Opinion / Columnist
Tsvangirai just woke up from poverty-induced hibernation
13 Jan 2015 at 11:44hrs | Views
Running the risk of being labelled cynical, one would suspect that Tsvangirai's idea of a "new roadmap" is one that sees him once again occupying some high Government office enjoying the accompanying luxuries, as was the case with the inclusive Government.
MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai held a Press conference last week ostensibly meant to outline the party's agenda for 2015, but he unfortunately turned it into a platform to attack the country's Vice Presidents, proffer stolen ideas and wail about developments we all know are irreversible.
From Tsvangirai's rantings, it would appear as if he just woke up from poverty-induced hibernation and latched onto the first thing he saw on television, the appointment of the two Vice Presidents, which is now stale news, anyway.
Could it be that Tsvangirai has no clue on how to carry his party forward in 2015 and so chose instead to attack the First Lady and two Vice Presidents?
From the resultant stories in the media concerning the Press conference, it would appear as if many journalists left the venue without an inkling as to what the MDC-T's 2015 vision was supposed to be, hence the headlines screaming that Tsvangirai attacked the two Vice Presidents.
In all honesty, the five "goals" presented were a regurgitation of what the MDC-T has been preaching for the past 15 years and resultantly, a big yawn.
Little wonder then no ink was wasted on them by the media.
A pointer to his publicists, that really was a waste of a good Press opportunity, any student of PR would know that.
Tsvangirai should have taken the opportunity to woo the Press with fresh Canaan-like promises for Zimbabweans for this year, never mind that half of them would not be fulfilled.
Instead, it was the same tired rhetoric about how the "big bad zanu-pf" had allegedly ruined the country.
Cdes Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko are the country's two Vice Presidents, Tsvangirai needs to accept that and provide us with his own viable alternative solutions to the country's problems instead of telling us that the sky is blue.
According to Tsvangirai, the two VPs' major crime is that they are "hardliners".
One wonders what is wrong with a person sticking to his position and ideological beliefs in good times or bad. That is what leaders do.
They do not sway with the breeze as Tsvangirai is fond of doing.
All was well with Tsvangirai's soul when he was the country's prime minister.
He only relaunched crying when his coffers ran dry and the privileged position he had enjoyed was history.
Such hypocrisy and malleability has no place in our politics and does not inspire confidence in the electorate.
Tsvangirai claimed that the two VPs, because they were appointed by the President, have no mandate from the people.
This from a man who also appoints members to executive positions in his party!
Does it mean that appointing people to executive positions should be the privilege of opposition parties? Tsvangirai's reasoning is difficult to follow.
The increasingly hallucination-prone opposition leader also faulted VP Mnangagwa for being a former Security Minister and VP Phelekezela Mphoko for being a former employee of the security sector yet no one has ever faulted Tsvangirai for being a former teaboy.
Truth be told, Tsvangirai is just jealous of the two gentlemen, otherwise why would he pretend to feel pity for the "trapped" VPs.
Have they confided in him that they find their posts too heavy for them and need any rescuing?
At the same Press conference, Tsvangirai announced that the MDC-T would be holding a national convergence conference that supposedly seeks to address the economic crisis that is bedevilling the country.
Running the risk of being labelled cynical, one would suspect that Tsvangirai's idea of a "new roadmap" is one that sees him once again occupying some high Government office enjoying the accompanying luxuries, as was the case with the inclusive Government.
It really came as no surprise to later read in the Press that Tsvangirai actually stole the idea of a national convergence conference.
According to his pals, Bishop Sebastian Bakare and Dr Ibbo Mandaza, Tsvangirai stole the idea from a concept paper written by conveners of the National Convergence Platform (NCP) in November 2014.
When a leader is so intellectually challenged that he resorts to stealing other people's ideas and shamelessly touting them as his own, then it is time to stop following that leader.
What Tsvangirai did shows the extent of his intellectual poverty.
Tapiwa Mashakada's feeble attempts at firefighting, claiming that Tsvangirai had been quoted out of context are far from convincing.
Mashakada claimed that Tsvangirai had only "referred" to the idea of a convergence and did not say it was an MDC-T initiative. What blatant lies!
Tsvangirai specifically said, "in line with our congress roadmap, we in the MDC are going to initiate the convening of the National Convergence Conference... we shall be calling political parties, civic groups, the church, war veterans and other independent groups and individuals to come ... as we have said before, we reserve the right to mobilise the people of Zimbabwe around the national grievances agreed under the convergence conference ... there will also be an attendant global campaign ... "
The occasion being an MDC-T Press conference, the "we" in Tsvangirai's statement logically refers to the MDC-T.
So really, it is facetious for Mashakada to claim otherwise.
Even one of his most fervent supporters, Dr Ibbo Mandaza, appeared at a loss to defend him, choosing to claim bizarrely that the concept could have been "leaked" to Tsvangirai by forces seeking to derail it.
Coming against the backdrop of a proposed grand coalition by the Renewal Team, one may suspect Tsvangirai's desperate move was driven by the childish yet brutal competition amongst opposition forces for the susceptible foreign donors' purse.
Given the dire straits of his party's finances, who can blame him, really?
Desperate times call for desperate measures, don't they?
Yet it is no one's fault but his own that Tsvangirai squandered the chance to prove himself during the inclusive Government era, choosing instead to dedicate his time to pleasures of the flesh.
