Is the opposition in Zimbabwe a spent force?

By Tapiwa Chininga

Never in the history of Zimbabwe’s post independence politics has the pro-democracy movement looked so vanquished than the period following 31 July 2013, after a crushing defeat at the hands of Zanu PF.

The various parties that had taken it upon themselves to liberate Zimbabwe from Zanu PF misrule now appear to have lost some form, if not in the precipice.

I have talked to some opposition hard nuts who confessed that they are considering defecting to Zanu PF because they don’t see change coming soon and their ambitions may go to the drain if they don’t take that painful decision.

Their view is not motivated by any good things Zanu PF have to offer or any realization that Zanu PF has transformed into a party with solutions for the challenges the people are facing, but by a grudging admission that the chances of removing the Mugabe regime are near zero in the current circumstances.

They simply have no way to stop Zanu PF from rigging again and relinquishing their grip on state institutions that have been abused to tamper with the vote for so many years. So if you can’t beat them join them, they say.

This frustration is all over Zimbabwe and voters are worn out resulting in massive apathy in elections. To the ordinary Zimbabwean who has been on the frontline in the struggle for change in many years, the election will not solve the Zimbabwean crisis.

The opposition look tired and finished than before leaving others to call for change and renewal of leadership in the movement.

SIX months after Robert Mugabe cheated his way to victory in the hotly disputed July 2013 presidential election, there is a growing chorale in analysis and observations that the once solid opposition forces are painfully descending to the dustbins of history as they fight for their political life amid accusations they did too little to cement their democratic foot in the political landscape and improve the country during their five years sharing power with Zanu PF.

Some think “Tsvangirai, for many years a figure of heroic stature and resistance to authoritarianism, is in permanent eclipse.”

Their nemesis and old time foe, Zanu PF is leading the crusade, going all over town singing that the opposition is dead and buried.

Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa was recently quoted scorning the ex-majority party MDC- T led by former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai following a consultative meeting the MDC-T held with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) last week.

“The whole world now knows that they (MDC-T) are a spent force, no-one can take them seriously anymore.

“Even their British friends no longer take them seriously. I don’t know why they are wasting their energy holding such meetings because they are of no consequence. But you can’t stop them because it’s their democratic right. To us whatever they resolve to do is of no effect and consequence,” Mutasa said.

Even though this seems to be the rankest propaganda, the various post election problems bedeviling the opposition in Zimbabwe have created genuine fears the opposition have reached their waterloo.

For my part, I cannot believe that God would wish these evil Zanu PF people who are plaguing the people of God to bind us permanently.

But the 13 July elections seem to have done just that, throwing our opposition into abyss and staying there, judging by the dire state of affairs in the country, at least according to the prophets of doom.

MDC-T leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai previous comrades are even singing the same chorus although they are not any better and have nothing to write home about in terms of their credentials in the struggle for a new Zimbabwe.

But Tsvangirai does not agree with this view. He intends to keep fighting.

“I’ve faced a lot of personal torment from [Mugabe],” Tsvangirai says. “I’ve been arrested, I’ve been charged with treason, I’ve been battered … but you know what? … Democratic struggle isn’t an event. It’s always a process. This is only a setback. Democratic change has been delayed but it has not been abandoned.”

Before this, opposition politics looked lucrative with tempting opportunities for budding young Zimbabweans aspiring for entry into the politics of the country.

They had become a towering stature carrying the hopes of a free Zimbabwe, buoyed by massive discontent of the Zanu PF system of government. Come the July 2013 elections, the parties hesitantly participated in the flawed election, although common sense and realism was giving them a clear-cut signal that the election was already rigged.

MDC-T leader Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai even declared that he was going to make history by winning a rigged election. I understood him. He was between a hard place and a rock. Zimbabweans are generally prisoners of hope including Tsvangirai himself.

They have suffered too much and are tired of battling the Zanu PF system. So the election was a quick fix opportunity to fulfill their aspirations and restore their dignity than the popular and dangerous Arab spring like revolution.

A decision not to participate would have been a betrayal of those fervent hopes for a free Zimbabwe. No sane Zimbabwean could have stomached it.

