via Alliance to topple Zanu PF on the cards – The Zimbabwe Independent May 2, 2014 by Wongai Zhangazha
CHURCHES, political parties, civil society and other stakeholders are organising an all-stakeholders’ convention in May which is touted as a precursor to a grand coalition of opposition parties, although it may signify a looming split in the beleaguered MDC-T.
The coalition that organisers say would be similar to the national working people’s convention of February 1999, which gave birth to the MDC, is set for Gweru at a provisional date of May 25, although it could be held in June.
While various opposition political parties are planning this event, sources close to the developments say church leaders led by former Anglican Bishop Sebastian Bakare were the conveners of the convention, which may see the establishment of a new political party.
Various parties and political leaders, among them the MDC-T renewal team, Welshman Ncube’s MDC, Dumiso Dabengwa’s Zapu, Simba Makoni’s Mavambo and Lovemore Madhuku’s National Constitutional Assembly are likely to take part in the convention which will also include students, trade unions and individuals.
The MDC-T and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai will also be invited
The objective of the convention is to come up with an alliance strong enough to topple Zanu PF in the 2018 elections.
Sources said one of the critical issues that will be discussed at the meeting would be the form in which the alliance of the political parties and civil society will take.
“We will discuss whether to adopt a South African model where the African National Congress (ANC) and the South Africa Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) contest elections as one but still maintain their organisational autonomy, or the National Rainbow Coalition that defeated President Daniel arap Moi of Kenya in 2002 where parties dissolved themselves into one political formation,” said a senior MDC-T official who preferred anonymity.
It was however not clear whether Tsvangirai will attend the convention although there are indications that some political parties and players wanted him present while others wanted him out of the coalition.
Those who want Tsvangirai at the convention argue he is still a force which cannot be ignored considering he got more than a million votes in 2008 and in the 2013 general elections.
MDC spokesman Nhlanhla Dube confirmed work towards the convention was in progress but said discussions around a coalition were still at an informal stage.
The spokesperson of the MDC-T renewal team Jacob Mafume confirmed the convention would be held either at the end of May or at the beginning of June.
COMMENTS
The UK, EU, US, MDC alliance failed and so will this one.
An alliance of local mal-contents will never be supported by responsible citizens just malcontents and propaganda journalists.
@APO Freedom of speech and jounalists telling the truth about zanupf and mugabe getting to you apo???.Don’t like hearing the reality in your little communist elite!!!!Painful for all thugs alike.
This where we have a problem with opposition politics in Zimbabwe. It has become a cut a paste issue and NO originality at all. Examples are in the way the NCA was formed on the format of the Kenyan rainbow alliance; the so called UDF – that is copy cat of the South African model of UDM etc. Now we hear of this convention destined for Gweru itself a copy cat of the 1999 Working People’s Convention. But all these utterances expose the one singular attribute – a failure of originality and above all an uncouthness that certainly ends in disaster and failure. Let alone that it demonstrates the insincerity of those at the head of it. Their motivation is simply to get to power. This drunkenness with power of the actors in the movement is its greatest undoing.
Is it not clear that by the time the NCA was formed the likes of Eddison Zvobgo, the current judge Ben Hlathwayo, Tapiwa Mashakada and many others were in the midst of the organisation just waiting to ensure that its political agenda is still born. If the MDC had been formed on that formula it would have gone no where. The problems we see now in the MDC T would have started long back then and thwarted any progress of the movement. The final push of the MDC of of June 2003 was defeated in a similar manner because it was repeat of the successful March protest of the same year. The 2008 victory of the MDC T was utilised to simulate a response that was delivered in July 2013 and so on.
Instead the innovation of the MDC at its formation was in moving away from the anticipated and hide behind the labour movement and that way prevented being preempted. The convention simply a de coy. The innovation of the MDC T in 2008 lay elsewhere as well and not in the convention that preceded the elections. I could go on.
Authoritarian systems spend state resources on generalising experiences from elsewhere and as sure as the sun rises from the east they will be ready to pounce and deliver a fatal blow. Rest assured that unless there is originality the authoritarian system will be ready to deal a fatal blow. Remember also that the rural areas this year have had a good harvest and so on. People need to be strategic.
