Why Ncube should palm off a grand coalition

For time immemorial to myself I have been one of the staunch advocates of the proposed so called Grand coalition between Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC-T and Welshman Ncube of MDC until I heard Tsvangirai's speech last week. In one of his star rallies the Prime Minister repeatedly called for Dr Dabengwa and Prof Welshman Ncube to come into his so called coalition as "the door is still open." To someone paying particular attention, these utterances are reminiscent of the era when Robert Mugabe called for the so called Unity Accord between PF Zapu and Zanu PF which effectively dissolved ZAPU into ZANU, renamed ZANU.

Besides the obvious fact that Tsvangirai's utterances exhibite some subdued or muted undertones of 'politics of patronage', they also reflect some arrogance that should only have an adverse effect to the political proximity between him and the Ncube coalition and also help only in making Ncube feel that Tsvangirai does not want a coalition with them, but some kind of submission or capitulation. One can have a certain level of arrogance, and still be appropriate, but what one should never lose is the respect for the others. To a detached analyst this sounds like, to quote a Mr Macaphulana, the usual typical Zimbabwean political and historical theatre of the macabre, where the "Zwangendabas" and "unpeople" of Ndebele label are playing out their own encounters with the self appointed first borns of historical and political destiny who occupy the high echelons of Zanu PF and MDC-T leadership.

History has it that MDC-T has on a number of occasions dismissed the MDC-N as politically irrelevant yet they recently have been tail getting them like self opinionated young man pursuing an attractive girl on an ego trip rather than out of feelings of affection. Arrogance is a creature that does not have senses and as Toba Beta once said about arrogance, it is a creature that possesses only a sharp tongue and the pointing finger. This is so with Tsvangirai's attitude towards the proposal of the so-called Grand coalition. Pertaining this issue, arrogance is in everything Tsvangirai do. It is in his gestures too.

While courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. Tsvangirai should attain that one never really learn much from hearing themself speak. It is his typical politics of patronage and arrogance that has underlain the implementation of the so called grand coalition. He should diplomatically be consulting other parties on coalition rather than his 'open door' calls that seem to harbour some hidden agenda to swallow the others. It will not work. Remember some of them resurrected themselves from being swallowed and hence if ever there is to be a coalition, all partners should come together not only as active participants to that coalition but as equal partners too. They should all feel a sense of belonging and operate in a conducive environment where they work as partners. But Tsvangirai is already modeling some 'make appointments to office and grant contracts' characteristics which, if Ncube still has a grain of self respect in himself, should palm off and condemn even in strongest terms.

The Grand Coalition must not be a coalition of convenience. It must be a coalition of people with some shared values, some shared principles and these two do not seem to display any shared values. Ncube was not off track when suggesting that his MDC-T rival Morgan Tsvangirai is better off forming a coalition with Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara because Tsvangirai never recognised his leadership while in government anyway. Therefore Ncube should be given 'a bells' for refusing to be used as a political condom. After all despite the two coalitions reflecting some certain –isms (be it regionalism or tribalism) is it not that the Ncube- Dabengwa coalition seems to me more representative than the other? Does it not comprise leadership from Mashonaland, Matabeleland South and the Midlands while Tsvangirai's coalition is one formed by the three all from Manicaland, including his lifelong supporter? For Dumiso Dabengwa to re-marry the MDC after that Zanu pf divorce will be tantamount to constituting adultery anyway. The coalition issue may seem to be the only way forward now but it is not. There are numerous democratic options to change Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean masses should not be pre- occupied with removing Zanu pf that they risk forming a UFO that will grow up to devour our children in the future. Of course a united front will stand a larger chance of unseating the Zanu pf government which is corrupt and spent 33 years formulating and implementing policies that has had a detrimental effect on the country's once vibrant economy, transforming it from the bread basket of Africa to a basket case.

The problem of the MDCs needs an amicable solution but that solution should be based on beliefs and principles not grounds of convenience. The next move we probably all want to hear is that professor Ncube has invited Tsvangirai for consultation on what he has heard on papers about the grand coalition and discuss the way forward, the same to MDC-T. But Tsvangirai will need to swallow his egotistic pride first. Arrogance may have a place in technology, but not in healing.

Tsvangirai need to get out of his own way if the so called grand coalition the nation so desire is to come into existence. But the days to July 31 are numbered, which leaves the whole case of a grand coalition a pipe dream that will never come to pass. Hence given the state of affairs, underdeveloped regions of the country will  effectively have nothing to lose if they vote for the MDC-Ncube so called Revolution for Devolution as it seeks to decentralise the statutory granting of powers from the central government to subnational level, such as a regional and local. This will empower regions like Matabeland, the Midlands and Manicaland, who for the last three decades have been drowning in a plethora of poverty despite the availability of sufficient resources.

There have been choruses echoing from different angles pointing out that Ncube has no realistic chance of winning. Did Mugabe have a realistic chance of winning in 1963? Did Tsvangirai have a realistic chance of winning in 1998? So people should leave Ncube to exercise his democratic right.

Recently there have been election polls mushrooming and fallaciously and illogically arriving to unjustifiable conclusions that Zanu is going to win this year's election. It is either these polls are operating with limited resources or they are undertaken by people who lack some proper research skills. We have also been hearing from other sources including the revolutionary hero Baba Jukwa, a concerned father, fighting nepotism and directly linking community with their Leaders, Government, MPs and Ministers. In a daily blizzard of posts, Baba Jukwa has waged a furious information war against Zanu-PF - the party of which he claims to be a member. With the stories - some of them more salacious gossip than whistle blowing, Baba Jukwa has managed to take advantage of the new technology but it should be noted with great concern that his ignorance on the Matabeleland predicaments is worrying as it vividly illustrates that same old mentality especially from the majority of people who grew up in Mashonaland that Gukurahundi is the prime problem in the region.

Given the provisions of the new constitution, Zanu is guaranteed a loss in these elections but the likely hood is that they will, in a rather unprecedented formula, refuse to relinquish power with an absolute support from the army. Then what will happen next? Nothing! Except for the usual hullabaloo of condemnation from America, Britain and the rest of world. The only action that the people of Zimbabwe should be taking now is praying that, upon learning that all is now lost in the elections, Zanu pf, disintegrates into oblivion as its members flee in desperation in fear of retribution for their 33 year long transgressions.