MDC constitution says a leader can remain in power for a maximum of two five year teams; so Tsvangirai’s two five years teams are up. Given his pathetic past performance he should have never lasted a year. But surprise, surprise the party now want him to remain beyond the two five year team!
The party has post pone the next congress where a new leader would have been elected until after next year’s planed national parliamentary and presidential elections. “MDC and President Tsvangirai are firmly focused on the party’s agenda for real change,” the party said.
It is not just Tsvangirai who does not want fresh leadership elections; most of those in positions of power now also do not want elections. MDC's performance has been really pathetic and the entire leadership is to blame for it. They know they will be really lucky just to hold on to their position let alone go up. As for Tsvangirai himself, he will never hold any position of power after this. It will be back to herding goats for him.
At the rate MDC is going there will be NO REAL CHANGE in Zimbabwe for a very long time. In other words Tsvangirai and friends are here to stay. Only in Africa is none performance a commendation! And there is a simple explanation why this is so; it is leaders who have all the power, the membership have none. In African politics it is the tail that wags the dog!
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“The Zanu PF hoodlums need to be told that their disruptive actions will never succeed in thwarting the will of the people of this country,” wrote Professor John Makumbe. This is the kind of wishful and wish-wash talk that landed us into all this mess.
Zanu PF hoodlums have again and again thwarted the will, the hopes and dreams of our people for three decades now and still some one pretends it has never happening and will never in the future!
Mugabe has always used violence to silence his political opponents and critics within the party Zanu PF and outside. “I have degrees in violence,” the dictator has often boosted, unashamedly. And there are countless examples where the dictator has been as good as his word.
Does Professor Makumbe remember the Gukurahundi killings in the mid 1980s? More recently, over 500 people were killed in the 2008 sham elections. Mugabe is still in power not because that is the democratic will of the people but because he used brute force to impose his will on the people. After the wanton violence of 2008 in which the Police, the Army, the CIO and other State Security Agents where actively involved, instead of covertly supporting Zanu PF thugs as in the past; it was clear nothing meaningful could ever be achieved in Zimbabwe until this elephant-in-the-room, political violence, was addressed.
“The truth of the matter is that Copac successfully held outreach meetings in something like three-quarters of this country, and the people’s views were successfully gathered and recorded,” claim Professor Makumbe.
Zanu PF launched its “Operation Chimumumu (Say Nothing)” aimed at forcing everyone other than the party’s own supporters to stay away from these outreach meeting or else say nothing if they attended. The party deployed its militia, Warvets, Soldiers, Police and CIOs; just as it did in 2008. And there have been many reports of these operatives harassing and intimidating the public before, during and after the meetings. Professor Makumbe himself acknowledge this and talked of the Zanu PF Copac chairman “fearing for his life” after the Zanu PF operative became unruly at one such meeting. An MDC supporter was murdered and many were seriously assaulted. As usual the Police stood by and did nothing. They only jumped into action when they heard there were two witnesses to the murder – they hunting for the witnesses. In lawless Zimbabwe witnesses do not get Police protection; they have even more to fear from the Police than from the criminals.
If the truth be said – and it must – Operation Chimumumu was great successful.
The so called people’s views gathered and recorded at these outreach meetings are no more a reflection of the democratic wish of the people of Zimbabwe than the 2008 presidential run-off vote!
Next year, 2011, Zimbabwe is planning to hold parliamentary and presidential elections. The politicians are already in election mode and, right on cue, Zanu PF intimidation and violence is already on the increase. The result is a forgone conclusion, yet another Zanu PF “victory”. The electorate will be beaten, raped and brutalised to ensure that they vote for Zanu PF and the whole State machinery will be programme to accept nothing else.
“What we as a nation must hope for is that the forthcoming elections will result in the emergence of a government of the people’s choice,” wrote the Professor. What have you done to ensure the people will exercise their free choice this time? Nothing, absolutely nothing! It is this blind stupidity of closing one’s eyes to reality that has made even those most supportive of Zimbabwe despair!
Can some one please tell me; who is Professor Makumbe fooling by denying the elephant-in-room in Zimbabwe politics – violence?
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