via allAfrica.com: Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai to Battle Mugabe Without Former Comrades 2 October 2014 by Ray Ndlovu
MOVEMENT for Democratic Change (MDC-T) president Morgan Tsvangirai will confront ZANU-PF and its presidential candidate without the majority of allies with whom he founded the party in 1999. Most of these have either died or deserted the former trade union leader over sharp differences on policy and strategy, forming break-away formations that are now competing for power alongside his formation.
Tsvangirai will this month head to the party’s elective congress as a shoo-in for re-election after the party crushed dissent over his continued grip on party leadership by suspending deputy treasurer-general, Elton Mangoma, who later formed a break-away party together with secretary general, Tendai Biti, alongside several senior and founding party members.
Biti and Mangoma’s MDC has been christened MDC Renewal Team. It joins an MDC formation led by former secretary-general Welshman Ncube who split from Tsvangirai’s MDC-T alongside a long-time Tsvangirai ally from the trade union, Gibson Sibanda, who, however, died a few years ago.
While Tsvangirai is more likely to face his long-time foe, President Robert Mugabe, in the 2018 national elections, concern is mounting that he is unlikely to present a formidable opposition to ZANU-PF and its candidate especially given that he has now surrounded himself with a new breed of untested political leaders.
Some of those who have deserted Tsvangirai include Roy Bennett, Sekai Holland, Samuel Sipepa Nkomo and Grace Kwinjeh, among many others. Political commentator, Vivid Gwede, said the desertion of key allies, some of whom played the role of elders in the party, was likely to undermine Tsvangirai’s chances in national elections and besmirch his brand, which had already been tarnished by allegations of philandering.
“The rebellion of founding leaders is an indication that some of the leaders who have been present, felt they have not had his best ear on some critical issues. The indictment is just perhaps on the kind of advisers he chooses, interests and the criteria he uses,” said Gwede. Most recently, Holland, a former elder in the MDC-T, took up the interim presidency of the MDC Renewal Team after expressing dissatisfaction over Tsvangirai’s leadership.
Holland said about her defection from Tsvangirai’s party: “It is clear that the MDC-Tsvangirai has become the personal property of one individual. It is time to reject that and return to our founding principles… The MDC Renewal Team is where those who still adhere to the original values and principles of the party are regrouping.”
Jacob Mafume, the spokesperson of the MDC Renewal Team and a former legal adviser to Tsvangirai, said the MDC-T leader was “like a fish that had run out of water” but frantically trying to remain alive. Tsvangirai was recently unsuccessful in pushing through a raft of changes to the MDC-T constitution, which would have allowed him to make appointments to key organs of the party, giving him too much power and weakening both the membership and the secretary-general in terms of running party affairs.
Douglas Mwonzora, the MDC-T spokesman, told journalists after a meeting of the national council which rejected attempts to handpick officials that “we have been able to keep the party on its democratic path”.
Kwinjeh, once a fierce defender of Tsvangirai, said the party had departed from its original values, as a broad-based coalition representing people who shared a common desire to fight for change that would usher in a new democratic dispensation in Zimbabwe. “In that regard, 15 years ago, I think there was unity of purpose, self-sacrifice, and honesty in the way things were done, which is gone today. Now it’s sad to watch how we seem to spend more time, doing each other down, instead of focusing on the project we all started, that we discipline ourselves, to take this fight to its logical conclusion ― a free and prosperous Zimbabwe,” she said.
Tsvangirai will certainly find the battle against President Mugabe’s ZANU-PF more difficult without support from former comrades.
COMMENTS
This is a wishful thinking from a Z PF thug minded demagog
Fact is Tsvancry is ‘history’ – mark my words!
How many times have we said
Unfortunately MT is yesterdays man, he can thank his limited intelligence, poor advisors and his inability to control his dick for the situation in which finds himself. He had everything going for him and he has blown it. Pity
ZANU cannot leave Morgan alone.
The man gives them sleepless nights and with good reason.
He has mass appeal unlike ZANU which is reviled by every right thinking Zimbo.
Any struggle has fall outs, check your history.
There are many people who started their projects thinking they can do better than MT, but to no avail…Gwisai, Madhuku, Biti, Ncube, Job etc. Instead of combining because as they say MT is not democratic they create their own little empires which fizzle out having come to political status and limelight because of MT.
It is my opinion that lets fight the common enemy as one and after the battle we can split into as many parties as possible. People will always differ and have different approaches.
The author can have his analysis of MT never winning against RG, we said that after 2002 and after Ncube’s departure. But I am convinced given access to media a fair play he can win resoundly.
Anyway in my opinion the author is a Zanu, or renewal sympathiser and trying to salvage their eventual demise.
MT IS A BRAND!
If indeed Tsvangirai lacks democtratic practices then Welshman Ncube , Biti, Madhuku and those former allies should come together if they are more democtratic.
True, the author may be a zpf/renewal sympathiser but sometimes facts are sturbon. This time around President MT should reflect on the past 15 years of MDC history making a Self-Assessment of himself in the process. He will be surprised to discover that there have been many costly shortcomings which, normaly, could have been avoided, and MDC would be somewhere better. Anyway Love is not yet lost for the majority of us But MT should come out of the forthcoming Congress a new man. A Tsvangirai of the 2000, with capable advisors. Remember that not all those who left are bad. Some were frustrated by weevils who seem to be close to MT. The congress must surely revisit MDC core values and principles and restrategise. Some of the good ones who left will very soon be back.
This article confirms that MT, is the real thorn to Zanu and indeed he is theaalternative.
The mere fact that everyone in Zimbabwe knows how bad Zanu is in terms of governance is enough to leave people with one alternative…Morgan Tsvangirai…. We can’t wish it away. We want to derail the dictatorship first….the rest will follow
Tsvangirai won bt becoz of nikuv all hell broke loose.Tsvangirai is the only biggest Mugabe opponent so these guys ( Biti, Ncube, Mangoma and other rebels must knw that non of their names has strength to turn tables.They shld rally behind tsvangirai bcoz the party they wanna topple has stood by One leader.MDC and other anti-Zanu must realise that supporting Tsvangirai is the only great coalition against Mugabe that will surpass vote rigging and guarantee regime change thru thick and thin
Errors may have been made, but I am sure MT will have learnt his lessons and making efforts to improve – do not write him off yet. The other major contributor was the clashes between Chamisa and Biti in the run up to the 2013 election – and after Congress the party must start planning its election processes to manage the 2018 primary elections etc.
yes its with in their rights those who think they can do better out of the bigger tent ,zimbabweans are not stupid as some may think,as long as right minded people dont believe in you forget about leading a formidable opposition,this is a hard struggle under difficult circumstances,fair minded people will soldier on with tsvangirai for real change its worth doing