Jonathan, Gorden, stop fiddling while Rome burns

via Jonathan, Gorden, stop fiddling while Rome burns NewsDay Editorial September 28, 2013

Yesterday our sister paper, the Southern Eye, published a story titled Jonathan Moyo taunts MDC-T in which the Information minister and MDC-T’s provincial chairperson Gorden Moyo were having a go at each other.

“They (MDC-T) won in Bulawayo and you know we won in Zimbabwe,” Information minister Professor Jonathan Moyo said.

“As you know, those who won in Bulawayo cannot use that to rule Zimbabwe, but those who won in Zimbabwe can use that to rule Bulawayo,” the minister reportedly said.

Gorden Moyo is said to have countered: “There is an island of hope, peace and prophecy for democracy. I am a proud chairperson today because the world knows that in Zimbabwe, there is an island that has remained an MDC-T territory.”

This kind of discourse is not good for the country because it promotes polarisation instead of development. The two gentlemen need to be reminded that no one owns Bulawayo or Zimbabwe. What we need in this country is not such kindergarten type of thinking; we need politicians who engage not only with each other regardless of political affiliation, but with all stakeholders for the development of the country.

The discourse we should engage in at present should be biased towards development. MDC-T and Zanu PF should learn to work together for the benefit of Zimbabwe, not for the benefit of their political parties. Political parties, like empires, have a lifespan — they come and go — but Zimbabwe will always be there. Those who have the privilege to rule should remember that they do not own the country and its citizens, while those who are not in power should attempt to engage those in power so that policies crafted are for the benefit of the people. The people, in reality, do not care who governs them, their major interest is food on the table. This applies to those in Bulawayo, Harare, Masvingo, Gweru, Mt Darwin etc in equal measure. Our major weakness in this country is that we spend too much time fighting each other instead of fighting together for a common cause.

We emphasise too much on our differences instead of harnessing our strengths for the benefit of our country. We have decided to see each other as enemies instead of seeing each other as the same people with differences here and there that can be overcome to promote development. And with politicians who put personal pride before the country, there is no hope for development. We need mature people who do not get over-excited by winning an election or those who do not want to stomach defeat. Such politicians are just two sides of the same coin — they spell doom for the country because of their big egos.

The question these gentlemen (and their respective political parties) should be grappling with is: How best can we work together despite our differences for the benefit of the country? Politicians should learn to compromise lest they lead the country into unnecessary infighting. While MDC-T and Zanu PF continue with their childish fights, people have no water, power, jobs and other basics. The two parties should stop fiddling while Rome burns.