The rise, fall of Nelson Chamisa

ONLY a year ago Nelson Chamisa, the outgoing Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) national organising secretary, was riding high, with all the promise of a young turk with nowhere to go but up.  He had the backing and trust of his principal, MDC-T party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai; he was swimming with the sharks and taming them.

In his party he swam alongside, then party stalwart secretary general, Tendai Biti, with whom he had seemed quite buddy-buddy, holding press conferences, plotting and scheming together on how to outdo the ruling Zanu-PF and leave it with egg on its face. And their two-men acts had seemed convincing enough, often putting Zanu-PF on the defensive; and on occasion catching the ruling party on the back-foot.

In Parliament, as Member of Parliament for Kuwadzana, Chamisa had fast carved out a reputation as a vocal and fearless young cadre standing toe to toe and shoulder to shoulder with political gurus like Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, whom he had challenged and squared off with more than once. The two have had sparring matches, with young Chamisa showing no signs of backing down.

On the sly, Chamisa was studying for a law degree, and judging by the prize he received when he graduated, did quite well at it. And a few months ago, he earned his place next to the dime and a dozen lawyers in the democratic movement. With buckets of good looks and pints of charisma, he had charmed his way around, drawing admiration from the fairer sex and cooperation from other males, so it seemed.And he managed to sobre all that up with a generous dose of religious banter, "I am a Christian" he would say, and it did show.

The humility he exhibited; the non-confrontational manner he adopted and conciliatory manner he employed even when he was obviously miffed or livid, at least in public; that, compounded by references to scriptures from the Holy Book - pointed to a feisty individual tempered by some faith and belief in a Supreme Being - the Almighty.

The Kuwadzana legislator rose through the ranks of the party in leaps and bounds. Every congress the party held meant him climbing a rung higher. From party spokesperson, to organising secretary, in charge of the party structures, the young turk seemed unstoppable.  As if that was not enough, when the MDC-T got into government with Zanu-PF under the Global Political Agreement (GPA) from 2009-2013, it seemed obvious that Chamisa was one of the sure-ins as minister from his party. After all he had the stamina, the standing and grounding.

True enough, the GPA found him making it as one of the youngest ministers landing the ICT portfolio, at a time when Zimbabwe was joining the world in embracing technology.  He was hip; he was happening and he made quite some buzz in that ministry and in government. Government became him. And soon he had latched onto the gravy train earning himself, alongside other party cadres, a reputation for now living the life of privilege and opportunities.

His Harare Polytech days became a distant past, themselves only a stepping stone to higher and greater times. He was made and destined for bigger, so it looked.  And when the party lost to Zanu-PF in the 2013 harmonised elections and some party members wanted to have a go at him for not having organised party structures enough to win the polls, party leader Tsvangirai firmly protected him.

The two seemed closer than ever.  When the ‘rebels" "stabbed" Tsvangirai in the back and left the party to form their own Renewal outfit, Chamisa stayed put perhaps reading even more opportunities for himself. Perhaps. Anything seemed possible for him and he stood firmly next to Tsvangirai.

But beneath the smooth rise and sleek manoeuvring a darkish side existed, which would show itself in glimpses and glances. Some two-sidedness of a somewhat double-crossing nature of colleagues earned him the nickname Cobra. "He is dangerous like a cobra snake and is two faced," many in the party would observe.

As the Biti and Tsvangirai factions started to emerge and teetered on the brink, before Biti finally coming out of the closet with the knife to stab Tsvangirai - in that period of a looming split Chamisa was said to meander between the two sides, giving the impression, at least for that while, that he was running with the hares and chasing with the hounds.

Coupled with that, was vaulting ambition, which lurked from within him and was, perhaps, the driving force behind him, spurring him on. Could he be a victim of his own ambition, this question would often cross people's minds. "You media people do not understand. You are missing the point," pointed out one seasoned party member, soon after the MDC Renewal outfit came into being.

"The real issue is not between Tsvangirai, Biti and Mangoma. The real thorn in the party has been the silent battle between Chamisa and Biti - this has been the heart of all of this. That young man is too ambitious." But at that time, given Chamisa's profuse and repeated denials that he was interested in the secretary general position, it was difficult to conclusively piece together that argument without reasonable doubt.

At the same time, still behind the scenes, rumours about Tsvangirai losing trust in Chamisa; and persistent accusations that the young man was manipulating the structures purging them of people who were not his, replacing them with his own, were rampant.  But of course when the questions were put to him he denied it.

Then finally when the time for nominations for MDC-T provincial congresses came forth, the young Chamisa unleashed his ambition to be the secretary general of the party. The structures nominated him and he was fast leading the pack, almost putting contender, party spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora, to shame.

And Mwonzora almost gave up the contest for the secretary general position, but later decided to stand even amidst naysayers thinking there was no hope for him and that he would lose to Chamisa. Even against all the negatives building up behind the scenes against him, Chamisa seemed poised to land the coveted, but controversial ridden, position in the party to be the next secretary general.

And he had jumped the gun, putting the cart before the horse. With the very earliest nominations he had posted on his Facebook account, thanking people for their support and pledging his allegiance to the party and party leader once in the "SG" position. Then Congress came.

And within a space of a day, the young man's hopes, dreams, ambition were dashed and thrown right in his face. And just like that, as he lost to Mwonzora, his name was annihilated from the party leadership structures.  The loss, with one swoop, reduced him to a card carrying member of the party.

What went wrong? Was it Tsvangirai's intervention at the Manicaland province conference where the party top man was accused of machinating for Mwonzora's nomination that did the trick to do Chamisa down? Was Chamisa a victim of his own ambition? Did he maybe put his eggs in one basket? Was he overly confident and obnoxiously boisterous? But he does have spades of support doesn't he? Likeable he is, still, isn't he?

"The majority of the MDC-T membership has not forgiven Chamisa for the 2013 election defeat which they blame on him," says political analyst Rashweat Mukundu. "The thinking is that Chamisa went into the 2013 elections focused more on his own ambition than the broad goal of the party winning, hence the many recriminations over party candidates with accusations that Chamisa was imposing his own people who would catapult him at the right time."

This sentiment, Mukundu asserts, has continued on. "While Morgan Tsvangirai may have had his differences with Chamisa, much of the anger was within the ordinary membership," he said.

Politician, Moreprecision Muzadzi, believes Chamisa had become a threat to Tsvangirai. "The meteoric rise of Chamisa threatened Tsvangirai - this is a case of another big man syndrome gone berserk," he said, adding, "The ouster of Chamisa by Tsvangirai is the last chance blown away for MDC to win national elections. Tsvangirai is multiplying enemies. He is now surrounded by nitwits and halfwit hyenas."

But make no mistake. The obituary of Chamisa's political life cannot and should not be written yet. Sure he has had a setback, by all accounts, but he can bounce back. He has youth on his side. "This (loss) notwithstanding, Chamisa now has a chance to reflect and re-launch his political career. He is young and such setbacks are lessons and experience and not the end," Mukundu says.

If he can keep wit and wisdom on his side and maturely deal with this setback he can very well launch back his political career.  What is key, however, is how he will deal this. How he manoeuvres here is crucial. Any missteps could either commit his career to the dustbin or he could graciously demonstrate political maturity and teach all others before him and around him how to lose with grace and graciously re-launch and wait for another opportunity.  After all, unlike all the other geriatrics littering the national political landscape, he does have youth on his side.