The result of the election was obvious to doomsayers. Zanu PF succeeded to convince the world that it is still powerful, when in fact it is not.

Many opposition activists are now tyrannized, dominated by Zanu PF and the prevailing ideology and invincibility that Zanu PF will never leave power or at least change will not come soon.

For their part and political prowess, Zanu PF can be credited for out witting their now evidently disillusioned opponents.

The bitter truth for all of us who detest Zanu PF scotched earth policies of politics, the judgment is still that Zanu PF is in power, destining us to perpetual opposition politics and poverty for the ordinary Zimbabwean. In Zanu PF circumstances, it does not matter the means, the end justifies the means as the saying goes.

The opposition have made a lot of mistakes that cannot be overlooked. They are quarrelsome, allowing Zanu PF to cheer them when their house is burning. The blame game has done much more damage to the pro democracy forces collectively than making them strong against Zanu PF, their supposed opponent.

Criticism has its place but the abnormal psychoses, snarling and fouling is mischievous and malicious as it is being done in an unhelpful manner.

What the opposition really need are rather effective strategies to unlock the unfair political system in which Zanu PF controls State institutions, broadcast media, and have corrupted our traditional chiefs who now behave like Zanu PF political commissars ensuring voter registration is biased to their paymasters, taking advantage of the fact that rural folk are vulnerable to intimidation.

They must come up with solutions on how to stop Zanu PF gerrymandering tricks.

Conway Tutani, assistant editor of Newsday, captured this tragedy that is eating the opposition more concisely in his opinion piece last week in the daily.

“Instead of cutting deals, they were cutting each other’s throats over a prize which was not yet within their grasp. They fought for a slice of an ever-diminishing cake, squeezing themselves out of political space already much unfairly shrunk by the anti-reformist Zanu PF — as seen in their contemptuous disregard of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) — with the latter enjoying this at the ringside” ,wrote  Tutani, disagreeing with Takura Zhangazha’s diagnosis that Tsvangirai’s generation has failed us.

Phillan Zamchiya, an expert on Zimbabwean politics at the University of Oxford also gave an interesting opinion on the dilemma in the opposition camp.

“The MDC are very good at describing the problems in Zimbabwe,” says Phillan Zamchiya, “And once they describe a problem, they can run a very strong election campaign around it. But they’re much weaker on thinking up solid alternatives.”

In fact, he says,” the MDC” as the biggest opposition force in the country,” has lost much of its sheen over the last five years, as the party transitioned from serving as the mouthpiece for the disenfranchised to actually participating in the gritty business of governing.”

The characteristic reasoning above epitomizes the genesis of the problem in Zimbabwe. It is a vicious blame game that does not offer any credible alternative solution to the problem.

Many comrades do not appreciate that they are part of the very team that have failed to offer a credible alternative as a patriotic people wanting change for their beloved country. They do not understand that it is not enough to apportion blame to others, one must take responsibility.

“ It’s not that the opposition has not been up to the challenge ”, Tutani observed in another article,” but that the system has not supported — in fact, has fought against — their best, honest and legitimate efforts to effect change procedurally and peacefully as desired by the people whenever and wherever “.

“In democracy, there is nothing wrong in criticizing people, but it is wrong to be so contemptuous and vitriolic against Tsvangirai at the expense of the real authors of our national problems. Surely, Tsvangirai is not at the core of the national crisis, but is part of the solution and not the problem.

It becomes worrying when more energy is spent on denigrating him at the expense of those who have sent this economy to its knees.” Luke Tamborinyoka said.

“Zhangazha and the political institution to which he belongs must stop attacking others, but should instead give us their programme

They must tell us how they hope to right things in this country instead of attacking Tsvangirai as if he is the single human impediment to peace and development in Zimbabwe”, Luke Tamborinyoka, the MDC leaders spokesperson emotionally lamented after a vitriolic critique of his boss by Zhangazha.

Unless the opposition change path and find out from their mistakes of the past, the tag that they are forces that will never unseat Zanu PF government will continue to gain currency.

Tapiwa Chininga is a Journalist and Law student based in South Africa.