Strategic Choice: Morgan Tsvangirai for 2018

By Dr David Gore

“You can rig the election but you cannot rig the economy”

This unvarnished truth about Zimbabwe’s economy has finally revealed itself, courtesy of Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the country’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T). 

Precipitated by a massively rigged election of July 2013 ‘won’ by President Robert Mugabe, the fact that the country’s economy has once again slipped into the abyss is an incontrovertible and stubborn reality. Companies have been shutting down en masse. Those that haven’t are struggling to pay bills, chiefly wages. The economy is cash-strapped and a graver crisis is looming.

The one sacrosanct secret known to all Zimbabweans is that all the problems bedevilling the economy are premised on politics. The blame rests squarely with the nonagenarian dictator, Robert Mugabe, who has been presiding over a remorselessly corrupt government and holding the country hostage for 34 years.

But now, the chickens are coming home to roost, the ailing leader and his sycophants know clearly that his days are numbered. While the economy continues to implode; time is running out. At the same time, the old man is tired and clueless about how to deal with this crisis, let alone the internal fissures erupting from power struggles within his own party.

The future is uncertain. The jostling over succession in Mugabe’s Zanu PF party has intensified. Come 2018, when the country heads for the polls, one thing is certain, Mugabe’s name will not be on the ballot. Never again! In the inevitable absence of Zanu PF mastermind Robert Mugabe in 2018, the opposition MDC-T must seize the opportunity by readying itself for an imminent win, this time ultra-vigilantly to avoid another “stolen election”.

The MDC-T has had its fair share of challenges that have culminated in the suspension of internal rebels such party deputy treasurer Elton Mangoma believed to be working in cahoots with the party’s secretary general Tendai Biti for the ouster of Tsvangirai.

Naturally the question becomes: Who in the MDC-T is fit enough (physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually) to deliver victory for democracy in 2018? Now, there can be plenty of candidates for the MDC-T presidency but those plotting the ouster of Morgan Tsvangirai, at this present moment, have a minuscule apprehension of political underpinnings of opposition politics in Zimbabwe.

It is plain insincerity of purpose masquerading as leadership renewal. They are oblivious to the evil and ruthless machinations of this animal called Zanu PF which has been in power for 34 years. Since its inception, the MDC- T has endured torture and brutality. Hundreds of its members have been abducted and murdered in cold blood. Morgan Tsvangirai himself endured such.

The spawning of myriad myths that have seen Tsvangirai being portrayed as weak and unintelligent is not only mischievous and counterproductive but plain treachery to the struggle for democracy and change. Morgan Tsvangirai gives Zanu PF sleepless nights and hallucinations. Even Eddie Cross, a former rebel calling for leadership renewal in MDC-T, finally admitted at a recent rally in Bulawayo that Tsvangirai is indeed “the king” of the opposition.

He is also the lion that has been brave enough to send chills in the spines of Zanu PF’s machinery of suppression and repression, be it in the politburo, military, police or the intelligence services. Whoever does not see the hidden hand of these forces in the current so-called MDC-T leadership wrangles needs to have his or her head examined.

The hopeless rivals 

Much false equivalence on who should succeed Tsvangirai has been peddled. Some have even suggested persona non-grata Roy Bennett, the MDC-T treasurer and asylee who fled Mugabe’s torture many years ago as potential replacement, while others like Tendai Biti and Elton Mangoma have volunteered their own candidacy using underhanded craftiness.

Never mind the fact that they are viewed as elitist and detached from the grassroots and connected to donors in the West. A weaker candidate at the helm of MDC-T such as Tendai Biti or Elton Mangoma is exactly Zanu PF’s preferred scenario, tantamount to handing Zanu PF an easy triumph in 2018.

The same Tendai Biti who has betrayed the struggle by choosing to defend Gono’s blatant corruption and ill-gotten wealth (as narrated by his top aide Munyaradzi Kereke) cannot be the same Biti expected to be at the helm of MDC-T?

It is a well-known fact that Gono is the chief architect of the Zimbabwean economic crisis of yester-year. At the same time, he was the main sponsor and funder-in-chief of Zanu PF operations that maimed and killed hundreds of MDC-T activists during the violent period leading to the GNU. He (Gono) printed money willy-nilly to bankroll Zanu PF campaigns of terror in 2008.

