Sekai Holland corrects Ncube article on Sibanda

By Sekai Holland

Professor Welshman Ncube included in his article in Sundayview on August 28, 2010, on the great legacy of Gibson Sibanda, an historical account of one of the many meetings held by various individuals, provinces, civil society organisations and others prior to the MDC founding Congress in January 2000.

His account about my position distorts our sincere efforts at that time to push the democracy agenda forward and appears to use his brilliant tribute to our Organ co principal Gibson Sibanda to divide me from our President Morgan Tsvangirai.

At this time, MDC was preparing to deliberate on selecting the best team to win the 2000 Parliamentary elections, and then to successfully negotiate a peaceful transition out of the one party state politics.

Prof Ncube wrote that Priscilla Misihairabwi Mushonga was present at this meeting. Grace Kwinjeh and I talked. We agreed that there were three women present; that our colleague Priscilla was not present in that meeting.

The position I articulated was not my personal one but that of the MDC Midlands South Provincial Executive Committee (PEC). The Trade Union based PEC was chaired by the late Hon. Bethel Makwembere, succeeded by James Gondo with Lucia Matibenga as Secretary and others.

I had to get their consent to stand in Midlands South Province for Mberengwa East. On signing my papers they briefed me on how our province would vote at the inaugural Congress leadership line-up.

The New Politics – focusing on new structures not personalities Their logic was that civil society gave the task of facilitating the birth of the new political formation MDC to the ZCTU, the main Trade Union centre in the Zimbabwe, because the unique partnership between the ZCTU President Gibson Sibanda and its Secretary General Morgan Tsvangirai had stabilised the Trade Union movement nationally for 10 years improving workers’ lives.

This leadership structure was the magic formula to be kept intact, to give time to everyone in Zimbabwe to work towards stabilising the political environment for new inclusive structures of democracy to be established to take the struggle further and open more democratic space – a sentiment shared by many Zimbabweans then.

The transitional period was to give Gibson Sibanda, Morgan Tsvangirai and the new political class from civil society entering politics, time to mature in the new politics of their own creation. Sibanda would be the titular president for two terms while Tsvangirai was executive Prime Minister. Both would retire in 2010 for Tsvangirai to move onto to the Presidency for his two terms.

This plan would give Zimbabweans twenty years to complete the enormous transitional work of structural transformation to take the country from the old one party state politics to the new Zimbabwe. I believed this to be the ZCTU position. Unfolding events threw up other suggestions, one of which won the day.

We accepted defeat. This idea and other suggestions were put for discussion and amendment. For example the PEC hoped that the new party would go for the tried-and-tested formula of a titular President – Gibson Sibanda – and an executive Prime Minister – the SG Morgan Tsvangirai.

They saw Gibson Sibanda handling the required negotiations with ZANU/PF and achieving a smooth transition, as he was a brilliant mediator especially of difficult situations. On the other hand, they saw Morgan Tsvangirai, the gifted natural organiser working on the ground with the people to create the conditions conducive for democratic change over ten years.

Strategic placement of Party and Parliamentary Candidates The MDC strategy was to search for local talent to voter confidence-build and establish the new party at grassroots and throughout the country. Based on this the PEC sent a delegation to Prof Ncube to invite him to take his Parliamentary seat in his home province – Midlands South.

The general agreement at that time was to send the strongest candidates to stand in their rural homes. Professor Ncube rejected the offer, explaining to the emissaries that he had already been invited to take a seat in the Bulawayo Province.

That PEC was convinced that Professor Ncube’s presence in the Midlands as leader would stabilise the new MDC in the province as the new party spokesperson (his old job in the National Constitutional Assembly) in the new top party leadership to include women, other interest groups and reflect all the regions.

The PEC was convinced that the partnership between Gibson Sibanda as President and Morgan Tsvangirai as SG with Professor Ncube and other new blood from civil society, entering politics for the first time, strategically placed in the MDC leadership, was the new structure required at that time to take Zimbabwe to the new transition – moving from the past one party state to the future – which should have begun in 2000, start of the new millennium.

These suggestions were thrown out; we accepted the majority decision without question. Since that first MDC Congress elected its leaders, I have fully supported President Tsvangirai as our leader, despite the many painful and dramatic events our internal struggles have encountered on the path to democratic change.

Based on my own political convictions I remained in MDC-T after the split. I have been and continue to be a vocal and passionate MDCT member by choice. As Organ co principals we discussed our brief until we agreed on an inclusive process. Through open and honest dialogue between and among all Zimbabweans at home and abroad we have the capacity to build together the foundations of the new culture of Peace. Now Gibson Sibanda has gone.

Our immediate past – indeed our distant past – can teach us all a lot if we as a people learn to hear one another’s voices with empathy, learn to dialogue honestly together for positive answers from ourselves on the way forward, use the opportunity created by the GPA to get our country moving on.

Gibson’s final contribution was his work in the Organ to establish with everyone the foundations of that process to bring lasting Peace to our country. Some of us from that beginning of MDC used the space created by the GPA to look at these past eleven years with Gibson Sibanda.

We sought his account of what really happened when critical decisions were made while we were one party. His calm detailed responses helped us to appreciate much better these past situations and energized us to work for change for a better Zimbabwe.

Many remain hard hit in our hearts by the passing of our highly esteemed colleague Gibson Sibanda. The best way to honour his memory is for us to fulfill his unfinished work. May his soul rest in the Peace that he worked so hard throughout his life to establish in Zimbabwe and on our fragile earth.

Senator Sekai M Holland Minister of State; Co Organ Principal; Organ for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration.