‘Tsvangirai down but not out’

By Gift Phiri

Morgan Tsvangirai is upbeat about recovering from colon cancer and confident in his medical team, his top allies have said, adding he trusts completely in the treatments he is undergoing.

The opposition leader is back in Harare convalescing after an initial round of chemotherapy, with the cancer saga appearing to have tightened the bond with his most militant backers, giving him popularity bump among hard-core supporters.

Even as he faces  potentially debilitating radiation treatment , the inexhaustible Tsvangirai, 64, has refused to slow down just as he goes into what could be his toughest election yet.

“Only a few days ago, he chaired two very long meetings of the MDC National Standing Committee as well as another meeting of the party’s provincial chairpersons,” MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu told the Daily News on Sunday yesterday.

“These were very long and exhaustive meetings but president Tsvangirai was at his usual best; very attentive to detail and raring to go. Prophets of doom might be quick to write this man off but then they will be shocked. God surely has got a purpose for Morgan Tsvangirai. Haters and other evil-minded people are going to be disappointed. The man is on his way to a remarkable and full recovery.’’

President Robert Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba gave an impression he is exulting in Tsvangirai’s health problem.

“Many ex-members of the original MDC sordidly anticipate that sekuru (grandfather) Tsvangirai will be prostrated by the affliction which has kept him out of political circulation,” wrote Charamba under his pen name Nathaniel Manheru.

“Some even eerily dream of worse outcome.”

One Standing Committee member said: “He told us with great strength: ‘I am very optimistic, I trust completely in the treatments I am undergoing, I will beat this again. I’m holding onto Christ and life.’”

Gutu said Tsvangirai is a fighter.

“The people of Zimbabwe are yet to see the best of this man. On a personal level, I have learnt a lot from his humility and empathy. He is the kind of person that is willing and able to listen to and converse with anyone; from top global politicians and business leaders to the simple villager and peasant from the rural areas,” Gutu said.

Tsvangirai, who has dominated Zimbabwean opposition politics  since taking over as MDC president in 1999, was forced earlier last week to head back to South Africa for the next operation for colon cancer.

He is expected to square off with the veteran Zimbabwean leader for the fourth time since 2002, and Tsvangirai says he is leading what he calls a generational battle against Mugabe, 92, in the do-or-die 2018 vote.

Though the 64-year-old former prime minister looked stoic and played down the dangers of his latest condition, the announcement inevitably raises questions over his ability to stand for the crucial 2018 presidential vote, analysts said.

Tsvangirai said his diagnosis of cancer is the first of several medical procedures that include treatment through chemotherapy, which treatment began last week.

Stephen Chan, a professor of World Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London told the Daily News on Sunday: “Colon cancer is not always fatal — although often is — so much would depend on the clinical nature of the diagnosis and prognosis.

“However, if it is indeed fatal in this case, then …Tsvangirai’s presence as a political figure in Zimbabwe will be sorely missed. He was far from a perfect person, but even his enemies would describe him as a man of courage.”

Southern Africa senior consultant international conflict prevention organisation International Crisis Group Piers Pigou, said it all depends how advanced the cancer is.

Adding that the surgery would be supposedly less complicated and he could be fine for the presidential race.

“My father had colon cancer 12 years ago, had a large section of his colon removed and is still reasonably well and seemingly cancer free… I don’t think you ever recover, but it seems to depend on when you catch it.

“My sense is we don’t have enough detail on his actual condition and prognosis, so it’s going to be very difficult to do anything more than really speculate in the circumstances.”

Senior  Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch Dewa Mavhinga said Tsvangirai did a highly commendable and courageous thing to be transparent and open about his health condition but this should not have any adverse impact on the country’s political discourse since he has said he has undergone a surgical operation and is on treatment to manage the cancer.

“With proper medical care, colon cancer can be easily managed leading to full recovery,” he said.

“Within his party, Tsvangirai’s deputy Thokozani Khupe, the secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora and other leaders have full capacity to lead the party while Tsvangirai takes much needed rest to fully recover. Colon cancer is not necessarily terminal, with proper medical care, Tsvangirai will be running soon, with his health playing no significant part in the determination of the formation and structure of the mooted grand coalition.”

Nobody, though, is writing off a man who has overcome so much in the past — an assassination attempt when thugs in 1999 tried to throw him from the 10th floor office of his Chester House ZCTU HQ office in central Harare, in a bid to stifle food riots, 2002 treason charges, a 2005 internal rebellion over the decision to participate in Senate elections that split his party, and an attempted coup that nearly toppled him from power after the 2013 polls.

With savvy use of media and the Internet, and drawing on his unique emotional connection with the poor, Tsvangirai still has a high chance of triumphing yet again if he can stay well enough. Daily News