Wednesday 23 May 2018

'BBC HardTalk painted Chamisa as immature and unwise," complain MDC - but he is unwise N Garikai

When I was in high school, we had a hard-boiled male sexist teacher who hated woman of all ages with a burning passion. What irritated me most about him is the way he would go to town about how he was the most open-minded and fairest individual on earth, “not a drop of sexist blood in my veins”, he would say.

Reading Tafadzwa Chigwende’s (MDC-T Oxford Branch Youth Chairman) complain against BBC HardTalk presenter, Steven Sucker, reminded me of my sexist high school teacher.

“It is our sincere belief that journalists should be allowed to do their work without fear or favour but we also equally believe that in doing so they should be fair, transparent and free of bias,” started off Tafadzwa.

“1. Right from the onset it appeared Mr Sucker was bent on belittling Mr Chamisa by adopting an overbearing posture and insinuating that he was lacking in basic human decency and compassion by “seizing” the interim leadership of the MDC even before its late leader Morgan Tsvangirai had been buried. As far as we are concerned this issue had been dealt with within the party structures.”

Tafadzwa is entitle to his/her opinion as to what constitutes an “overbearing posture” what is objectionable is he/she should be complaining about such subjective issues!

Of course, there was nothing honourable in the way Chamisa seized power following Tsvangirai’s death. It is not clear here is whether Tafadzwa sees nothing wrong with what Chamisa did or is objecting to BBC bring this up since the issue was “dealt with within the party structures”. Either way, there is really no basis for complaining.

Chamisa argued that he seized power to “bring stability” in the party and Mr Sucker was right to point out that his brought more chaos and confusion instead. MDC members have been defensive on this point but more out of their usual dirty habit of burying their heads in the sand whenever they are confronted with facts, realities and home truths they do not like.

“2. Mr Sucker was at pains to paint our President as immature, irresponsible and unwise to be a leader. He insisted that incumbent President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa was already displaying these attributes since he took power in November 2017 but that our President was not. He then cited proceeded to cite several promises which our President had made at his campaign rallies and referred to them as “fantasy”. At one stage he referred to Mr Chamisa’s reference to his desire to see bullet trains in Zimbabwe as “beyond nonsense”. We believe that the use of such an adjective is grossly disrespectful to any political leader irrespective of their origin and stature. We doubt that Mr Sucker would have said the same to a person like for instance US President Donald Trump.”

A bullet train travelling at 800 km/hour on Zimbabwe’s dilapidated railway network is “beyond nonsense”, as Mr Sucker rightly said. Tafadzwa is complaining here because he/she believed this nonsense and, like the shallow minded person he/she is, expected everyone else to do the same.

There was really nothing in the HardTalk programme for Tafadzwa to complain about. People like him think that by admitting up front their undying support for freedom of expression, free press, etc. they are thereafter free to wield their unlimited powers to stifle freedom of expression to the extent of proscribing what posture a journalist interviewing MDC leaders can have, what issues they can bring up, what adjectives they can use, etc., etc.
   
“It is therefore our wish that the BBC should rectify this as a matter of urgency by apologising to the whole wide MDC membership and call for another fair and open interview with our President based on facts not hearsay, gossip and conjecture,” concluded Tafadzwa.

“This is so that the organisation’s image is not seen in an unfavourable view by the general membership of our party and all right-thinking Zimbabweans who have suffered under the ZANU-PF regime with poor governance and service delivery and currently struggling with acute cash shortages, poor health delivery, corruption and other ills associated with poor governance.”

Tafadzwa is right on one point – no right-thinking Zimbabweans were impressed by Chamisa’s pathetic performance.

Steven Sucker was right in say many people, both Zimbabweans and none Zimbabweans, view President Mnangagwa and his coup thugs as a wiser alternative to Chamisa and his MDC Alliance. Give Zanu PF’s 38 years of total economic ruins, vote rigging and brutal political oppression; that speaks volumes of just how utterly useless these people view MDC to be.

The HardTalk programme should have been a wake-up call on all MDC members and leaders alike to demand greater openness and democratic competition at all levels within the party as the cure to the party’s perpetual problem of mediocre leaders. But, judging from Tafadzwa’s complain, the party is doing the exact opposite; bury its head in the sand and blame BBC, in this case, for the party’s lack of competent leaders!


“Mr Sucker was at pains to paint our President as immature, irresponsible and unwise to be a leader!” said Tafadzwa. No, Tafadzwa Chamisa IS immature, irresponsible and unwise and the sooner blind MDC followers like you wake-up to that reality the sooner the nation will have competent leaders who will finally expose Zanu PF leaders like Mnangagwa for the corrupt, vote rigging and murderous thugs they are!

5 comments:

Zimbabwe Light said...

HardTalk is not the kind of programme to be attended by corrupt and incompetent leaders like Nelson Chamisa who pretend to be what they are not because they will be expose for whom they really are in no time. Chamisa was sweating and fidgeting after the first question; why he had grabbed power before Tsvangirai's body had even left the morgue! Of course Chamisa was being disrespectful of the dead and power hungry!

Frankly, I think Chamisa got off very easily because Steven Sucker could have reminded Chamisa that MDC's track record in the GNU is everything to be ashamed of. Chamisa may be the minister who brought Wi-Fi to Zimbabwe but he cannot deny that neither he nor any of his fellow MDC leaders implemented even one of the democratic reforms the GNU was set up to do.

The real reason why Chamisa or any of the MDC leaders will never ever want to take leaders like Mugabe to court to answer for all the corruption and murders Zanu PF has committed against the nation is because ever since the GNU years MDC have become Zanu PF's partners in crime.