Honestly I am disillusioned by the displayed lack of originality and creativity. This knack for copy cat by those in the opposition is confounding to say the least. The politics of throw a stone and die belongs to the past. The movement must take the initiative at first attempt or a fatal disaster awaits it.
mandy
Stop critisizing. Put forward a solution, or suggestions on the best way forward. we all know that criticising is the easiest thing to do. but what is it that you, yourself is doing to solve the problem?
Mandy is be a son /daughter of a haunted 5th brigade muderer,will want to defend the zanu pf thugs at all cost .You like it or not you and your zanu will be history one day ,for now enjoy your stay in power but definately it is comming to an end.
Oooh Mandy – feeling threatened?
Mandy I will say you have spoken. Those that have ears..hear ..eyes ..see. What will the current crop of people that have been stabbing their COMRADES in the back suddenly do now? Who will be the leader of this group? Ndumiso, whom I respect, confessed that NEW DAWN was set up to stop MDC from winning the elections. How do we know that this group of snakes, scorpions and creepy crawlies have all of a sudden become BUTTERFLIES?
Thugs and thieves will always want tyo stop any positive move . this gorping of oposition parties is the best thing ever to happen in zim definately this the way to disloge the zanu pf thugs from power enough is enough . Plz a word of advise – zanu has already sent its people to also be part of the grouping let us be wise and the power behind our unity will roll over them
This is at least the beginning of a process. The one thing which should not happen is to focus too much on individual positions.
I agree with u Z. This is a break through. Let us back this group. We need an alternative to Mdc, which we credit so far, but as we see, zpf could be behind the split.
If the Police start beating them up..If they get arrested and questioned like WOZA. If they are denied meetings by the Police (maybe)..If they smoothly get on with their meeting without disturbance..A RAT WILL BE SMELLING.A LOT OF IFS…
There are many members of the public that are tired of current mal-contents bringing our economy to its knees – In the public interest the police should deny anti government/ terrorist meetings – if you are against government like it or not you are against the country. Terrorists will think of all kinds of reasons to justify their terrorism but you cant.
This is not political as the elections are a long way away-its about terrorism/regime change, don’t be fooled.
Churches that involve themselves in politics should be banned , it is strictly frowned upon by most large churches and in most civilized countries.
“if you are against government like it or not you are against the country”
You can be against government by one particular political party, and work towards an election victory for a different party, without in any way being against the country.
@Don Cox When you use adverse publicity and threaten to depose a government it is different and even the propaganda you dish out of excuses doesn’t make it right.
If you start doing things in a run to an election its a lot different to saying you wish to unseat the government now. Of couse those who believe terrorism is the answer will continue to try and give spurious reason for it being ok.
Its pretty obvious Apolitical does not know what Democracy is all about.
The only problem with an alliance of this sort is that this is an alliance of former Zanu pf(you had to have liked their policies if you were former) Former Zapu(you were forced to join with them for obvious reasons)Former UANC (you’ve jumped ship at one time or the other)Former Rhodesian front(you want your land back at any cost) Former MDC ( you think you are being led by a tea boy.After all you are a Lawyer) Chaos…Morgan is not perfect..Educated? Yes in being beaten up for the rights of the masses. Educated? yes in beating Zanu in the elections.Educated? yes in destabilizing the worst ever dictatorship in Zimbabwe’s history. Biti just jumped on the bus now he wants to drive the Bus. Will Simba except him as the leader? Will Ndumiso be satisfied? Will Maduku keep his mouth shut? We wait and see.
All I can say is that an alliance of failures is doomed to failure.
@ jack
They didn’t fail in 2002, or 2008 – you know when the elections were stolen from them. Oh and 2013.
We all know where the problem is . So it’s time to unite and face it
The leaders all need to undergo psychotherapy to inculcate a greater spirit of cooperation by putting egos aside and think nation first. Already some are saying Tsvangirayi must not be part of it yet, whatever their reasons, that will alienate a good number of opposition numbers that are his diehards.
I also believe whatever the strategy the alliance will employ the final nail must be driven in by the masses – whether by mass action, civil disobedience or election defeat of ZANU. So I ask, do all these formations bring people in or will some scare people away. I’m personally uneasy with Dabengwa, he presided over the tortures (even said to have participated in some) of opposition activists.
