| The best Zimbabwe news site on the world wide web |  |
| NEWS |
| FORUMS |
| NEWS ANALYSIS |
| READERS' FORUM |
I'm not a political robot for politicians
By Silence
Chihuri
IF PEOPLE
agitate for some show of courage in their leadership especially from
a political perspective, this does not only imply wielding enough steel
in the face of opposite numbers such as for example, Morgan Tsvangirai
in the face of Robert Mugabe.
Rather, this must also be seen to mean that leaders should have enough authority and clout to chastise wayward colleagues especially those in the higher echelons of their organisations.
My main problem with the MDC leader is that he has not been very astute and effective in that respect and many people like myself feel that had he skilfully applied himself, the MDC would not even have got to the point of splitting.
This has been a source of irritation to many people in the party and I have been one of those people. Such cold feet and severe lack of confidence on the part of the leader has also been the basis of my very open criticism of Tsvangirai but due to the siege mentality and the “with us or against us” character of African politics generally, and Zimbabwean politics in particular, some individuals have been very quick to conclude that my criticism was courtesy of some kind of political benefaction.
When I joined the MDC party it was on the ticket of my own personal conscience and have never been the subject of manipulation or a victim of excessive amenableness of wit. I have never been, and never will be sponsored by any individual member of the MDC party or any other party for that matter, to serve as their political robot or a custodian of their political ambitions.
There are a few terribly misguided individuals who have sought to take it upon themselves to conclude that simply because I have chosen to openly and very justifiably point out at Tsvangirai shortcomings, I should therefore fit the mould of Welshman Ncube’s protégé. At best this demonstrates the chronic non-existence of the middle ground in Zimbabwean politics and at worst it betrays a very disturbing lack of mental independence and self belief. What these people conveniently forget is that my criticism of Tsvangirai is not personal but in the national interest because given the position that he occupies at present there is every possibility that Tsvangirai could be in charge of shaping our country’s destiny.
Whatever these people’s definition of sponsorship or whatever their own warped understanding of the word is, my own understanding does not give it any relevance to the character of my very general interaction with Welshman Ncube just like any other member of the MDC party. In fact I have never really appreciated Welshman Ncube’s approach to national politics and I have been one the most open and fiercest critics of his style in the party. I actually got the spring to lurk at Tsvangirai’s political collar from the fact that I have repeatedly made it plainly clear to him that there is need for him to reign-in on errant party officials no matter their seniority in the party but he has grown disturbingly cold feet in that regard.
I feel very good about criticising Tsvangirai because I criticised Welshman Ncube more than enough and I also pointed it out to Tsvangirai but was only dismayed that he did not feel duty bound to do anything about it especially when it was not just myself who was raising concern. The reason why I did not call for Welshman to resign as Secretary General is because it is not for me as an individual to make such calls, but we all have the moral duty to point out at the mistakes of our leaders and not fear reprisals or falling out of favour. I for one I am not in the MDC to seek anyone’s favour, neither am I in there to take something out of the MDC. I only joined the party simply because I saw it not necessarily as a mere alternative to Zanu PF, but as part of that vital process of redefining Zimbabwean politics. I never joined the party to get anything out of it but to contribute whatever it is that I could, to ensure the MDC moved forward as a political force and in so many respects I have achieved, and will continue to do that and critiquing the leadership is part of my contribution.
This is why even when I was elected Treasurer for the MDC UK I set up a very unique system whereby I was only a ceremonial Treasurer who never actually handled any money because I never really saw any reason to touch that money. All the money from the sale of membership cards was deposited into the MDC Trust Account from wherever the cards were sold in the UK, and all I requested at most was simply for Branches to fax to me their deposit slips as show of proof. Everyone who has been a true member of the MDC here in the UK and some of the leaders in Zimbabwe should be fully aware of how we operated. This was why those people here in the UK who were present at the Leicester meeting overwhelmingly agreed on elevating me to the position of Chairman due to the severe inadequacy of the previous incumbent whose lack of leadership was fanning more disunity in the party. Only irresponsible mischief makers who do not have any constructive things to say would want to show their offence from my constructive criticism of defective leadership through parroting untruths. I strongly feel that I have a duty to actually point out things that are in the national interest. Why should we want to confine our criticism to Zanu PF leadership only?
The reason why some of us have chosen to remain neutral is that everyone is calling for unity in the MDC and most people do agree that an MDC that is split in the manner the party has been decimated will never be as effective a force as it was especially in the last five years. There is a lot of discord at the moment and confusion is reigning supreme in the party with repetitive voicing of the same sentiments albeit in different paraphrases, and lately the fielding of parallel candidates for local government elections. Most of us would also still want to believe that the party will benefit more from getting back together than as two splinter groups campaigning against each other and this is why we said we will not align ourselves to any group or individual not even the so-called Tsvangirai’s group let alone Welshman’s group.
Of course we have
at times been attacked for our suppose lack of faith in the leader due
to our zero tolerance to blind loyalty, yet some of us have been very
consistent hard workers in the party. One defective nature of African
politics is that people worship individuals and this is why when it
comes to choosing successors there are nearly always problems because
the party is moulded around an individual rather than the constitution
forming the basis for the operation of the party. We still hope however,
that sanity is going to prevail and that unity will still be achieved
in the MDC. Criticising Tsvangirai does not necessarily mean that there
should not be unity because unity of the party could still be there,
with or without Tsvangirai, with or without Welshman Ncube. Trouble
only starts when individuals are accorded greater status than that of
the nation and this is really a serious cause for concern.
Silence Chihuri is the chairman of MDC UK. He can be contacted at:
silencechihuri@hotmail.com
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS
ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
debate@newzimbabwe.com
All material copyright newzimbabwe.com
Material may be published or reproduced in any form with appropriate credit to this website