Tsvangirai even envisioned what many in Zanu PF did not see soon after the election. He said, “I want to tell you (the people) that you won the 31 July election. You did not lose it, but it is Robert Mugabe who stole the election and is causing a national crisis and I will not let you down until we achieve democratic change.

Although Zanu PF stole the election, it cannot steal the economy”. The ongoing MDC-T transformation and regrouping is a necessary evil to fortify the party. It is a self-cleansing exercise aimed at annihilating and completely weeding out sell-outs in preparation for the mother of all battles in 2018. It was about time that political liabilities and moles like Elton Mangoma were offloaded.

Economic implosion

In any case, without MDC-T in government sooner, 2018 is light years away given the accelerated pace of economic malaise. No one in the Mugabe-led government has solutions on how to remedy the economic crisis. It is only through MDC-T, led by its selfless, courageous, dedicated, tried and tested leader Morgan Tsvangirai that negotiations to reintegrate Zimbabwe into the community of nations will be successful again.

This is a replay of what we saw when the country was burning prior to the GNU in 2009. It is not stupidity to see the country re-uniting again to have economic sanity prevailing. That is called national interest.

Take for instance the stoppage to economic haemorrhaging during the hyperinflation era; it was the MDC T under the leadership of Tsvangirai which brought about sustained progress for five years, extricating the nation from imminent collapse caused by the plunder and mismanagement of national resources by the ruling elite.

But for now Tsvangirai has to contend with current and impending bout of harsh media criticisms and concoctions, especially from the State mouthpieces such as The Herald “run” by Mugabe’s propaganda chief, Jonathan Moyo (minister of information). The State media has been relentlessly reporting the death of MDC-T. Unknown to them however, is the truth that MDC-T is rejuvenating itself fast and furiously.

No sane foreign investor would want to put his or her money in a lawless country infested with a leadership experienced for decades in greed, corruption and looting. Zanu PF under Mugabe has become the country’s biggest liability.

Zimbabwe is perennially debt-saddled and corruption-weary all because of a government built on deception. Under the pretext of indigenisation and land repossession, the country has been gobbled to its knees. Who are the chief beneficiaries of land and company seizures? It is the same multi-farm owning ministers and their cronies, all of them masquerading as patriots and liberators.

Regrettably it is only now that this is beginning to make sense in the eyes of the public that has been duped all along. The degree to which the ministers and their parastatals have been siphoning public funds since 1980 is shocking.

A special mention goes to Cuthbert Dube, the single biggest looter of public funds ever exposed so far. Recently fired from his job of 22 years as CEO of the government-owned medical aid society PSMAS, this man earned a monthly salary of over US$500,000 (yes, United States dollars!) notwithstanding the fact that Zimbabwe is an impoverished nation.

Zanu PF corruption

Morgan Tsvangirai’s every effort to reform the parastatals and security apparatus as stipulated under the terms of GNU agreement was blocked from all Zanu PF angles specifically to preserve the status quo. For instance with police chief Augustine Chihuri and prisons chief Paradzai Zimhondi at the helm, everyone in the Zanu PF gravy train will always be safe. They loot together.

Mugabe’s incapacity to deal with corruption is deliberate and historical in the sense that for years he has been the major beneficiary of corruption. Sycophancy nurtures the personality cult that he attained soon after Independence. His servile flatterers benefit immensely in the process as they dabble in corruption with ample protection from him.

Take former Mines minister (now recycled as transport minister) Obert Mpofu for instance. This a civil servant who through murky diamond deals from Chiadzwa wound-up owning a bank in broad daylight. His explanation is that he got the money from businesses he owns in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city where he hails from. It is no secret that most Bulawayo companies have closed shop there. What kind of profitable businesses does he run in Bulawayo to warrant millions of dollars (in cash) that he invested towards acquiring Allied Bank?

During the mind boggling $2 billion Chiadzwa diamond fraud case previously before the courts, former ZMDC chief executive Dominic Mubaiwa, through his lawyer Advocate Lewis Uriri, stated that Obert Mpofu wrote a letter to Mugabe and signed it “Your ever-obedient son”.

In addition, the co-accused, Lovemore Kurotwi’s defence lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa alleged that Mpofu demanded a bribe from her client on two occasions after concluding the Canadile Diamond deal.

Mtetwa further argued in the High Court that “after signing the MOU, the minister said these words “vakomana ini ndapedza rangu basa. Chindipai mari yangu” (implying that the minister plainly demanded payment of agreed US$2 million bribe upon completion of assigned task).