Methinks mdct is actually getting stronger by the shedding off of the backstabers. Bar the negative comments being made notably by the same few sponsored individuals about its leader the most important component (the people) is still behind it. So the so-called convension to unify the opposition will be just a diversion which will not succeed because of the egos of the fundies (i.e. Lawyers, profs etc) competing to show off the importance and better standing of their different fields to one another.
Small minds in a very small country. It just needs a board of management, forget ruling anything. Pfizer just tried to buy Astra-Zeneca for $100 billion; Facebook paid $19 billion for Whatsapp. We have a country that is playing around with absolute peanuts on the global stage. Yet, there is posturing for power. Power over what??
Get real and get humble. Zimbabwe is a beautiful entity, a wonderful part of the world. Other than that, it has no standing and can be bought with the petty cash box on the desk of any CEO in the world.
Take a long, hard look, comrades. You are but small men getting smaller. No-one takes you seriously when you cannot manage a budget smaller than that of Durban or Bloemfontein. Those councils and their mayors are bigger players than any of you.
well said AGOG !!
AG, you are spot, Zimbabwe just needs proficient management and good governance, everything is over politicized. We now need proper technocrats to run the show
Poor decision making from the top has been made and I will give one significant example, ESSAR Steel.
Up to now the operation has not taken off 5 years down the line since the deal was sealed. The deal should have gone MITTAL Steels way, the world’s biggest steel player. They had promised to revamp our entire railway and electricity infrastructure, but want does the Zimbabwean CEO give his reason for rejecting MITTAL , “they are too big, they will dictate to us”
Hutu u have hit the nail on the head. It is not a secret that DAWN was formed to stop the MDC T from cruising to victory in 2008. In other words DAWN had and has the same objective as Zanupf of ensuring that political power remains in a status quo – Zanupf. Dumiso Dabengwa himself confessed to this in an interview. Now we hear Jacob Mafume and Ibbo Mandaza repeating the same message at different venues though. Which means they are only coming to the convention for the purpose of stopping the Tsvangirai and not with the objective of dislodging Zanu pf. This a dangerous development for all Zimbabweans as it blunts your aspirations. What can Welshman bring to the table other than the Machiavelli approaches of staying afloat? What can Tendai Biti and Elton Mangoma bring to the table other than the millions of dollars that they set aside for the ouster of Tsvangirai, I ask you? What can the Zimbabwe institute bring to the table other than the same manipulative agenda that they employed at Jomic?
But as the saying goes vanyangira yaona. The strategy of 1999 should be repeated and this convention should be a damp squib, a classic decoy.
It is a great pleasure that tswangirai did not become president, he is a typical dictator,tribalistic, thoughtless ,womanizer the list is endless.Why should we be stuck to an individual tswangirai or any up coming leader must be of replaceable nature What zimbabweans want is a just fair leader , not to stuck to an individual worse still of tswangirai`s nature.
The grand coalition can only be a threat to Zanupf and anyone who believes that the people have to look at him/only. This is the time to have fresh ideas. Let all those who are crying and praying for develomental change in our country rally behind this new approach. Simple logic will tell you that if the MDCs were united even during the last elections Zanupf would not get the two thirds majority. They wouldnot pass any law inparliament without the cooperation of the other party. A well organised grand coalition can start working now for 2018. Yes this is the time to work towards it!!!!
Good say,
Shall we remind people of all the MDC failures again? how they gave Zanu the life line.
Good idea the Grand Coalition and avery one must come in as an ordinary member including Tsvangirai and Ncube.
Who is then the perfect candidate to lead the group? In numbers chances are, there can be an impact, enough to shack the very foundation of Zanu Mugabe.
for now, any alliance that excludes tsvangison will fail, while currently tsvangison has much more on his platter than focus on the so called coalition. thus, runner can prepare the ground work while waiting for tsvangirai to deal with his biti n mangoma prodigal boys
and which side will the Roman Catholic Church take – presume it will back RGM and Zanu PF ?
this will benefit zpf stop it guys
This is none other than a grand coalition to sideline Tsvangirai from the political landscape. The rebels are scheming and unfortunately the wheels are in motion again in Zanu PFs favour.
