Chamisa, Biti clash will not end well

History shows that when a captain and his best player clash, it does not end well.

The story of CCC captain Chamisa and his best player Biti is quite sad. One thought the captain would give his best player the number 9 jersey to spearhead the attack against Zanu.

Alas, the captain is comfortable to see his best player on the bench or even sold to another team.

In his famous resignation speech, Sir Jeffrey Howe implied the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher's conduct had a sabotaging effect on him as Foreign Secretary.

He used a cricket metaphor to capture the essence of his challenges. He said, "it's rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease, only for them to find out the moment the first ball is bowled that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain.  

It's understood that this was the speech that started the process of removing Margaret Thatcher from power.

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown entered parliament at the same time and shared an office. They were good friends who shared ideas about modernising the party. In 1997, the party leader passed away and everyone thought the new leader would be Blair or Brown.

The process did not go as people expected. Blair had a secret meeting with Brown and convinced him not to compete in the leadership race. It effectively opened the door to Blair's victory and he became leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister.

As part of their agreement, they made a pact that Blair would serve as Prime Minister for two terms and he would make way for Brown and support him in that cause. However, Blair did not resign after two terms, he served for three terms.

Brown felt betrayed and there was serious tension in government. The atmosphere was tense. Some people wanted Blair to get rid of Brown. Blair knew it would be unwise to do so. Brown was extremely competent and a huge asset to the party. He commanded respect and loyalty from some members.

People in both Blair and Brown camps were of the view that Brown should have been allowed to compete in the leadership race instead of making way for Blair. A free and fair race would have saved the party from the division that materialised.

Halfway into his third term, Blair was forced to resign after pressure from the Brown camp and many questions asking him when he was going to resign. Brown took over after Blair but he only served until the end of Bair's third term. The Conservative and the Liberal Democrats formed a coalition government in 2010 under David Cameron.

Labour has been out of power since then.

Chamisa and Biti were part of the team that started the biggest opposition in Zimbabwe with Morgan Tsvangirai in 1999. They've walked a tough and hostile road that is the Zimbabwe political landscape for the past 24 years.

In terms of experience, competence and parliamentary work, Biti is easily the best in Zimbabwe. He is the leading force in holding the government to account as Chamisa does not attend parliament.

To put Biti in a position where he might potentially lose his seat in parliament is questionable and not well thought out. Arguing that the person who might replace him is also good is not clever. It implies that CCC has put two of its best leaders to fight against each other. Why? Where is the logic in that?

They should actually give both of them safe seats so they can both go to parliament.

The seeds of the Blair and Brown tension were sown at inception. Friends ended up not being friends anymore and it affected the Labour Party and government. Labour could have governed for longer had Brown competed in free and fair internal elections.

CCC is less than two years old. It does not want to start its political journey with a cloud over its head about not following democratic principles. A split at this early stage would be disastrous especially when members feel cheated. It's not worth the risk.

People want to see a well organised opposition that can take on the government in the coming election and form a new government. People are not going to be impressed by mistakes and self sabotage that gives the corrupt governing party a chance to continue in power.

People are looking forward to a new government. They are looking forward to new leaders who know what they are doing. Leaders who are ready to transform the country through ideas.

It would be wise for CCC to make decisions with people in mind because it's all for the people. CCC needs its best players in order to win. A CCC Without Biti is a weak CCC and a loss for the people of Zimbabwe.