via MDC, Renewal Team on verge of uniting 9 October 2014
THE MDC led by Welshman Ncube and the MDC Renewal Team are on the verge of a reunification deal after they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) yesterday, as talks for a broader grand coalition gather pace.
The agreement was signed by the two secretary-generals of the MDC and the MDC Renewal Team, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga and Tendai Biti, respectively.
“The two secretary-generals of the MDC and the MDC Renewal Team, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga and Tendai Biti, with their negotiation teams respectively, met today (yesterday) in Harare as mandated by their political parties and signed an MoU to officially commence talks on reunification,” the parties said in a joint statement.
In recent weeks, both parties declared that it was not possible for an individual political party to dislodge Mugabe and Zanu PF alone and called on all the country’s democratic forces to put their heads together.
The parties said the objective of the re-unification was based on a common history, bond and the origins of MDC, as formed in 1999.
“The talks will be guided by the shared values and principles of the MDC, which include tolerance, the rule of law, peace, democracy, gender equality and a servant leadership,” the statement said.
“The two formations are convinced of the necessity and imperative of the reunification as an important step towards achieving national progress and achievement of the ultimate goal of a democratic and prosperous Zimbabwe.”
However, the parties said they “will continue to be part of the grand coalition talks and consultations in which the two parties have been involved in and are fully committed’.
Other parties touted for the grand coalition include Zapu and Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn led by former Finance minister Simba Makoni.
COMMENTS
Log standings:
1. MDC
2. zanu
3. MDC(N) + MDC(R) + mavambo + zapu + whom so ever else wishes to join them.
They must speak for themselves when they say no single party can dislodge munyasa mugabe.
And by the way, there is the MDC then ncube and biti (gono’s lawyer). What lawyer?
Like ‘dr’ disgrace’s ‘phd’, these ‘mdc’ break aways are zanu projects. Welshman got a farm and truckloads of cattle while bit was paid by gono to ‘repesent’ gono who was facing fraud charges. Prior to, biti accused gono of defrauding the state.
Joe wandipweteka nayo log standing iyo kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk………..
whether these guy merge or not is up to them but Biti is a lawyer and he has every right to represent anyone he feels like representing regardless of that person’s political affiliation, color, gender, age etc. The moment someone starts to say he should not represent so and so because of that person’s political affiliation whats to stop,someone from saying he should not represent someone because of his color, age, etc.A lot of us Zimbabweans want we want a fair state where we are free to choose and then when someone does that people make noise. If Biti was a store (which he is) would he stop Gono from buying from his shop i don’t suppose so.
@tapiwa, I think I can understand where you are coming from but I think it’s a question of conscience. You cannot accuse somebody of this and that and then the next thing you are now defending that person from the very same things that not so long ago you were accusing him of. It just looks morally filthy even though from a business perspective it’s just another business transaction.
Look at the betrayal card as well
Tinomunamataishe whilst I also understand what Tapiwa says I still think that Biti has operated in his capacity as an MDC MP and in legal matters that have been in conflict with Zanu pf of which Gono is a senior Member thus a situation where you owe separate duties to act in the best interests of two or more clients in relation to the same or related matters, there is significant risk that those duties may conflict. If Biti was a Judge handling this case would not his counsel ask him to RECUSE himself(challenge the judge as unqualified to perform legal duties because of a potential conflict of interest or potential to have a lack of impartiality.)
Doctor do little But what if that case had nothing to do with politics between Zanu and MDC.
On the contrary it has. In 2008 Biti accused Gono of coruption and said he should be arrested.
Extract from Nehanda radio.
Tendai Biti is the Secretary General of the MDC-T. He is the main custodian of party policies, resolutions and positions. Most notably, the MDC T has continuously and repeatedly held the position that Gideon Gono is responsible for the economic meltdown which saw millions flee the country and thousands others die of hunger and poverty.
Through the life of the inclusive government the MDC T has always resolved that Gideon Gono and Johannes Tomana were outstanding issues. Besides failure to have them removed from their positions, that position has never changed and no one else can have better records of that except for Tendai Biti the MDC’s Secretary General.
