Chamisa and the pretence to unity

AT the burial of liberation icon Dr Dumiso Dabengwa in Ntabazinduna recently, MDC Alliance leader Mr Nelson Chamisa postured as a unifying figure vowing to work towards uniting the people of Zimbabwe.  

To this, Mr Chamisa got loud cheers from a rented crowd of MDC Alliance supporters who had travelled to Ntabazinduna to support their leader's grand standing and imagined sense of importance.  

The trick or so Mr Chamisa thought, was to associate himself with the revolutionary legacy of Dr Dabengwa and portray himself as the glue that would bring people together.

 "You instructed as a commander, we will execute your mission, we will finish what you started, we will complete the journey, you told us to bring everyone together, we will be united, we will not disappoint you," said Mr Chamisa.  

In the madness of their self delusion, it became lost to both Mr Chamisa and his cheer leaders that 43 kilometres away stood stark evidence proving that Mr Chamisa was and is an antithesis to his pretence at unity and democracy.  

In Bulawayo, 43 kilometres from DD's grave, is the MDC Alliance offices that have become a theatre of divisions with ethnic undertones in a clear representation of Mr Chamisa's true politics and the principles that he represents.  

His failure to unite feuding factions in Bulawayo escalated tensions until an outbreak of violence on Sunday as the province met to select members of the national executive council.

Some disgruntled members accused the provincial executive of tribalism in the selection process. A senior party member accused MDC Alliance president Mr Nelson Chamisa of sowing the seeds of discord when he allegedly rigged the Bulawayo provincial elections before the party's congress last month to ensure his preferred candidates won, along tribal lines.

"It's Chamisa's people that we are rejecting. He must come here and sort out his mess before something worse happens," said the party member.  

Tensions had been simmering since the party's Bulawayo structures held a provincial congress in April presided over by Mr Chamisa where some party members accused the MDC Alliance leader of manipulating processes so that his favoured ethnic group landed positions.  

So intense were the fights that a group of losing candidates wrote a letter of complaint to the party accusing Mr Chamisa of bungling the processes.  When Mr Chamisa visited Bulawayo for the party's provincial caucus, some party members painted graffiti on the walls of the party offices denigrating and labelling him a tribalist.

Some of the messages written on the walls and gate to the party provincial office included: "Chamisa ule nketha betshabi (Chamisa you are tribalistic), "Chamisa usubulele i MDC" (Chamisa you have destroyed MDC), "Chamisa a worse dictator", "Chamisa uyadelela" (Chamisa you are disrespectful) among other derogatory and inflammatory messages.  

What Sunday's events proved was that far from the person he postured to be at DD's burial, Mr Chamisa is a divisive leader who cannot unite a province of his party let alone the rest of Zimbabwe.  

Eight days after his grandstanding, Mr Chamisa's mask fell off exposing the divisive leader that his very own followers have labelled him to be.  Interestingly, it is none but his supporters that have proven the lie Mr Chamisa laid bare at the burial of Dr Dabengwa. It is his followers that have exposed Mr Chamisa's lack of capacity to unite anyone.  

Even in the Midlands, the selection of national executive council members turned chaotic after some members reportedly brought a premeditated list when positions were meant to be voted for.  On Sunday night, after the running battles, one of Mr Chamisa's deputies, Professor Welshman Ncube, posted a telling message on Twitter.  

"Thanks Honourable Prince Sibanda, Chairman of Mat North and the rest of your collective leadership for seconding to the National Executive Committees of the 3 wings a strong totally inclusive leadership representing all districts and all components of the MDC. Am proud of you," said Prof Ncube.

Outside the context of the violence and tribal tensions that marred similar processes in Bulawayo, Prof Ncube's words appear to be a simple congratulatory note to a chairperson for conducting a successful programme.  However, viewed within the context of Bulawayo, Prof Ncube's words are a condemnation of the province's lack of "a strong totally inclusive leadership representing all districts and all components of the MDC."

Comparatively, Prof Ncube, himself a target of a faction supported by Mr Chamisa, seems to be commending the Matabeleland North structures for doing what Bulawayo failed to do.  

In the end, the people of Zimbabwe should follow closely such developments and be informed by them when they make decisions on who they want to lead them in the future.  

For long the opposition has blamed Zanu-PF for either "infiltrating" their structures or "sponsoring" chaos but the bungling of Mr Chamisa in the administration of affairs in his party does not leave a shadow of doubt as to his lack of capacity to lead.