Defections expose Ncube as a ‘village politician’

By Mutsa Murenje

I am not surprised at all that Professor Welshman Ncube’s officials and supporters are defecting to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

Ncube only has himself to blame for all that is happening now. He is his own greatest enemy and nothing will be achieved by assuming or even wishing the contrary. For this reason, I have a point of view I want to express in this contribution, I will express it and damn the consequences.

No one can ever censor the expression of my political thought. My vision remains that of a nation in which we all live in stably integrated communities, where political and civic power is shared by people of different ethnicities.

I haven’t really changed; I remain that implacable, consistent and, without doubt, outspoken critic of dictatorship wherever it is found. Denis Waitley once said that “There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them”.

The majority of us chose the latter but it is doubtful if Welshman Ncube chose the same. He may have the ability to get to the top but he clearly lacks the character to keep him there. In particular, he appears to be more of a tribal rather than a national leader.

Some people have actually described him as a village politician and still some see him as a fraud. Can Ncube really take us to the Promised Land, that land of milk and honey? It is highly unlikely that he will be able to do so.

Ncube remains a divisive element and the recent defections that have seen his councillors crossing the floor have exposed him for who he really is. That development is a lethal blow to his flaccid formation.

His own disillusioned and tired councillors have said that they are in dire need of unity but Ncube appears to have a different agenda altogether.  As if that wasn’t enough, they went even further to say that Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s party is the only ‘party of the people’. So you see what I mean?

Like every human being, I am mortal. I am a descendant of that progenitor of ours, that first man, who was made from the soil. I was conceived from the sperm of a man, in the pleasure of intercourse. For thirty-six weeks my flesh took shape in the blood of my mother’s womb.

When I was born in that rural village in Chipinge, Zimbabwe I came into the world like anyone else. I began to breathe the same air we all breathe; and like everyone else, the first sound I made was a cry. I was wrapped in cloths and cared for. None of us ever began life differently.

For all of us, there is one way into life, and there is one way out.

In light of the foregoing revelation and especially given the perilous state of our nation, it is stupid and idle talk to regard Ncube as representing the people when he speaks, not their language, but his own.

Each time that he opens his mouth Ncube represents himself alone. The advent of a society in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want remains the highest aspiration of the people of Zimbabwe.

We, the suffering and oppressed people of Zimbabwe ask the painful, yes we torment ourselves with these questions: Why is Mugabe so capricious, unfair? Why does he delight in watching us squirm, why does he stamp out human beings like cigarette butts?

Why do people like Ncube and Mutambara appear to be working closely with Mugabe at the expense of the people? For divisions only work to prolong our suffering. And the longer Mugabe is in power, the longer we also are going to suffer.

Is it not necessary, therefore, that a united front be formed to confront Mugabe and his evil regime? Can’t we take a leaf from the Rainbow Coalition in Kenya that saw Daniel Arap Moi losing power to incumbent President Mwai Kibaki? We, surely, can do and deserve better.

Mugabe’s authoritarian regime is characterised by partial or complete absence of constitutional rights and freedoms, the prohibition of democratic parties and working people’s organisations, reduction in the number of elective state organs, and the concentration of power in the head of State.

It is the psychosis of militarism that helps strengthen Mugabe’s party. He is striving to expand his social base. His growth is promoted by the strengthening of bureaucratic power, the broadening of the legal base for police repression, and the enactment of anti-worker, anti-popular legislation.

Ncube appears to be dishonest in our thinking. We all know, don’t we, that a man who cheats in little things more than cheats in big things-could even be positively dangerous. As a consequence, Zimbabweans value character more than they do intellect in governmental affairs.

We are indeed a little distrustful of intellectual subtlety or cleverness unless assured that character underlies it. Morgan Tsvangirai has impressed us in this regard. He is as gentle as a feather. He, also, is a gentleman for his humble origins. There is no better man, no fairer and squarer than he for miles and miles.

We positively support his pragmatic approach to our national contemporary issues hence the sort of publicity he receives from the media and the kind of impact and influence he has on our minds and bodies.

Honesty, deep seriousness, a firm sense of principle, candour and resolution define Tsvangirai’s personality. For his reputation of honesty is universal, and his affections seem so publicly guided that no corrupt or private ends can bias them.

In Tsvangirai we see the courage (which Ncube lacks) of an intelligent, far-sighted and reasonable man anxious to hold the ship of state to its true course. To this end, Tsvangirai has suffered beatings, jailings and other brutalities.

With each bloody confrontation Tsvangirai has become stronger not weaker. Ncube cannot make these sacrifices because of his condescending attitude.

Need I say more?

Of course Tsvangirai’s life is a clear testimony that Ncube is quite depressing and is no doubt an irritating part in our struggle for a free, just and democratic Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai has always been noble in language, generous and conciliatory in tone.

The truth is that Ncube will never make it in politics. He has reached the end of his political career and the earlier he realises this, the better.

In finale, “Necessity compels me to speak true rather than pleasing things….I should indeed like to please you; but I prefer to save you, whatever be your attitude toward me” (Daniel Webster).  I rest my case.