Tsvangirai appointments are a modus vivendi for factional belligerants

African culture dictates that we congratulate one another in the event of anything positive, i therefore congratulate Hon Advocate Nelson Chamisa and Hon Engineer Elias Mudzuri in their appointments as MDC-T Vice Presidents. The appointments  have brewed a shocker and pundits are still groping for a sound rationale  behind the appointments.

The appointments came into being as resolutions by the MDC-T highest decision making body. Many people tend to fail to draw a line of distinction between Tsvangirai personal decisions and powers accorded to him by the MDC-T constitution and the decisions of the MDC-T National Executive Council. It is therefore wrong and grossly misleading to say Tsvangirai handipicked Mudzuri and Chamisa to be the VPs. The move with its merits and demerits is a product of collective decision making and not unilateralism.

The move should not be likened in any way with Robert Mugabe's hand picking of the VPs. Vice President Emmerson Mnagagwa and Mphoko were appointed without the blessing of neither the masses nor the ZANU-PF highest decision making body, the politburo. President Mugabe's appointment of VPs brought more harm than good since it came into being after a malicious defenerestration of Joice Mujuru and her allies. For Mugabe felt that Mujuru had to be decimated since she was posing a threat to the throne.

By plucking the feathers of a problem instead of adopting a holistic approach Mugabe failed to navigate the turbulent times of politics. He opted for a micro solution to a macro crisis and no wonder why the succession imbroglio is still a thorn in the flessh within the party.

It is an undeniable fact that  Hon Advocate Nelson Chamisa and Engineer Elias Mudzuri are   five Star politicians and their technocratic flare cannot be doubted. They are men of immense capabilities and their contributions to the well being of the party can not be overlooked.

I am under no illusions to the good intentions of the party leadership in making this bold move. The question is will the intentions be realised. Will the intentions be understood by the electorate? Of coarse the appoinment can be a modus vivendi for factional belligerants within the party but will it yield the intended results? It is important to note that these two did not make it at the Congress. Chamisa lost to Mwonzora although  both were co-opted into the  MDC-T Standing Committee.  It is therefore schismatic for the MDC National Council to catapult to the Presidium people who lost at the Congress. It negates the whole purpose of a Congress.

It is poignant to note that this same National Executive Council  blocked Job Sikhala from contesting as the Deputy Organising Secretary notwithstanding the fact that he had the blessing of the provinces. Several provinces had nominated him to contest but the National Council blocked him insisting that he wasn't legible to contest. The reason why  the National Council chose not to stick to the rules and regulations in this case boggles my mind. The impression is that we now have an Orwellian  nightmare in MDC-T where some animals are more equal than others.  

I personally think the MDC-T should have waited for the Congress to chose another Vice-President. The will of the people  has to take precedent within the MDC-T party in as much as the President can exercise his discretionary powers as encapusulated in the MDC-T Constitution. It will be sheer waste of time and resources to hold  a Congress and the proceed to go against Congress results. I think it honestly defies logic.

The MDC-T Congress elected Thokozani Khupe to be the Vice  President  and honestly  it's infair to bring other people on board to take the responsibility she was mandated by the people at the Congress. Therefore the MDC-T should not bend rules to satisfy the wild ambitions of certain individuals.

For all intents and purpose it sounds like a case of constructive dismissal. It's more like constructive dismissal on the part of Khupe and again concretises the ''phallocratic'' nature of our politics. Constructive dismissal normally take place when an employer  or superior creates a hostile work environment  and makes life extremely difficult for an employee or surbodinate in a bid to have the employee resign, rather than outright firing . It can be  fundamental violation of the rights of an employee, by the employer, so severe that the employee would have the right to consider himself or herslf as dismissed, even though, in fact, there has been no act of dismissal on the part of the employer.

How will the MDC-T blast ZANU PF for its  (ZANU PF) utter disregard of the will of the people when it is following the same path. ZANU PF has a history of political patronage which entails bringing on board via the back door people who would have  lost in the ballot. How will the MDC-T campaign against a bloated government.What about issues of gender and regional balance.

I have a premonition that the MDC-T has donated ammunition to ZANU-PF and the party risks political autolysis(internally induced destruction). However Comrades from the Herald, Chronicle and Sunday Mail should not cry more than the bereaved. The MDC-T doesn't use the taxpayers money like ZANUPF with its bloated government.

Wilton Nyasha  Machimbira, a Political Scientist. For feedback and comments can be contacted on wiltonnyash@gmail.com