Tsvangirai is an incompetent and indecisive leader - his lack of education is irrelevant and certainly not a virtue!

@Kuju

You are not blind or do you have your eyes shut. You see the world like everyone else out there the only difference is you have a preconceived position that forces you to edit out what everything that does not fit what you expected. In the end you see everything in black and white when the real world comes in all the colours of the rainbow.

To you someone is either a baddy and so can not say or do anything right or he/she is a goody and everything and I mean everything they do or say is sheer genius. To you they are simply infallible. And anyone who dare remind you that everyone of us, you, me, those you have pigeon as the baddies and those you have labelled the goodies are capable of doing bad things as we are of doing good. We are fallible as we are mortal.

The GPA was the biggest political blunder in Zimbabwe’s modern history in that it allowed a ruthless dictator back into power complete with all his dictatorial powers. It allowed the tyrant time to regroup and put aside a war-chest of money to finance his terror machine and now he is ready.

Tsvangirai claims the last three years has allowed economic stability. “There is food in the shops” he tells us and you Kuju agree with him. There was food in the shops too in 1980 and thousands of jobs too; why then did we support the war of independence, one will have to ask, if all we wanted was food in the shops? We fought to end the exploitation and oppression so that we too can enjoy the same human rights others the world over take for granted. The same rights Mugabe has ruthlessly denied us for three decades.

In 2008 Zimbabweans risked life and limb to give MDC majority in parliament in the hope that MDC would use parliament to restore the rule of law and our human rights and dignity. Only a moron would accept Tsvangirai’s claim of delivering “food in the shops” as feeble excuse for failing not even one democratic reform.

Kuju, you need to concentrate on whether Tsvangirai is a good and competent leader and forget it is Ncube, a baddy, who said it. There is overwhelming evidence that Tsvangirai is a blundering fool and Ncube is only stating the obvious. Your jumping to Tsvangirai’s defence will not change the reality on the ground. It will only show you for what you are; another blundering fool. Two cheers for democracy; that it should grant a blundering fool like you one vote the same as me!

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@ Brain

This is not about Tsvangirai, Ncube or Mugabe. There is more at stake here than the individual. This is about Zimbabwe, the survival of the people of Zimbabwe.

After all the blunders Tsvangirai has committed in the last three years he is NOT going to get the country out of the mess Mugabe landed us in - that is a fact. And that is all that matters. The challenge before us is to start the serious search for a more competent leader and not bury our collective head in the sand.

After the circus that has been going on in MDC-N it is clear that Ncube himself, forget his university degrees, will not make a good leader either.

But this is not just a matter of either Tsvangirai or Ncube; there are many others who can lead. Zimbabwe has a population of 11 million, for Christ sake. Yes you can have your Tea Boy, Brain. But by insisting in having a blundering, flawed, indecisive and a hopeless judge of character as the man we want to rule the nation, even with hindsight of the blunders etc, only shows that as a people we are really incapable of self rule!

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Tsvangirai's poor leadership qualities is the elephant in the room. Ambassador Chris Dell called Tsvangirai a "flawed and indecisive character" way back in 2002. Even with all the evidence of Tsvangirai's countless blunders some people still refuse to accept he is way out of his depth. Professor Ncube hit on a raw nerve by stating the obvious. MDC-T had a chance to change its leaders in May and now it must pay for its failure; every punch will be aided at the raw nerve!

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I agree with Dan Williams, this has to be one of the best articles I have read on Zimbabwe for a long time. I am just concerned this will not be seen as an endorsement of Tsvangirai as a national leader given the political context today.

I can not dispute the fact that many of our well educated leaders have let us down because they lacked "principles, values, etc" as Andrew correctly pointed out. These leaders lacked common sense above all else and one does not need to hold a university degree to have that. But by the same token having no education does not necessarily mean one has common sense either.