What is this Minister still doing in the corridors of power? How does Mugabe manage to reward such criminal behaviour? The answer is simple. They are in this together. The country is in desperate need for change to rid itself of this kleptocracy.

For his critics in the MDC-T party, merely deluding themselves into thinking that there’s a stronger candidate out there to defeat Mugabe is a far cry from reality. Given the recent events that have taken place in the MDC-T camp culminating in the just-ended rallies in Chipinge, Harare and Bulawayo, Morgan Tsvangirai is the people’s choice already at work to liberate Zimbabwe from tyranny and corruption. His critics have been humbled by the strong support from the grassroots where all provinces have rallied solidly behind him. This is no time for experiments.

Sore losers threatening to form splinter groups must be abundantly reminded of history’s harsh lessons. The demise of Welshman Ncube’s political career (as leader of another MDC splinter group) is a glaring example.

Top members of his executive have crossed over to rejoin MDC-T. Only hubris will keep him away. Arthur Mutambara, former deputy Prime Minister who headed another splinter group from MDC-T (MDC-M), has now evaporated into the sinkhole of political oblivion.

It’s cold out there

Job Sikhala, another splinter chief who went on to form MDC-99, having laboured for years in well-deserved obscurity has just crossed over, even though it’s not clear how MDC-T will exactly benefit from this political gambit.

 

Given all the years of political nothingness on his part since he splintered, Sikhala serendipitously realized that opportunity (to rejoin MDC-T) knocks only once at a man’s door and wasted no time seizing it. However one hopes he doesn’t morph again into a political toxin that he had become to the MDC-T.

Sikhala must be treated with all the suspicion he deserves. Hopefully, he has had enough time to comprehend the number one lesson in life called humility. Many have tried but failed, having formed splinter groups.

Tsvangirai must never be too comfortable with characters like Job Sikhala, Elton Mangoma or Tendai Biti. Talk of coalitions with other opposition parties such as Simba Makoni and his Mavambo is plainly a boring politician who should quit politics. He has nothing new to offer.

We may have disagreements with respect to the job evaluation card concerning the MDCT leader’s performance for the past 14 years. To pragmatists like us, we sincerely believe he has been a remarkable leader operating under very violent, dangerous and vexatious circumstances. T

he most important prerequisite for one to be a leader of the opposition in Zimbabwe is political courage. In this regard Morgan Tsvangirai excels! There is need to appreciate the enormous complications and the trying times he has endured. Steering the organization into becoming the only formidable challenge to ZANU PF year in year out, is no child’s play. It’s a huge achievement.

For the MDCT to be still existing today signifies great triumph against all odds (thanks to the courageous and visionary leadership of Morgan Tsvangirai) especially considering that Zimbabwe was once condemned to a vicious one-party state. This is a journey and work still in progress.

It was never going to be an easy road to freedom especially for a populace that believes in non-violence. Even Nelson Mandela spent nearly three decades in prison with the hope of leading his nation to the Promised Land. He quit after delivering that promise and having served only a single term in office.

MT offers a realistic solution to the current political miasma. People must wake up to the realities of our national politics. The country must brace itself for inevitable change given the fast approaching exit of Mugabe. This time everyone has learnt some lessons, most of them the hard way.

It is time to unite for the people’s project to succeed again. Envisage a 2018 with no Mugabe in Zimbabwe’s politics. On the ballot, it will be Morgan Tsvangirai versus … who from Zanu PF? Will it be the current Vice President Joyce Mujuru leader of one faction, Emmerson Mnangagwa the current Justice Minister and leader of the other faction, or simply anointed dark horses that will emerge last minute such as mines minister Walter Chidhakwa?

It depends on who survives the political armageddon of the century – the bloody implosion of Zanu PF currently held together by the ailing nonagenarian Dear Leader. In spite of Mugabe’s tightfistedness and indiscriminate brute power, for him time is up while time is on for Morgan Tsvangirai.

With the courageous and people-centred Morgan Tsvangirai as leader of Zimbabwe’s biggest political party, Zanu PF stands no chance. Couple that with Mugabe’s absence and stringent electoral reforms in place, MDC -T is in, come 2018.

Dr David Gore is founder and president of left leaning political think tank Global African Agenda based in Botswana. He can be reached at [email protected]