"If I am to be the driver of this vehicle called Zimbabwe, I do not want to drive looking in the rear-view mirror!" Chamisa had argued.

Rear-view mirrors are there for the express purpose of allowing the drive to see what is going on behind. You do not want a cunning fox, like Mugabe, to tell the world what he had been up to when you know the fox will weave your name in his narrative! Mnangagwa will never take Mugabe or any of the G40 members to court for the same reason.

Chamisa's handlers should have never allowed him to appear on HardTalk, they should have known the programme will force the REAL Chamisa to come out and so it happened. The REAL Chamisa, the corrupt, incompetent and power hungry, came out and even his most sheepishly loyal followers were shaken to the core at what they saw! Chamisa jumped up to go before the handshake, he could not wait to get out! He will not be having another HardTalk interview for a while!

ED's handlers will never allow their leader to attend a similar interview and for good reason too - ED is an incompetent, corrupt, vote rigging and murderous thug only a fool would ever agree to have his dirty exposed for the world to see.

Zimbabwe Light said...

@Ingwee

"Garikai people are not going to elect a perfect man -no! People are going to vote for new things and new people because all people who are not mentally challenged agree that Zanu pf has failed! Not only failed but dismally failed! If it was only about Zanu Pf s failing it was better but Zanu Pf s refusal to respect the will of the people is another big challenge - If not the biggest! So, it doesn't make sense for a raped woman to want to be married to the rapist! So, for Zimbabweans to really know that Zanu Pf has changed we should boot them out of power and see if they will accept and fight next time as the opposition party! My point is yes Chamisa has lied - just like all politicians do to gain support - but he can't be worse than Zanu Pf because 38yrs of lying is not a joke! So why should we fear Chamisa's 5 years? Tingatye kununa isu takasasikwa?" You say.

You are 100% right that Zanu PF has "not only failed but dismally failed"!

Where you are 100% wrong is in believing you can remove Zanu PF from power by voting the regime out. Your mistake is born out of your refusal to accept the 38 years of historic evidence of Zanu PF rigging the elections. If you do accept that Zanu PF has been rigging elections, you are foolish enough to believe that the opposition can win rigged elections.

The solution is to demand the implementation of the democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging elections BEFORE the elections. SADC leaders wanted the 2013 elections postpone until reforms are implemented. "If you go into next month's elections, you are going to lose; the elections are done!" they warn Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends.

MDC leaders did not listen then, and they are not listening now for their own selfish reason - they have settled for the scraps of gravy train seats Zanu PF gives away as bait.

It is the ordinary Zimbabweans who are being short changed here, they are the ones who are being denying their right to free and fair elections and end up stuck with this "dismally failed", corrupt, vote rigging and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. It is for the ordinary Zimbabweans, not MDC, to wake-up to the futility of participating in flawed elections.

"So why should we fear Chamisa's 5 years?" Who is saying you are fearing Chamisa's five years! MDC would have been in power a long time ago by now, they have failed to do so because Zanu PF rigs elections, RIGS ELECTIONS, RIGS ELECTIONS, etc. Which part of rigged elections are you failing to understand!

"Insanity is participating in rigged elections for 38 years and counting hoping to win!" to paraphrase Albert Einstein!

Zimbabwe Light said...

@ Tonderai Nzira

What Zanu PF want you to do is participate in the elections to give the process credibility as for who will win the elections they have the result deciced already.

With no reforms in place, you and me have a vote in these elections but Zanu PF has the veto, they will decide who is the winner! Your real weakness is failing to see the futility of taking part in an election process in which you have the vote and someone else has the veto.

SADC leaders have already said do not take part in these elections without implementing the reforms and thus take away Zanu PF's veto but they might just as well be talking to a brickwall.

"Anyone willing to see Zimbabwe heading in the better direction wouldn't even consider voting for JuntaPF…it's that simple!" said the brickwall!

Zimbabwe Light said...

@ James Ketelo

"That is loads of. Bullshit!!! People are not going to vote for a Dictator!!" you say.

Of course, the "people are not going to vote for a dictator!" that goes without saying. By the same token, no turkey would vote for Christmas! Come Christmas, many turkeys out there will die, they are being fattened up right now for the big day, because they did not have a say in the matter! The political parallel is equally true; come the elections a Zanu PF dictator will be declared the winner of the elections with the usual landslide because the ordinary people's vote would not trump the regime's veto!

Zimbabwe has never held free, fair and credible elections so that the people have a meaningful vote. Zanu PF has been rigging the elections, denying the people a meaningful vote. When one has the carte blanche powers to rig the elections as Zanu PF showed so graphically in the 2008 elections, it is clear we are dealing with a process with a predetermined outcome here. Zanu PF has the veto to decide who is the winner and therefore all the voting that follows is irrelevant in deciding the result.

What is shocking here is that even with all the evidence of Zanu PF's vote rigging prowess anyone should still be wittering about "the people are not going to vote for a dictator"! This is not about who the people will vote for because the people have as much say in this as the turkey have over Christmas!

By participating in a flawed and illegal process, you are foolishly giving credibility to a flawed process. Talk of a truck load of bulls**t, you should look in the mirror to see the one producing it!

Zimbabwe Light said...

@ Khawulani Sibanda

"I personally wanted change and that change is in the offing," you say.

If these elections are NOT free, fair and credible; with no reforms in place, they are clearly not going to be free and fair; let me tell you here and now my friend your "change is in the offing" is wishful thinking. Zanu PF is going to rig these elections as the party has done so many times in the past.