Tsvangirai has shown again and again that he does not have common sense, principles, the ability to listen, etc., etc. If he had any common sense then he would have realised that the GPA he signed three years ago was a one side arranged giving Mugabe all the dictatorial powers and therefore unworkable. Many people told him he should not sign it but, of course, he would not listen.

We should be searching for a man or woman with common sense, humility, principles and all the other qualities of a good leader. We should accept that such a leader may or may not university qualification. We should be careful and not fall in the trap of making the lack of education a virtue just because we were betrayed by so many well educated men and women in the past!

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Prime Minister Tsvangirai shares a platform with Rev Jesse Jackson in Chicago, USA. Prime Minister appeals for America’s help in building a democratic Zimbabwe.

Mr Prime Minister you are right; "The major aim of the transitional government was to stabilize the economy and to put in place mechanisms to ensure a free and fair election in which the people’s aspirations are respected and protected." And you failed to deliver on both fronts.

People are simply sick and tired of your blaming Mugabe for these failures. People warned you the arrangement would not work but for two years you even insisting the GNU was making "progress" when all the evidence said things were getting worse.

"As Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, I commit to playing my part in providing visionary leadership that will take our people to a new Zimbabwe, a new country with new values and new ethos." The usual silverback chest-drumming!

Visionary leadership!? Well that is the one thing you, Mr Prime Minister, do not have; you can not give something that you do not and never had.

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@Black Dragon

Yes expanding Zimbabwe's education system was a very important and significant achievement by the Mugabe regime and for which Mugabe has himself receives numerous accolades. And rightly so too!

I am surprise you did not talk about the heroic sacrifice by Mugabe and his fellow Zanu PF leaders in the struggle to end white rule, exploitation and oppression. That is Mugabe’s favourite topic and one he is known to speak for hours.

You were right to criticise the article for it failure to “balance” the mistakes and the achievements. But you will have to admit that balance in something that has been noticeably lacking for this Mugabe dictatorship for thirty years! Not only has the regime and its propagandists force fed the nation on the exclusive diet of the regime’s achievements. Or should I say exaggerated propaganda stories. The education system has all but collapsed, years ago during the economic melt down and has never recovered.

Hundreds of thousands of our fellow country men and women have been terrorised and raped and tens of thousands murdered by Mugabe in the last thirty years in his drive to establish and maintain the de facto one-party dictatorship we have lived under. Mismanagement, corruption and looting have destroyed the country’s once promising economy. And yet the regime has stifled all meaningful debate on these matters. Why have you, Black Dragon, never demanded a “balance” debate then?

It was not a “balanced” debate you want Black Dragon but to focus all attention on Zanu PF’s achievements and sweep all the mistakes under the carpet.

Given the economic hell-hole Mugabe landed the nation into forcing millions into a life of abject poverty and the blatant human rights violation including the cold blooded murder of tens of thousands of innocent Zimbabweans I would say Mugabe and cronies have a lot to answer for. On balance they had done this nation a lot more harm than good and therefore are more likely to hang than be declared national heroes!
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@ Robmug

If Tsvangirai realised that Mugabe had all the power in the GPA and he had none - as it now appears to be the case - then why did he agree to enter into such a pathetic arrangement?

Tsvangirai can not have it both ways; presenting himself as a competent leader an equal partner in the GNU one day and then helpless partner the next and yet still remain a "visionary" leader. When he signed the GPA he said it was not ideal but still it was workable. What did he expect to achieve then and how does that compare to the reality? If he did not achieve what he had hoped to achieve the he must accept that he is a poor judge of character and situations. If he achieved all he hoped to achieve then the list of his achievements makes a sorry reading, one would expect a lot more from claiming to be a "visionary leader".

In other words which ever way one looks at it, Tsvangirai made a blunder in signing the GPA and, sadly, he does not even have the intellect to realise that even when it is spelt out to him! If Tsvangirai was a relative of mine I would be on the phone and tell him to do himself, MDC and the nation one big favour and resign! He tried his best but it is now time to go, there is no shame in that.