Labour Court case exposed MDC Renewal

By Benjamin Chitate

OPINION – When Toendepi Shonhe and other MDC Renewal officials went to the Labour Court to sue the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC-T for unfair dismissal, they knew very well that there was no dispute over who was the real MDC-T between the Sekai Holland-led MDC Renewal and the Morgan Tsvangirai-led outfit.

If they really believed that the Sekai Holland-led grouping was the genuine MDC-T, then they should have gone to court as they were already working for the same party.

Interestingly, while they sued the Morgan Tsvangirai-led outfit, MDC Renewal also got a share of the money given to political parties under the Political Parties Finance Act. They should, therefore, have simply got their salary payment from that allocation.

What they did not realise is that their action amounted to saying indirectly that there was no contest as to which group between the Tsvangirai-led MDC-T and the MDC Renewal was the legitimate MDC-T which is represented in parliament.

Fortunately, the Labour Court realised the merits of their argument and in its ruling, confirmed that the Tsvangirai-led MDC-T was the legitimate MDC-T which had the right to recall parliamentarians and Senators. Their action only proves how greedy some of our politicians have become.

Now that the Speaker of Parliament has made the right decision and approved the recall of the MDC Renewal parliamentarians, the work that all democratic forces in Zimbabwe should do is to push for electoral reforms NOW, before the bye-elections for the vacant seats can be held.

All MDC formations have said they will not participate in any elections until meaningful reforms to the electoral process have been made.

I believe that such reforms are already contained in the new Constitution, so the work to democratise the electoral process has already began in a way and only needs to be completed, a much easier task, I think, just that there is no political will on the part of Zanu PF.

In any case, Zanu PF wouldn’t grant reforms that disadvantage them, so the those calling for the reforms have to fight for them.

I wouldn’t conclude my opinion piece without criticising those who have been blaming the MDC-T for giving away the seats to Zanu PF since the MDCs have vowed they will not contest in elections without reforms.

All those who have said so have only been proving to the public that they are not prepared to fight for the same reforms to take place. Some of them were actually wanting to enjoy salaries from parliament until the next general election is held.

My call is for everyone: Morgan Tsvangirai, Professor Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti, Dumiso Dabengwa, Sekai Holland, Civic Society and everyone else who cares about Zimbabwe, to put as much pressure as possible not only on Mugabe and Zanu PF, but on all institutions that can help bring about the reforms, including SADC and the African Union, to play their part in ensuring something positive happens before the by-elections to replace the recalled legislators.

If you are genuinely fighting for positive change, you should be able to forget your petty political differences and work together only for the sake of reforms.

Individual parties will contest the elections separately, or those that can form alliances or unite such as the current work in progress between the Professor Ncube led MDC and the Renewal Team can still exercise their constitutional rights to do so.