One thing that is showing through all this is the fact that Tsvangirai is now irrelevant, and if last week's performance was supposed to announce Tsvangirai's entry into political 2015, it simply did not live up to expectations.
That is why everyone has already forgotten about the non-event.
MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai held a Press conference last week ostensibly meant to outline the party's agenda for 2015, but he unfortunately turned it into a platform to attack the country's Vice Presidents, proffer stolen ideas and wail about developments we all know are irreversible.
From Tsvangirai's rantings, it would appear as if he just woke up from poverty-induced hibernation and latched onto the first thing he saw on television, the appointment of the two Vice Presidents, which is now stale news, anyway.
Could it be that Tsvangirai has no clue on how to carry his party forward in 2015 and so chose instead to attack the First Lady and two Vice Presidents?
From the resultant stories in the media concerning the Press conference, it would appear as if many journalists left the venue without an inkling as to what the MDC-T's 2015 vision was supposed to be, hence the headlines screaming that Tsvangirai attacked the two Vice Presidents.
In all honesty, the five "goals" presented were a regurgitation of what the MDC-T has been preaching for the past 15 years and resultantly, a big yawn.
Little wonder then no ink was wasted on them by the media.
A pointer to his publicists, that really was a waste of a good Press opportunity, any student of PR would know that.
Tsvangirai should have taken the opportunity to woo the Press with fresh Canaan-like promises for Zimbabweans for this year, never mind that half of them would not be fulfilled.
Instead, it was the same tired rhetoric about how the "big bad zanu-pf" had allegedly ruined the country.
Cdes Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko are the country's two Vice Presidents, Tsvangirai needs to accept that and provide us with his own viable alternative solutions to the country's problems instead of telling us that the sky is blue.
According to Tsvangirai, the two VPs' major crime is that they are "hardliners".
One wonders what is wrong with a person sticking to his position and ideological beliefs in good times or bad. That is what leaders do.
They do not sway with the breeze as Tsvangirai is fond of doing.
All was well with Tsvangirai's soul when he was the country's prime minister.
He only relaunched crying when his coffers ran dry and the privileged position he had enjoyed was history.
Such hypocrisy and malleability has no place in our politics and does not inspire confidence in the electorate.
Tsvangirai claimed that the two VPs, because they were appointed by the President, have no mandate from the people.
This from a man who also appoints members to executive positions in his party!
Does it mean that appointing people to executive positions should be the privilege of opposition parties? Tsvangirai's reasoning is difficult to follow.
Truth be told, Tsvangirai is just jealous of the two gentlemen, otherwise why would he pretend to feel pity for the "trapped" VPs.
Have they confided in him that they find their posts too heavy for them and need any rescuing?
At the same Press conference, Tsvangirai announced that the MDC-T would be holding a national convergence conference that supposedly seeks to address the economic crisis that is bedevilling the country.
Running the risk of being labelled cynical, one would suspect that Tsvangirai's idea of a "new roadmap" is one that sees him once again occupying some high Government office enjoying the accompanying luxuries, as was the case with the inclusive Government.
It really came as no surprise to later read in the Press that Tsvangirai actually stole the idea of a national convergence conference.
According to his pals, Bishop Sebastian Bakare and Dr Ibbo Mandaza, Tsvangirai stole the idea from a concept paper written by conveners of the National Convergence Platform (NCP) in November 2014.
When a leader is so intellectually challenged that he resorts to stealing other people's ideas and shamelessly touting them as his own, then it is time to stop following that leader.
What Tsvangirai did shows the extent of his intellectual poverty.
Tapiwa Mashakada's feeble attempts at firefighting, claiming that Tsvangirai had been quoted out of context are far from convincing.
Mashakada claimed that Tsvangirai had only "referred" to the idea of a convergence and did not say it was an MDC-T initiative. What blatant lies!
Tsvangirai specifically said, "in line with our congress roadmap, we in the MDC are going to initiate the convening of the National Convergence Conference... we shall be calling political parties, civic groups, the church, war veterans and other independent groups and individuals to come ... as we have said before, we reserve the right to mobilise the people of Zimbabwe around the national grievances agreed under the convergence conference ... there will also be an attendant global campaign ... "
The occasion being an MDC-T Press conference, the "we" in Tsvangirai's statement logically refers to the MDC-T.
So really, it is facetious for Mashakada to claim otherwise.
Even one of his most fervent supporters, Dr Ibbo Mandaza, appeared at a loss to defend him, choosing to claim bizarrely that the concept could have been "leaked" to Tsvangirai by forces seeking to derail it.
Coming against the backdrop of a proposed grand coalition by the Renewal Team, one may suspect Tsvangirai's desperate move was driven by the childish yet brutal competition amongst opposition forces for the susceptible foreign donors' purse.
Given the dire straits of his party's finances, who can blame him, really?
Desperate times call for desperate measures, don't they?
Yet it is no one's fault but his own that Tsvangirai squandered the chance to prove himself during the inclusive Government era, choosing instead to dedicate his time to pleasures of the flesh.
One thing that is showing through all this is the fact that Tsvangirai is now irrelevant, and if last week's performance was supposed to announce Tsvangirai's entry into political 2015, it simply did not live up to expectations.
That is why everyone has already forgotten about the non-event.
Source - The Herald
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