Tsvangirai, Biti and Makone just got too comfortable with Mugabe

Opinion by Kramer Murindagomo

While the Zimbabwean masses have been left in a ditch due to the Isareli Nikuv-initiated vote rigging process together with the surreptitious Chinese machinations on ballot paper design, we must also acknowledge with pain the voter abuse caused by Zanu PF.

The police and armed forces voted twice or thrice, people were bussed from all corners of the country to vote in any location and hopped from place to place doing the same.

Then the voters’ roll was not readily available and when it was finally released, it had lots of irregularities. There were duplicated and triplicated names on the roll. Deceased names were on the roll. People in the diaspora who never even registered to vote were also on the roll.

All those names became fodder for Zanu PF. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) was also to blame. They became interested parties and historically unprofessional in the extreme sense.

Some MDC polling agents were dismissed by ZEC officials from certain locations like Zaka, Magunje, Dete, Rushinga and Mount Darwin just to ensure Zanu PF’s unquestioned victory.

A million voters were turned away. ZEC refused to have individual poll booth results recorded because it already had a master game plan to direct all votes to a central location where ballot stuffing had already been done and results had already been printed even before the election was over.

While this is the ordinary trend of a draconian force of darkness as engineered by Zanu PF, let us also return to Morgan Tsvangirai. He is also to blame. He had developed a very warm relationship with Mugabe for the last few years as he shared tea with him on a daily basis.

He kept on trusting Mugabe yet he was abused on a daily basis. Mugabe called the shots and at many times left him crying foul yet he still believed that Mugabe was a saint. At some point he even bragged that there was this chemistry that existed between him and Mugabe that many could not understand.

Just the company of Mugabe gave him so much joy and comfort that he forgot his mission and objectives. That way his weaknesses were understudied as his composure and strategies were compromised.

Added to that, Morgan Tsvangirai’s sudden floating in unexplained wealth left many questioning how he got his millions. When he was still poor and in need of basics, he was vocal and powerful. As he got more fame and wealth, he developed some inertia that many failed to understand.

All those weaknesses, added to his notoriety for being indecisive as well as his internal leadership weaknesses helped compromise the MDC to the extent that Zanu PF had to openly rig the election because they had already understudied his weaknesses and understood Morgan Tsvangirai fully.

Tsvangirai is the man who kept on demanding for sanctions to be lifted at a time when the West was pressing for the sanctions to stay as a deterrent measure to inspire reform in the Zimbabwean rule of law. The Petros Mutedza case was burning as Tsvangirai pressed for sanctions removal.

Once in a while Tsvangirai would find himself campaigning for removal of sanctions so that the very forces of darkness that he was fighting against would be freed and enabled to travel.

At some point the then US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton was disappointed in his flip-flop statements as he called for removal of sanctions and at the same time complained about violations of the mode of operation in the Government of National Unity.

Many wondered which side he stood for. He seemed carried away with fame and power and did not seem to know what exactly he wanted for him to rule Zimbabwe. He trusted the enemy too much, became too comfortable and that ultimately cost him.

When Mugabe praised Biti’s performance in the Ministry of Finance, Biti was so carried away with the praises so much so that he forgot which side he served.

In the heat of the moment an elated Biti emerged saying that President Mugabe was a great statesman who was wise, respectable and very intelligent. He took that praise for a pill that made him realize the beauty of being associated with Mugabe.

With such a false praise that served as a sweet nothing, Biti now finds himself bearing the fruits of Mugabe’s wisdom that he had been quick to blurt out to the press after a casual praise. Just a fake pat on the back made Biti too comfortable with a sweet nothing.

Mai Theresa Makone lost a daughter and Mugabe donated a cow for the funeral. Such shenanigans could also have gone a long way to curry favor with such top ranks within the MDC. They forgot their mission and were carried away by trinkets as they all began to see Mugabe as a saint.

That said, the MDC is still a powerful force but needs to change its head for a solid leadership. It no longer needs leaders who flip flop and get carried away by fake praises that sacrifice the interests of millions of people. Morgan Tsvangirai is not stern enough to lead this opposition.

The party needs a decisive, judicious man who is not exposed and means his word to tackle Mugabe. This is a situation wherein a leader should never be vacillating and bragging over trinkets. A few millions in one’s account should never be an excuse for the sacrifice of national interests.

Obviously Mugabe is fighting tooth and claw to stay in power until he dies. He fears for his sins of mismanaging the country, diamond issues, cruelty on the population, vote rigging and many other crimes that he has committed.

To allow him to continue ruling the country as sanctioned by Obasanjo, the AU and SADC is but to sacrifice the interests of millions of Zimbabweans.

If Tsvangirai was a man of his word, with solid principles at hand, he would never even have allowed the GNU to take place in 2008. He could have demanded a re-run and got into office at once as President.

After that he incurred sexual scandal, compromised his standing by the demand for sanctions removal, became rich and forgot to truly fight for the people. This is where that has led us. Biti got carried away with Mugabe’s 2 minute praise and nearly lost his seat in parliament.

These are the fruits of leadership weaknesses and foolish shenanigans. The path was clear but the psychology created by Mugabe beat them all. Now they cry foul and are wasting time approaching a biased SADC and useless Africa Union.