via Real work begins for revolutionary party by Lawson Mabhena News Editor
IF political rallies are anything to go by, then it was always clear that Zanu-PF would win the just ended harmonised elections. However, because huge turnouts at rallies can be misleading — MDC-T was given the benefit
of doubt. “They just want t-shirts and caps”, “they were forced” and “they were bused”. These are some of the famous lines that were used to dismiss a resounding Zanu-PF victory based on rally attendance.
And now that the revolutionary party has won by a landslide, many are beginning to curse the day they down-played the star rallies addressed by President Mugabe in all the country’s 10 provinces.
Many will now admit that Zanu-PF was always headed for victory. Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and his party had made a number of monumental blunders and the writing was on the wall.
While we were afraid to either admit or see it, The Gaurdian of the UK said so. So did the UK Telegraph, The New York Times of America, Freedom House and MDC-T-aligned pressure group, Zvakwana/Sokwanele.
Mr Tsvangirai and many others chose to ignore these surveys but now that the results have come, he is asking questions about their legitimacy. But that is not the issue.
The African Union and Sadc observer missions will tell you that these elections were free and fair.
The question Mr Tsvangirai should be asking is: “Where did we go wrong?”
MDC-T’s tenure in the Government of National Unity (GNU) is a case in point. Mr Tsvangirai and his fellow ministers got drunk in power, leaving the electorate with a good idea of what an MDC-T Cabinet would look like.
Instead of leaving their mark, they chose to sabotage all Government initiatives. Civil servants were poorly paid, service delivery was pathetic and industry collapsed.
On the flip side, MDC-T ministers became richer, driving around in the latest vehicles and growing bigger tummies. Not to be outdone, was Mr Tsvangirai himself, who soon after the death of his wife, Susan, went on a bedding spree that left a trail of broken hearts and a child without a birth certificate.
Mr Tsvangirai also hogged the limelight for all the wrong reasons for his penchant for the good life. Instead of ensuring that his corrupt councillors who dominated the country’s urban areas provided land for housing stands to the masses, he built himself a mansion that could easily attract the producers of SABC 3’s Top Billing and MTV’s Cribs.
His new wife, Elizabeth, also went on an international shopping spree that could have made American reality star Kim Kardashian green with envy. “As Zimbabwe prepares to choose a new president this year in long-awaited elections, voters are increasingly questioning the erstwhile opposition, the only serious challenger to the tight grip Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party, have held on this nation for decades,” the New York Times noted.
“. . . Meanwhile, officials in Tsvangirai’s party, many of whom suffered poverty while fighting to remake Zimbabwe, began enjoying the trappings of power. Government ministers, members of Parliament and other officials were awarded fancy cars and travel allowances. Tsvangirai traded his trade-unionist leather jacket for tailored suits.
Tsvangirai’s lifestyle has been the talk of a nation where millions live on $2 a day. He has taken to travelling abroad with a sizable entourage, officials and analysts say, honeymooning in London and spending holidays in Monaco. He recently moved into a government residence that cost about $3 million to build.”
While enjoying the sweet trappings of power, Mr Tsvangirai and his party lost track of time and were shocked when the life of the Seventh Parliament came to an end, signalling the need for harmonised elections.
So off-guard was MDC-T, that the party had no clear policy on how they would steer the country to better times once in power.
“The two (Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Tendai Biti) were not seen in public on the same platform as a team, except in the picture where they are reading the Zanu-PF manifesto with organising secretary Nelson Chamisa.
They all looked pensive and that image was a public relations disaster, the hallmark of a disorganised group, contrasted with Team Zanu-PF . . . Rather than explaining their manifesto to the people, they were relaxed, reading a Zanu-PF one,” the Zimbabwe Guardian observed, after MDC-T’s crushing defeat.
Lessons that should be learned by MDC-T from this election are also relevant to Zanu-PF. The people must not be taken for granted. They demand results.
Leaders who will get drunk with power will face the same fate as Mr Tsvangirai.
For Zanu-PF, the real work has only just began. The jobs that were promised must now become reality. Industry and agriculture must now be revived.
Empty promises will only result in shocking election results.
The clock is ticking. Five years is not that long, ask Mr Tsvangirai.
COMMENTS
Mr lawson mabhena’s analysis of mdc and tsvangirai is very shallow, amateurish and plagiarised. Its not original and i dont think mr mabhena is in zimbabwe. Starting with rallies, tsvangirai’s rallies were bigger than mugabe’s where people were forced to attend. Let me remind mabhena that those elections were rigged and all the negatives he said about tsvangirai and his party did not count. The bottom line is that the elections were rigged and mugabe cannot win in a free and fair election. Get that fact mr mabhena and please try to be original in your analysis next time
People like Mabhena are out of touch with reality like Mugabe. They are idealists who bank on media reports and come up with shoddy analysis to justify their standpoint.
Be pragmatic in order to appreciate the political dynamics in Zimbabwe Mabhena. If you do not like Tsvangirai as a person then your analysis is misplaced and holds no water at all. You sound like all what ZANU has done is heavenly and ZANU has never in anyway made errors in its atrocious undertakings in destroying the country. True MDC-T made mistakes we agree but to have a balanced analysis, you need to see the positive side of their political undertakings and engagement in Gvt.
What has ZANU done over the 33 years in power? Murdering!!, Corruption!!,militaraisation of state institutions, no accountability, compliance, transparency etc – Lack of governance sums it all. Shame on you brainwashed bootlickers.
I feel sorry the mdc and its followers. This was their chance but unfortunately it was stolen from them. It is however, people like mabhena who have shallow minds who should stop printing rubbish if they have nothing to say. The leadership of mdc may have made mistakes in engaging in government with zanu but they tried their best under the circumstances for one to give such analysis as mabhena’s is just uninformed. The issues alluded to newspapers from elsewhere whether it be US or Uk does not make the situation on the ground a lie. These countries have their on motives. But frankly zanu pf did not win this elction just like the previous ones.
Mabhena gave due credit to the sources of the material so for that he cannot be faulted.
It is a shame that even you are trying to mislead the readers with statistical inaccuracies. MDC T had some very good rallies in Marondera. Bulawayo, Gweru and Harare. The electoral outcome also confirms this.
The transparency during the campaign enabled us all to build our own picture which you, Mutakura, are trying to misrepresent.
Maybe you were not in the country that is why you think you can still hoodwink people with your ranting. get real. I am sure the huge rallies you refer to do not include provinces like Mashonaland Central where intended rallies turned out to be stop overs or were even cancelled because no meaningful meeting could be held as people did not turn up, or those rallies in Masvingo and Manicaland that turned nasty when candidates were being imposed. One was in my own home town of Rusape, so there is a limit beyond which you can lie to people. We all know the outcome of the seat.
MDC T went in with 29 parliamentary seats being contested by their stalwarts against their own party. Surely, that must have been fodder to ZANU PF. Indeed, almost all of those went to ZANUPF.
If you were in Zimbabwe you would have witnessed the mood then. When in one instance the PM reminded people that that the following he would come as president to ask them why they were rebuffing him during the campaign.
Zimbabweans have spoken. No amount of ranting will change the course of history.
I agree with Mabhena’s view very much.The trappings of power is number one enemy for mdc.luxury cars,homes you name it made people to make a very informed choices.its also true that they never wanted to leave govt because of the above benefits.The other thing is the party was hijacked by the rich against a background of it emerging from the wokers federation.people like Mangoma,lovemore moyo are some who joined the part years after it was formed.The MDc ignored grassroot leadership ;people who sacrificed a lot for the party,romping in mafikezolos like Eric Knight,Ezra,Makoni and many more.I for one wants change in the manner my country is governed.I don’t think Tsvangirai can push this agenda to its logical conclusion.I hope the coming weeks will see a brand new people centred political outfit taking over from these criminals that came to mdc to line their pockets.Vanhu cannot be fooled all the time.its high time we find an alternative political outfit that can push the people’s agenda first.I call upon the entire MDC top leadership to step down and give others a chance now.
Cowards how do you disrupt other people’s rally by booking for a football match in a booked venue, if you had a large following. No tolerance in ZPF, no human face kusanyara, kuda kungovhundutsira chete. Mache NIVUK irikuuya iri Key Witness, ichataura twese twakaitika.
Iwe unozvidhunyirwa mbanje dzinotori nani
Mr Mabhena forgot to constantly remind people that it is his opinion after every sentence
Thank you – a good reminder
In as much as l wud to agree with yu mutakura about the rigging, it is also true that the MDC-T’s commissariat got whisky drunk in the comfy of the short lived GNU. Whats yo comment on the battered MDC-T activists from 2000 to 2008, which MDC-T’s social welfare department did nothing. I lost a brother, who left behind four children all of school going age. I dont even remember a 2kg pack of sugar being given to the widow, who single handedly has struggled to raise the family. A friend lost an eye to these blood thirst hoodlums,what have they done. Instead of seizing the opportunity to close the gap with the little resources they could get they were selfish. Given such a perk of vultures, how different are they from ZANU PF? Can these be trusted with thesources
In as much as l wud to agree with yu mutakura about the rigging, it is also true that the MDC-T’s commissariat got whisky drunk in the comfy of the short lived GNU. Whats yo comment on the battered MDC-T activists from 2000 to 2008, which MDC-T’s social welfare department did nothing. I lost a brother, who left behind four children all of school going age. I dont even remember a 2kg pack of sugar being given to the widow, who single handedly has struggled to raise the family. A friend lost an eye to these blood thirst hoodlums,what have they done. Instead of seizing the opportunity to close the gap with the little resources they could get they were selfish. Given such a perk of vultures, how different are they from ZANU PF? Can these be trusted with the natural resources endowing ZIMBABWE. Ignoring the peope MDC-T had is a classic case of throwing the baby together with bath water. In his book the, The Art of War, Sun Tsui remarked, the water which takes the boat from one bank to the other is the same water wich sinks it. A general who makes few calculations is destined for defeat and that who makes many calculations will prevail. Politics is not an event, it is a subject of enquiry, a subject of outwitting the lame indisputably,calculating all the risk involved. Chinjai maitiro, maitiro enyu ayo chinjai kuti musazochema kuti chadya achembere chii, bere ramama imvi.
@Imvi Dzechembere,I know how painful it is to lose someone close in these circumatances. However u are singling out one particular issue which is more of an imotional factor. I dont dispute that, but I think we need to focus on that from a broader perspective. We need to appreciate the operational political environment, yes there were shortcomings but there were a lot of milestones achieved too. I stand to be corrected, but it was very clear in the MDC manifesto that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was to be set up to heal the nation. The social welfare arm in line with this was definately going to address your concerns.
Over and above that your concerns hold water, but hatisasi mbereko nekufirwa. Fight on for a democratic change and that change that will give you the freedom to articulate those issues. And I was personally pleased that a national register of all those who died in these violence of 2008 were drawn up and kept for a purpose. It gave me some hope and I still hope it’s an issue worth pursuing even today. Let the dust settle. This is my OPINION.
There is never a political institution without misgivings, and never is MDC as a political entity a saint.Imagine the Liberation Struggle, what it promised? Did we achieve that? If we did has the benefits been equitably shared? My brother was part of the last groups to be deployed to wage the last battles during the armed struggle. He fought for three + years and NEVER EVER GOT THE benefits of liberating this country.The fact that he was critical of some of the policies the leadership pursued, he became an enemy and had to leave the country as his life was in danger. He never benefited from the $50,000 dzakapihwa vanhu. He only got yavaiti”DEMOB” he left behind a wife and two sons, and who cared? No one. He died in one of our neighbouring countries and we burried him there. We had our fears and so we didn’t want to get ourselves involved, and so such is the system and its back and back for sure. But it doesn’t mean that they were as bad as they are today. No – rukonye rwakaramba rwuchipinda and here we are, nyika kumawere.
Whilst some of what Mabhena says is true, he conveniently leaves out certain important facts. All “democratic” movements made one serious and very costly and COMPLETELY STUPID error of judgement. They went into the election without seeing the final “version” of the voters role. ZANUPF were allowed to control the entire process.
To quote Stalin “it matters little who has the numbers to vote – what does matter is who counts the ballot”.
It’s time all Zimbabweans woke up to this reality
Mabhena stupt idiot mdwa if u have nothing to write why u couldn’t kep quite. who send u to wrote o this nosence to hell with ur sender. Wht rallies are u tolkind abt forcing people to attend rallies is tht a good aproach or campgn to th people.
you DUZVI MABHENA..WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING MABHENA…WE WERE TOUGHT THAT NEVER ATTACK THE PERSON BUT YOU SHOULD ALWAYS ATTACK HIS/HER ARGUMENT..IT DOESE NOT REALY MATTER KUTI ZANUPF HAD LARGER RALLIES OR MDC HAD LARGE RALLIES THE MATTER OF THE THE IS THE MOTIVE OF PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED THE RALLIES.SOME ATTENDED THE ZANU PF BECAUSE OF FEAR FACTOR.SOME ATTENDED BECAUSE THEY ONLY WANTED TSHIRT AND A CAP.SOME DECIDED TO ATTEND THE URBAN RALLIES BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO ENJOY TRAVELLING ON MAHARA BUSES TO TOWN…THE SAME APPLIES WITH MDC RALLIES……..FOR A START WHO HAD THIS RESPONCIBILITY OF COUNTING PEOPLE AT RALLIES..SO HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT THE MDC RALLY WAS BIGGER THAN THE ZANU PF.BE MATURE…..TWO PEOPLE CAN ONLY COMPARE THE HIGHT OF THE THIRD PERSON BASED ON THEIR OWN HEIGHTS. I LOVE YOU ALL MY FELLOW ZIMBABWEAS ..GOD BLESS.
Morgan continues to build luxury homes one after the other with donnor money .They have a dossier of polical violence victims that they use to source money with.instead of helping these victims rebuild their lives they divert them to their own selfish use.This is the reason why Noone is prepared to stand up against a stolen election.Noone wil want to die for someone to live large.Noone will want to die for someone to be in a political office.I for one would lead protest for my kids and family.MDC is dead and burried nekuti hakuna munhu achada kufira matumbu avo.We saw this when they joine the govt.For 4 years they never botherd to back to the people.people were watching you every step of the way.With a rigged or fair election ,its life as ussual.
I am sure we do not have to articulate the mismangement of the ZPF government for the past 33 years, it is apparent to all. Maybe that is the reason why the author decides only to look at the MDC shortcomings. The land issue has only been adressed through the instigation of the MDC driven new constitution. ZPF had 23 years to come up with a “people driven” constitution only to begin after 10 years (in 2000) once there was an alliance between the “MDC” and white farmers. During the constitution making process suddenly ZPF wanted a to spearhead a “people’s constitution when they had 20 years (after 1990) to do the right thing.