Why war veterans need to embrace Morgan Tsvangirai

 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown” (Luke 4:24).

By Chana Chavatete

I grew up to know this verse both at catechism and during my school days. But that was then because I desperately needed to receive the Holy Communion and later I needed to pass.

Growing up in a typical polygamous patriarchal family in the dusty village of Bikita, I knew that each person who became successful within this big family was likely going to be despised, accused or witchcraft or something evil.

No one believed in hard work, prayer nor focus as traits that could bring success. Even the uncles who didn’t sent their children to school especially their daughters, still believed early marriage was the solution to their misery and if those marriages fail to work it was because of some curse from a long gone aunt who died without being married.

Sadly generations that grew up in this set up picked up the narrative and owned it as if it was theirs. The family became divided not only along mothers, but also along the success stories of respective families. Those families who chose to work hard, remain focused and prospered found it easy to fit into the global village, defined as big cities and modern knowledge. However in the broad polygamous family there were always two extremes of children, the most successful and the least one.

The former would come back home and introduce to us importance of a blair toilet, s/he was met with resistance as people resisted change or alternatives, comes next time with idea of crop rotation, and was told the family has survived the worst droughts without those “town” ideas. This lived experience came back to me vividly and made me to recall the verse from Saint Luke when I woke up to a headline that read: “Tsvangirai a better devil: War Vets”

The genesis of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was not by accident and those who led it were not picked up from a dump site. It was a protracted and strategic journey that started in 1996 with a simple “Beyond ESAP Advocacy Programme” that looked and reviewed the impact of the ill fated Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP).

Therefore, between February 26 and 28 1999  working people from all corners of Zimbabwe, rural, urban and all economic sectors gathered to what then became known as The National Working People’s Convention (NWPC). Some of the objectives of this meeting were to identify and state the concerns, aspirations and priorities for the nation.

To identify strategies to address those national priorities and to unify working people around an agenda for action based on these strategies. Critical point that the convention resolved was that a path to positive and sustainable economic and political development be restored in Zimbabwe.

This included a people driven and centred democratic constitution amongst many other socio-economic and political issues and concerns. As a concluding resolution the convention noted that the NWPC will not realize all the resolutions and demands unless there is a strong, democratic, popularly driven and organized movement of the people. This gave birth to the people’s project known as MDC led by one Morgan Richard Tsvangirai

Thereafter as one of the notable action points, a constitutional movement initially chaired by the same Tsvangirai, was created after having noted the deficiencies in the then existing one that was out of touch with the people’s rights, could not facilitate transfer of power but was keen on presidential centralism and retention of power.

A struggle that took a good 14 years and today even war vets rushed to the new constitution after being tear gassed in Harare this year. This proves that the leadership of the MDC and the then National Constitutional Assembly over the years was gifted with vision, focus and people oriented.

The strength of Morgan Tsvangirai to survive this long bumpy road against a perpetual brutal Mugabe regime is largely premised on the fact that he is a product of these social movements hence his power to resonate with the people and their needs.

A man who respects the war veterans and the liberation struggle, Tsvangirai understands that the decisions the war vets made then to liberate the country from colonial bondage was not an easy one.

These brave men and women who largely then were young people saw the need of building “strong, militant, popularly driven and organized movement of the people”. Whether it was ZANU (PF) or (PF) ZAPU the cause and vision was the same. Just like kids from a polygamous family, those comrades who joined the liberation struggle took that narrative of liberation as theirs and owned it.

Fast forward, What Tsvangirai saw in the early 90s as the secretary general of Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) reminded him of what he had experienced under the Smith regime as a young boy and mine worker, sadly this time around its was now black on black. Its was similar to what Matemadanda or Mahiya saw from wherever they were.

Segregation took a new meaning, racism took a new face, violence took a new definition and the suffering of Zimbabweans continued unabated in the new republic.  Change was needed.

The economic meltdown after some careless decisions by the Mugabe government over the past decade, the violence witnessed in every election and the politicization of state institutions required a visionary and a serving leader and not selfish or a gate keeper. To challenge a mammoth system like ZANU(PF) for 16 years demands a focused and consistent leader who is not trapped by side shows was needed.

For War vets to even look at Morgan Tsvangirai as a ‘devil’ because he is a “defined enemy” is a bit over stretched.  Here is the same man who has lost a lot in the quest of bringing a home grown solution to the democratization of Zimbabweans.

Things that can not be lost in an independent state. It doesn’t need a rocket scientist or the West for Zimbabweans to realize that enough is enough and that Mugabe must step down.  Tsvangirai has won many elections and even with the pain of being cheated upon, he never resorted to violence as a stop gap measure.

Instead it is his supporters who were killed or maimed by rogue war vets and youth militia and to a big extent supported by the state machinery.  It is the same Tsvangirai who on two occasions, people showed him that he was not a devil as he got the mandate to lead the party after other comrades decided to go separate ways or after rigged elections.

The real challenge that our War vets find themselves in, is that of isolation from the elite cabal that they created over the years and has taken over their supply line to resources or have totally shut them out of the loot distribution matrix.

According to War Vets Secretary General one Victor Matemadanda referring to ZANU(PF) elite, whilst talking to African News Network7 he said “ they have taken over the land around towns and they are leaders of land barons. They are heading every corrupt activity that you see.”

He conveniently forgets that it was the same group of war vets who declared war on Tsvangirai and his party, who marched the streets of Harare in support of the same elites who today have dumped them and are ‘eating’ alone.

Can they honestly say that a man who won an election in 2008 and choose to be subordinate to their losing candidate for the sake of stability and economic recovery is anywhere near a resemblance of a devil?  A man who during just his party’s presence in the in Inclusive Government made and turned the fortunes of Zimbabwe around in a record time?

It is against this background that genuine War Vets who for long have lived with the people both as soldiers (fish and water) and as demobilized civilians (van guards) get to understand that different generations have different mandates. You cannot run the way you used to some 40 years ago, neither can you respond to the changing economic and political dynamics with the same effectiveness.

It is therefore unfortunate to label those who have chosen a difficult journey, path and an alternative peaceful option to liberate Zimbabweans from the current leadership, crisis and fraudulent gangsters in the manner Mutemadanda described the leader of the people’s project founded by ordinary workers, students and peasants who yesterday provided shelter, information and food to the same war vets.

In conclusion it is that son (Tsvangirai) with a vision and leadership or daughter from my polygamous family who will tell his or her siblings that:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 18).

It is my hope that War vets begin to see Morgan Tsvangirai as one of us who deserves embracing and not ridicule.