In fact, it was Tendai Biti who described Gideon Gono as “the quintessential embodiment of corruption” and “an economic saboteur, terrorist and number one Al-Qaeda who deserves to be shot by a firing squad”.
With all that being said who would trust that Biti is not a turn coat? Whether he is or not, if this was a criminal case (him representing Gono) that very evidence would surely convict him as it is evidence that is in the public Gallery.
Such is Zimbabwean Politics. Amazing Grace comes to mind.
The two MDCs N and Biti should have joined right on the first break up. However one wonders what next of them since they are both power hungry. They are both not popular.
I figure this coalition could be the best political development in Zim to date, in terms of a leadership that espouses genuine national unity in diversity.
Not those gukurahundi tribalists in the form of Tsvangirayi and his ancestor Mugabe, whose warped understanding of national unity is essentially assimilation, in a different wording. No wonder they are always trying to fan non-existent fears of separation or secession.
Tsvangirayi vacillates too much and can not be trusted. If you wanted my opinion, I actually believe Tsvangirayi is personally opposed to Devolution but is worried about losing votes from the South and to some extent other provinces such as Manicaland. Mugabe is very clear on many issues, but his views are archaic and totally unsuitable to modern democratic nation states.
Whilst I believe in Makoni’s desire for the best for our nation, I am only worried about is lack of clarity on the Devolution question. He does seem to share some of ZANU PF’s centralist tendencies; not withstanding his own home province being a victim of ZANU PF Centralist governance system.
He never pronounces himself with clarity and vigorously on controversial and topical issues in Zimbabwe; issues such as gukurahundi, election violence/killings and Murambatswina. But I believe he can be made to come around.
My problem with your Assertion is that you refer to Twangirayi as a gukurahundi. If that is the case so is Tendai Biti because he was in with what ever Tswangirayi done for years. My own convictions tell me that neither of these two men were ever involved in gukurahundi. However you might have been somehow directly been a victim of tribilsm from Tswangirayi in his individual capacity. If it was in his capacity as the leader of the MDC then Biti and those that all those that were with him for all those years would be guilty by association, which means if a crime was committed All of them would have been convicted using the law of Joint Enterprise under which a person in a group or gang can be held responsible for the criminal acts of others. Having said that I am of the mind set that I read and ingest (not physically) any suggestions about the quality of our leaderships in different party’s. I think that is good for the mind. Also I would not hesitate to say I do like to read your mail and I enjoy our debates.
@Doctor do little
Look mfowethu; I do not refer to someone as a gukurahundi because he was directly involved in the gukurahundi massacres. To me, Gukurahundi or Gukurahundism has assumed a much broader meaning over the years, given the manner by which Mugabe and his ZANU PF have been conducting their politics in the last 34 years.
My observation of ZANU PF since Mugabe took over its leadership in Mozambique in the 1970s has been that they have always believed in achieving their objectives through a NO-HOLDS-BARRED approach, it doesn’t matter the consequences.
Everything about them is not normal. They do things that are not normally associated with normal thinking and sober-minded human beings. They have no consciences – no sense of guilt, nothing. One could be forgiven to think they are on drugs 24/7, 365 days a years – yet Mugabe doesn’t even drink or smoke.
If it means inventing enemies, non-existent coups, or rebellions; or if it means dividing the nation on tribal or racial lines to win power, so be it. If it means you need to destroy the economy; the very bread and butter of your nation to achieve your objectives, so be it. If outright lies; a rewriting of history and religion; daily saturated insults and labelling will do, so be it. Shedding blood, innocent or not is nothing for them.
Planting evidence against opponents Maoist/Chinese style, is a legitimate means to an end for them. Nothing is beyond limits for ZANU PF. Human dignity, principles or policies count for nothing. Everything is a means to an end. This has been their modus operandi since Mugabe took over the Gukurahundi party in the ’70’s.
Now, for anyone to copy such evil ways of dealing with opponents; more so one who proclaims to be a democrat is really the scandal of the century, in my book. Anyone who does such things, is to me a gukurahundi; and such political conduct to me falls within the broad definition of gukurahundism. This is exactly what Mugabe and his followers did in the Midlands and Matebeleland in their desperate efforts to eliminate PF ZAPU and establish a one-party state.
