via RadioVop Zimbabwe – Tsvangirai Receives Major Boost With CSO’s Engagement 11 February 2015
MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai this week received a major boost in his bid to cajole the country’s influential civil society community after they turned up for a key meeting where he appealed for support to challenge President Robert Mugabe’s stay in power.
Leaders of influential civil society organisations turned up for a breakfast meeting convened by Tsvangirai on Tuesday in Harare where he reached out to them and appealed for a unified challenge to President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party’s rule.
In his bid to appeal to the leaders of the civil society leaders, who have been disillusioned by Tsvangirai and his party’s state of affairs, the opposition leader outlined the state of his party’s affairs and how it would address the national crisis.
Informed sources who attended the meeting held in Harare’s Avondale said Tsvangirai emphasized the need to build a “national consensus” so as to resolve the country’s agonising political and economic crisis.
Among the key CSOs who attended the meeting were leaders of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, a key ally of Tsvangirai who once led the labour union as its secretary-general, the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CZC), the Election Resource Centre and the Labour and Economic Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ) among other organisations.
During the two-hour long meeting, LEDRIZ made a presentation on the “state of the economy” while the ERC share a paper on “election preparedness in the current landscape”.
The CZC presented on “possible scenarios to 2018”.
Tsvangirai was accompanied by his party’s lieutenants among them party secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora, Morgan Komichi, Dennis Murira and Luke Tamborinyika, his spokesperson.
The MDC-T, once a formidable party was weakened last year after the party split with former secretary-general Tendai Biti and former deputy-treasurer Elton Mangoma leaving to form a new party, MDC Renewal, which is also battling to lure some CSOs into its ranks
COMMENTS
My take is: It is good to work with Tsvangson – for those who want to – of course. But has Tsvangson shown any repentance so far regarding his forgetful behavior amply displayed during his tenure as PM (the GNU era)? To me and many others of course, Tsvangson conveniently forgot those who had propelled him to those reigns of power and started getting cosier n cosier with the Mugabes of this world and only chose to listen to his handpicked (or may be overly domineering) kitchen cabinet. The memory of this uncouth forgetfulness by dear leader still lingers in our minds. We cant pretend otherwise – I wish we could.
You cannot make a silk purse out of a rat’s ear!
By failing to get not even one democratic reform implemented in the five years of the GNU Morgan Tsvangirai has proven that he is corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent. The task of getting the democratic reforms implemented now is a lot tougher than it was during the GNU. So what hope is there that Tsvangirai will get the reforms implemented now when he failed to do so during the GNU? None!
The SADC, international community and the whole world would like to help Zimbabwe end this political nightmare of Zanu PF tyranny but after the debacle of the GNU they all walked out in disgust. If we want to be taken serious ever again by anyone then it is for us to show the world that we learnt something from our folly of having elected someone as corrupt and incompetent as Tsvangirai in the first place. By re-electing Tsvangirai to lead in any way shows that we have learnt nothing and are therefore not yet ready to be taken seriously.
Of course we are free to hold on to the belief that we can make a silk purse from a rat’s ear we should not however expect anyone else to take us serious. Tsvangirai will never deliver any democratic change in Zimbabwe, that is a fact; he can have all the local CSO he like to say what they please, that will not change that simple fact. All the foreign donors deserted MDC in droves as soon as it was clear MDC was going to take part in the July 2013 elections with not even one reform implemented. They know Tsvangirai will never ever bring about any meaning change and they have kept they distance.
Wilbert you seem to be a specialist in MDC-T analysis and MT’s failure…instead bring out the horse which you think can win and do better than this one you continue to lambast Its no use continuing to whip the dead horse as per your supposition without telling us the alternative horse which is alive, better and delivering.
On reform changes…what could have MT done in face of SADC Mugabe biased agreement….he took a risk in hope that Mugabe has learned and was willing to reform. Here is someone who was forced to marry a beast at gun point by SADC and Mbeki and avoid the risk being of labelled getting only instructions from England.
Mr Mukori, I understand you have your own party and your comment therefore doesn’t surprise me given that you are also a competitor in the political space.
What I would like to hear from an active political player like you though is what your solution is. Could you please kindly elucidate how you anticipate to make a silk purse from real silk.
Like you say others have tried and failed but there comes you so far maybe with a 100% strike rate.
Mukori Mukori Mukori!! Face Mugabe not Tsvangirai.
Zimbabweans no-longer know where to stand therefore, are becoming selfish of themselves. Being greedy and leading do-not always meet. We do not know what to do and say someone who has never lead is wrong. Tsvangson to tell the truth is one of the most bold members of this community who can very well pursue what people may end-up saying “well this is good”. He has never tested leadership but stood by those who were leading and, the nation now come to say that he became one. No!!! It means that we as well do not know what is meant by being a leader. Lets give him clear leadership openly once and then see how our comments will thereafter go. Commending on the kind of leadership under someone does not do. What did people want him to do? Make him fight the present leadership using rifles? Thus being power hungry and stupid, self centered and having no-one at heart. When criticizing, one should do so after having placed the clean ball on the centre, set two teams to work on the ball that is in place equally. Thereafter you then begin to see which of the two teams is now suitable to represent the nation. Do not compare unlike terms when you really know the other that, it works like the way you see it. You then compare it with that you do not see. Thus being ignorant of what things must be.
As I am seeing, Zimbabweans think that being professors is knowing how to lead the nation. No. Not at all. Neither is leading is by means of being cruel, being a killer. Let us look at other nations. Leadership greet members of the society in the street. Not kissing children while under protection. Leading well brings the need for turns in leadership, and not wanting to die leading. One should allow himself/herself being liked not through force but naturally, casually and in laughter. Let us think Zimbabweans. We are being childish and those who very well see that we behave like children take advantage of us. They take advantages of feeding themselves without seeing the nation.
Not many would agree with your analysis obiee, we are Zimbos afterall but I for one, think you have nailed it.