Well done Itayi for summarizing this ill conceived convention. Instead of rallying behind the MDC-T: a tried and formidable party, some defectors think that they can topple Tsvangirai through a convention in order to subvert its victory in 2018 elections.
I am not a die hard Tsvangirai supporter but I think the manner in which they stabbed him on the back is wrong. Why should the rebels be part of the Zanu-PF project. If some politicians are given praise and large coverage in state owned media, you should know that something is wrong.
Yes its a tried and failed party. Sold us out to Zanu .
The evidence is there for all to see.
why will we think any one who has a different thought is a defector and not worth to be listeterned . pls let us be tolerent. tswangirai was a zanu pf card holder when him and his party zanu pf killed the inocent Ndebeles.The point he defected from zanu pf also ,thank God he has been failing and will continue to fail to lead zimbabwe.
Haiwawo apa tibvireipo apo. Tokuzivai muri kutumwa neZanu PF kuti maVotes aTsvangirai asasvike pakuhwina muna2018. And vanhu wacho wari kusangana ikoko wanodziya msoro chete woga woga.
you and your all shonas created this zanu thing now you have to deal with it.Just because Zapu was led by a Ndebele all shonas never believed that zanu pf is full of muderers people who will kill innocent individual just because they did not share the same idea.PLZ Bantu let us open our eyse amashona lawo ase hlupheka like anyone else so sebe funa sibancedise ukukhipha umbulali owenziwa yibo.Tswangirai was a zanu pf card holder ngesikhathi se gukurahundi, So to say zanu pf is a monster party now is just a bitter taste of sour grape .To us the ndebeles vele i zanu pf was and will remain bad news since 1980 .
Kitsi yatota u’re right. Mahumbwe aya
The stupit foools those that think they are educated want to topple our leader morgan through the supposed convention and this is not to be allowed mdc t should not be part to these shenenigans
I we roving ambassador take off brinkers and face the reality Hate him or love him Tsvagirai remains the icon in Zim we know all byproducts of Zanu projects Ncube Dumi Majority zimbos knows If that Alliance exclude Tsvangirai then it we will be nothing
At the end of the day we talk debate and argue. This is good. At the end of the day some say MDC failed. At the end of the day if the coalition wins the elections to come and Mugabe stays in his bedroom for a few days, Chinnamsa throws his toys out of the pram, the corrupt police force does what it does propping UP, this will continue to continue. The snakes will start biting. The creepy ones will crawl. The thieves will steal.We will continue to argue. The roads will get more potholes. The water will be dirtier. The land invaders will fail to farm. ALL BECAUSE OF THE SNAKES AND THE CREEPY ONES.
Grand coalition to gang against ZANU PF? Why did the so called prospective political parties form parties if they knew they are not strong enough to stand against ZPF? Political weaklings must not tango with the champion. Church leaders must concentrate on spreading the word of God. Leave politics to politicians. Stick to the pulpit.
Simba makoni anoita
The Grand Coalition should include Civil Society the Minority, Groups, Mixed Race, Caucasians and other Minority groups etc. noe one should be left out the trouble is they leave out the Caucasians Murungu and the Mixed Race people – Makaradi!
In a CIVILIZED COUNTRY no one should be ARRESTED OR BEATEN UP. The Biggest problem being faced is from these idiot Buffoons who are running the show they want to call the shots all the time.
I think that this convention might prove a challenge for both Zanu and MDC so they should create it. If they plan it right and target the youth in schools right now then by 2018 they will before a formation to contend with that can set terms of dialogue with the current heavy weights, what they need is a leader that no one can throw mud at, because it is my strong belief that MDC lost the elections because Tsvangirai could not keep on his pants and manage his cabinet into proper working order.
One should also bear in mind the Makaradi from Matebeleland and the Roftopolouses and Culverwells do not see eye to eye because the latter alwyas think they are more superior than the other Makaradi so one would need from both regions!! just get everyone from a broad spectrum and do not get more la bambazonke land!!
As long as zanu pf handles elections,just forget it, mdc had never lost an election, the problem is not toppling mugabe at the polls, wats key is getting elections run fair and freely and the winners taking over the reigns, thts all
Why should a leader always only come from a certain region??
All what is needed in Zim is a free and fair election full stop. Without that then everybody is heading for a stonewall.