@ Another Day
You asked who else other than Tsvangirai was there to vote for. The short answer to that is anyone who has publicly said Tsvangirai is a weak leader and that Mugabe is a tyrant for a start!
Democracy has not worked in Zimbabwe and in Africa in general because we have a gullible electorate who will believe anything, the more outrageous the better. It is easier to con them than to do otherwise; they can not digest even the most basic facts of life. Is it any wonder than we have con men and women in all positions of power and authority?
Zimbabweans will vote for Tsvangirai is droves in the next elections if they are given half the chance. Not because they believe him to be a great leader but because they are desperate after thirty years of misery. They are so desperate they are not even willing to serious consider how Tsvangirai has performed in these last three years. Tsvangirai knows the people are desperate and so he is not even making the token effort to improve.
Countries like Zimbabwe are now caught in a vicious circle. Abject poverty has pushed electorate into a mental stampede; they are so desperate for change they simple have no time to think. The ruling elite are cashing in big time and are doing everything in their power to ensure the masses never escape from their poverty trap. Whilst MDC leaders and Zanu PF leaders may fight over who has what they have acted as one in making sure the public are kept in the dark about everything that would empower them in anyway, be it information on the leaders’ never ending power negotiations, how the leaders are keeping the lion’s share of the national wealth to themselves, how they pay lip-service to the suffering and deaths of the masses, etc. We need a thinking and assertive electorate to end this corrupt and repressive system of government. How can people choose right from wrong when they do not know the difference between the two? Even if Zimbabwe’s national debt was wiped out and everyone was given a rich economic inheritance, the rule of law restored complete with strong, independent and functional democratic institutions – indeed that is exactly what we had in 1980 – it would not be long before we drifted back into the hell-on-earth we find ourselves in if we remained the same gullible electorate we were back in 1980! Today we are still the same gullible electorate but only more so because we are desperate.
By stating the obvious, i.e. that Tsvangirai is a weak leader; I would say people like Biti have distinguished themselves (in Zimbabwe that is as good as they ever get!) Common sense would dictate that people should vote for him but that is assuming the people have common sense, of course.
Zimbabweans often boast about being one of the highly literate people in Africa. For all our College Diplomas, University Degrees and Doctorates we seem to have missed out on the most basic learning of them all – common sense!
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@ Another Day
“Is Biti likely to on his own?”
I can not speak for Tendai Biti or anyone of his fellow MDC leaders named in WikiLeaks. I do not know what they will do next but can guess.
First of all we have to admit that these gays knew Tsvangirai was incompetent and that he had a lot of deadwood around him and yet they still joined MDC. Even when Tsvangirai signed the GPA with Mugabe and thus betrayed everything MDC said they stood for; democracy, the memory of all those who had lost their very lives fighting for change and the future and dreams of the whole nation; Biti and his WikiLeaks bigmouths remained in their positions close to Tsvangirai. They stayed for the loot period; they have no sense of honour or principles.
As I said before Tsvangirai is aware that he is not as clever as the likes of Biti and that is why he has surrounded himself with a lot of deadwood like himself. There is safety in numbers. Now that the gene is out of the bottle Tsvangirai and his allays would want to purge the party of all the Smart-Alex a.s.a.p. Tendai Biti and his friends are well aware of this and they would jump ship but only if the move would enhance their political careers. They are opportunists through and through.
It is worth pointing out that anybody who is anybody in Zanu PF was involved in the WikiLeaks backstabbing of Mugabe. Mugabe himself would derive little comfort from the faces of those who took no part; they too wanted him out but did not have the guts and wit to say it. What plausible schemes to oust Mugabe can “Diesel from a rock” Didymus Mutasa or sleepy Sidney Sekeramai conceive? The American Ambassador would have them thrown out if they as much as criticised Mugabe in the Ambassador’s presence.
By even agreeing to talk to corrupt and ruthless people like Jonathan Moyo, Gideon Gono, Kasukuwere, Joyce Mujuru, etc. about the demise of Mugabe it shows the Americans were desperate. Still they would have been down right stupid to discuss such delicate matters with people like Mutasa!
Simba Makoni, there is another Smart-Alex and opportunist who was Mugabe’s blue-eyed boy for years but clearly did not have any respect for the tyrant but stayed in Zanu PF for the power and loot. When he finally broke away and tried to brand himself as a smart and principled alternative to Mugabe; the nation did not buy it. Smart, yes but principled, no! Biti and his friends now face the same problem. The people know that there is nothing more dangerous than giving power to a Smart-Alex with no principles or humanity; the nation has suffered these last three decades under one such Smart-Alex by the name Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
But this is not to say there are no smart and honourable Zimbabweans out there who saw Tsvangirai and Mugabe for the weak and indecisive leader and the latter for the tyrant he is and said so publicly. These quality men and women would take up position of leadership if the nation was ready to accept them.
If the masses ever stopped for one moment to consider what kind of a leader Tsvangirai and Mugabe were; I am convinced after a year in power the people would have realised what rotten leaders were and made sure they were voted out of office. It is the willingness by the electorate to scrutinise and if necessary reject leaders that will create the competitive environment necessary for the quality leaders to rise to the top. It took twenty years for Zimbabweans to realise what a tyrant Mugabe was. It will probably take tens years for Zimbabweans to realise what an incompetent leader Tsvangirai is.
Even if there was to be the Albert Einstein of politics the Zimbabwean electorate would not recognise him. How can they? Even if he was to use the simplest of languages they will not hear him; not whilst they are bend double naval gazing! The challenge is to get the electorate to pay attention and start to think for themselves and ask the would-be leaders and leaders the searching questions. Out of this tried and proved process will come out the best leaders the country has; they may not be geniuses but at least they will have common sense!
So would Biti or someone else of quality challenge Tsvangirai and Mugabe for presidency? The answer to that is yes Biti or someone else equally competent will stand for elections if Zimbabweans stop the naval gazing and take on the solemn and important task of electing leaders with the gravitas it deserves.
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