respect women when you give them power positions to effect that change that we all want to see. We cannot be silent on this: MDC-T is not gender-sensitive all. What is the difference between MDC-T and Zanu PF then if you do not correct those sensitive issues all obvious at your rallies? We need to see women in your rallies and not only men. MDC-T is gender insensitive, period!!!!!

The third issue that touched most was Chamisa to claim that he went to see Comrade Joshua Nkomo's house. Chamisa never went to Nkomo's Home in Pelandaba: a home not 100 meters away from the White City stadium. Sibangilizwe Nkomo disputed your visit to their home. So why tell such a blatant lie that can easily be disputed by the Nkomo family. Such lies can discredit someone easily, why risk so much, to get what from lies? Why did you not stand by the fact that you went to see the Nkomo foundation and certainly not his family? Was seeing Jabulani at the Foundation not enough, you needed to add more lies to the soup to taste better. They even disputed that you are not the first political leader to have visited the place. Zvinonyadzisa izvo mwana wangu. Again your Ndebele words you said were: "Ngiyahamba, ngenyawo!  "Nduku ka Nkomo"  induku that you were never given.   

The residents of Bulawayo gave you the best, they turned out in their thousands to see you but your performance was the worst! I have seen you talking in Shona in most rallies and was really impressed by your performance. The mismanagement of that rally is unfortunate to many residents. It is as if you never really sat down with the Bulawayo substantive committee to really plan this big day. You have known that you were going to be a leader of this party MDC-T since its inception in 1999? Complacency! You should have done your homework to learn at least three national languages: you did not. You are indeed one of those who thinks Zimbabwe is for Shona speakers only, any other language must conform to speaking and writing in Shona. That to me is the arrogance of the highest order.

You tried to shine with only two to three words you spoke in Ndebele and you turn to the weakest link, Biti, dare him about your Ndebele language proficiency as if you could speak it yourself. Why even talk about teachers who cannot speak Ndebele yet you cannot speak it yourself? That is not clever at all. Did you think of writing your speech in Ndebele and just read it at that bumper rally they gave you? Your wife supposedly from Mathebeleland will have assisted in speech writing. Please, dear MDC-T, we respect the people of Mashonaland and we speak your language to your satisfaction in public and private places. Please, can you do the same to us too? When you come to our region, please speak our language too especially in such public places like rallies. I really do not care who says I am a Zanu PF member or a tribalist or telling me how petty and trivial I am, to raise this painful issue, I will always speak when I see arrogance at play by people who are my fellow citizens. Such complacency is tasteless.

Those are my comments, I wait for your members' long criticism, I am sure if I was near Harvest House I was going to be thoroughly beaten by your MDC-T members! I know MDC-T members do not tolerate criticism at all. I know too that I am going to be labelled all sorts of names: a tribalist, simple thinker, petty and trivial, Zanu PF card carrier!! I wish you win the elections. I will never stop to critique what I think is worthy of note. Nobody will keep my pent silent.