Chamisa showed his true colours when he chose Mugabe over Khupe

Since he entered his office, not without much controversy, MDC-T President Nelson Chamisa took incredible steps to push his former fellow vice-president Thokozani Khupe out of the MDC. What started as verbal attacks, unfortunately quickly descended into violence, and finally legal measures in a long-drawn out court case that has still yet to be resolved.

Chamisa, his cadre of online bullies and the paramilitary Vanguard, were merciless against Khupe and her supporters. This historic split in the MDC-T has been to the detriment of all, and despite making noises about reconciliation; it is clear that Chamisa has never showed any seriousness in trying to bring her back in and unifying the party once again.

Compare and contrast Chamisa's treatment of Khupe to the deference and bowing and scraping he has shown his ostensible arch-enemies, now close allies, Robert and Grace Mugabe and their party, the National Patriotic Front (NPF).

Chamisa has bent over backwards spending arduous platitudes about both Robert and Grace Mugabe and has gone out of his way to make them feel welcome in the MDC Alliance. Whether they officially join in the end is a moot point, it is clear that Chamisa has cleared any obstacles that many will have, whether moral, ethical or legal to bring them in.

Many MDC members and supporters will have been scratching their heads in bewilderment about the decision to oust one of their founding members and stalwart of the MDC, the only democratically-elected Vice-President under Morgan Tsvangirai's leadership, and replace her with the Mugabe pair who are the nemeses of everything the MDC stands for.

The Mugabes are about as far from Khupe as one can get in Zimbabwean politics, the fight for democracy and their contribution to the MDC cause.

So why did Chamisa choose the Mugabes over Khupe?

Sadly, the answer is as simple as it is disturbing.

Khupe's popularity is a threat to Chamisa within the MDC. He couldn't have someone so respected and liked in a senior position that he could imagine would one day compete with him for the leadership of the party. He had to purge her and her supporters, not for the good of the party, but for his own narrow political needs and ambitions.

On the other hand, the Mugabes will never seek to hurt Chamisa's position in the MDC but they could be useful for bringing in votes so that the MDC leader can achieve the only thing that matters to him, to become president of Zimbabwe.

What becomes clear from this decision is that Chamisa's only goal is his own nak*d and personal ambition. He cares less what vehicles he uses to achieve his personal dreams and what it does to the country, party or its long standing ideology.

The Mugabes are a disaster for Zimbabwe and the MDC, but they will assist Chamisa in his goal of garnering more votes. On the other hand, Khupe is perceived as a threat to Chamisa's reign as leader of the MDC, so he chose the former over the latter.

So Chamisa chose himself over Zimbabwe and the MDC.

The decision to take the Mugabes over Khupe demonstrates this fact perhaps more than anything else.