Madhuku can be President

By Courage Shumba

I want to congratulate Prof Lovemore Madhuku and the NCA team for realising the urgency of forming a new nationalist and radical political party to continue pursuing the goals of our liberation struggle. 

It is a struggle which continues to be abandoned and sacrificed by the survivor leadership of the guerilla-liberation movement.

The need for a fresh and energetic leadership needs no emphasis. Besides, Zimbabwe requires a home grown opposition that is ultimately fighting for the overthrow of both post “liberation” dictatorship and the ugly reality of neocolonial domination which thrives on nurturing a Western dependency disease in post colonial states.

Africa needs not only win political independence, emphasized by the absence of discrimination in parks and public toilets, but to showcase its freedom by economic independence evidenced by its ability to feed itself and support its needs from its abundant resources.

It is clear that whilst Zanu PF pursues a semi exclusive get rich quick programme for its inner circle of spoilt top officials the MDC is blindly anchored to illusions of a return to western benevolence characterised by the accumulation of more debt as well as dependence on handouts and grants.

Madhuku has no choice but to form a party that is neither a hostage of this get rich quick political obscenity within Zanu PF nor one that is enslaved by misguided allegiance to western preferences and fixations which does not question the capitalistic motives upon which western involvement in foreign countries as well as former colonies is based.

MDC ‘s allegiance to western idealism is based on a paradigm of fear and racial inferiority complexes which continue to germinate long after they were planted by slavery and colonialism.

Political parties of substance have a duty to ruthlessly protect our resources for the benefit of the indeginous majority. This is a core value that neither MDC or Zanu PF can deliver which is what justifies the need for a party whose first mission is to be loyal to our people.

Today the Mdc T is a party that stands defeated in the eyes of African institutions.

Its continued denial of a Mugabe legitimacy and incumbency raises questions about the role it expects African institutions to play in future elections and mediation if it cannot respect their decisions and accept their judgements.

Yet how does one accept the legitimacy of a ballot that is not credible without setting oneself up for a repeat of the same shenanigans in future elections? Yet if you were the one eager for help from our neighbours how do you reconcile refusing to accept their verdict on the poll with idea that Zimbabwe must remain on their agenda?

And if the poll was not credible how does one justify the presence of the members of that party in a parliament whose legitimacy is questionable? By being represented in that parliament Tsvangirai condones the outcome at the very moment he questions its legitimacy. It is a contradiction his party must consider or possibly a protest whose exact purpose he still needs to explain.

Truthfully, anyone who has been in this struggle, who has seen its ugly and expensive side, will tell you that there is no appetite for it to be long drawn and needlessly prolonged through indecision, poor judgement, fear ,careless mistakes or plain arrogance.

There is an inexhaustible wealth of personal accounts of the cost of this struggle in its different provinces of resistance. There are many untold stories, unsung heroes ,careers that were sacrificed and many who died in this struggle against an enemy that seeks to replicate those days when Zimbabwe was an island of oppression called Rhodesia.

Under Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe has remained trapped in the Rhodesian corpse unwilling to let freedom and fairness develop into a national culture. He has remained a leader of a minority regime that see citizens through the laws and past practices of a settler column.

We must know that we are never going to win Zimbabwe for the majority unless we are honest to ourselves and about the quality and tenacity of the leadership we require for this job to be done.

I have great admiration for women and men who rise to the challenge and ask for alternative avenues to be pursued where traditional ones have kept us rolling around in circles. I have great admiration for people who put their country first before political accommodations . I have great respect for people who aspire to raise the quality, depth and purpose of our debate.

I have no tolerance for opportunistic leadership that seeks to create lifelong careers on the back of national strife. I have zero tolerance for weak, cowardly and ineffective leadership that seeks to place its comfort above the urgency of the masses.

I believe that Prof Madhuku has a right to form a party, to deliver its manifesto, and to address the electorate without having to queue behind Tsvangirai or Biti for a turn or for a say in national politics.

I believe that Prof Madhuku has no apologies to make,or concessions to give or a ransom to pay before he can endear himself to the voter. I believe that an opposition party which is guided by national interest and rooted in a pan African ideology has all the basic ingredients a political party needs to understand the wishes of the electorate and to develop an agenda by which to address them.

It is not surprising that I and millions more find Madhuku, and our new political party both a relief and a reality of our new politics which may need getting used to.

I believe that for Zimbabweans at home and abroad beyond all the usual self important slogan culture , the clenched fists and blank palms everyone wants an economically stable and democratic country in which their personal identity can shine .

It is content not status that must count in 2018.

Courage Shumba is a former student leader at the University of Zimbabwe. The views expressed here are expressed in his personal capacity.