Since then, the same modus operandi has been observed over the years in dealing with Tekere and ZUM; Muzorewa and his UANC; Sithole and his ZANU-Ndonga; Judge Sansole/Judge Dhumbutshena and their Forum Party; and lately the MDC.
So, because of the Kitchen Cabinet, the beating up of opponents, the IAM THE MDC claims, and attempts to copy ZANU PF’s constitution – to me, Morgan Tsvangirayi has passed the GUKURAHUNDI TESTS with flying colours.
Enkosi – I rest my case!!
I on the other hand still think that the senario that is unfolding must still take it’s course and I have to watch from the sidelines as all this unfolds. As I’ve said patterns will emerge. I am as passionate as you where the Ndebele people are concerned and I feel that we have been taken for rides for too long. Short of making a tribal comment I will say that I have no problem with what Biti and co are doing. What I have a problem with is that again history might repeat itself if people go into things with their eyes closed. So what I would ask for is a period of clarity.If people have to remove someone from office it should be done at a congress rather than in a coup which is now an African thing. On the other hand they could just move away and form their own structures and tell the people what they can do for them. I have had the honour of meeting people like the late Fletcher Dulini Ncube and his wife who done some fabulous work at King George school in Bulawayo. I can remember how we thought things were going to be ok until he was arrested. These were former Zapu and Zanu cadres that broke away from Zanu pf and formed their own party.The called it MDC because they did not want to be associated with the name Zanu. Those were the days. Where have we gone wrong? We are going wrong because we do not want to listen to others. I am trying to do that now because the Zimbabwean picture is bigger than we can imagine. Hopefully even if they are on different sides we might still get the coalition after the election that will get rid of this evil that has been dogging us for years on end.
Ncube,Biti,Dabengwa and Makoni should just shut up support ZPF silently and stop wasting spaces in the media because no one is following them. They all want to be presidents but they can not be mere councillors if voted as independents. Power hungry idiots!
@Mahlaba
You are a typical carbon copy of gukurahundi ZANU PF assshooles. You think everyone is a disciple and worshipper of your gukurahundi Tswangirayi; go hang yourself sithutha.
“……because no one is following them…”; what exactly do you mean here? Are you a spokesman of everybody? How do you know “there is no one?”.Did you do a survey?
Idiotic asssholes, hero-worshipping praise-singers like you are the very people responsible for the mess we find ourselves in today, as a nation.
You are no different from those in the gukurahundi party who will sing praises to the 91-year old gukurahundi thug, whilst he is busy destroying our country.
What democracy can you bring to Zimbabwe, when you are so intolerant ZANU-PF style?
You must always bear in mind that, not all of us WIPE TSVANGIRAYI’S ASS like you. We are well educated; driven and are independent thinkers.
We don’t give a damn of what happens to your “I-AM-THE-MDC” dictator Tsvangirayi. That he sacrificed in fighting the Gukurahundis and has scars to show for it, is non of our business. It was a choice he made, just like all the Nationalists of old. He doesn’t have to be repaid for it.
People like Maurice Nyagumbo were jailed for over 20 years by the Rhodesians; they were never made President as a thank you by the nation for their efforts. Many more died along the way, with no such accolades. So who is Tsvangirayi?
Tswangirayi’s sacrifices are nothing compared to these heroes. So it is ignorant slavish quislings like you who should shut up. You are nothing but an Oxygen thief; nyamalala sibawu sika Tswangirayi!!
Morgan can not be trusted. His only advantage is his union background which popularised him in the late 1980s; which is what the founders of the original MDC wanted to exploit in acceding to Tswangirayi’s inaugural leadership in 1999.
They have since lived to regret their decision; much like the nationalists in the ’70s later regretted their choice of Bishop Muzorewa to drive the NO vote against the Pearce Commission’s referendum.
Once the little Bishop tested had leadership, he refused to step aside and yet his appointment had only been temporary. Tswangirayi has proved to be more or less the same.
Those who requested him to lead have seen the serious flaws in his leadership; but the man will not go, for power has become just too sweet to let go.
CODE is just one of the many strategies these guys are now embarking on in not only trying to get rid of Mugabe, but Tswangirayi as well!!