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Writer John Maxwell says “there are two kinds of pride, both good and bad. “Good pride” represents our dignity and self-respect. “Bad pride” is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance.
A religious leader Ezra Taft Benson added, “Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, is still missing. The central feature of pride is enmity — enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen.”
The above quotes aptly describe the kind of leadership found in opposition political parties in the country. And in that case, why should Zimbabweans sell the country and spoil the fruits of our hard fought independence by voting into office such people. And perhaps it explains why the opposition is in disarray, and set to sink into deeper oblivion by each passing day.
Opposition political leaders have been described as arrogant by some of their own, the likes of Tendai Biti and Gorden Moyo, people who have spent the better part of their adult lives in the of the so called trenches of opposition politics. Their admission that there is a big ego syndrome in opposition politics all but shows that opposition political parties are in disarray, and have all along being kept busy by the “Mugabe must go mantra”. This is a song which has since lost its rhyme, ignored by the masses in the past and getting forgotten by each passing day.
After losing dismally in the last election, the opposition disintegrated into a number of fragments, and later on, there was talk of a “big tent” to bring together the various opposition political parties in the country. Such has been the talk over the past year and nothing has come into fruition, and the reason is there for everyone to see-big egos-which suggest those who are at the helm of the parties are not there to service the interest of the people, but to serve selfish interests for their own good. And why should Zimbabweans trust their future to be in the hands of such people?
Leaders who have shown what leadership is all about by following the needs and aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe are found in Zanu-PF, and the masses know that and have shown their gratitude for such leadership by voting resoundingly for President Robert Mugabe and Zanu-PF time and again, and the trend is set to continue.
People’s Democratic Party leader Biti, who broke away from MDC-T-led by Tsvangirai, said last week that opposition political parties are “doomed because of personal egos”.
“That in 2016 some in the opposition still consider themselves to be ‘Goliaths’ who can single handedly defeat Zanu-PF and establish the next government when they have subsequently failed to do so in 15 years, boggles the mind. Such big tent thinking punctuated of arrogance, exaggerated self-importance, deceit and hubris cannot take Zimbabwe forward.”
Biti has previously poked fun at Tsvangirai’s unity calls, describing this as a “leaking Big Tent”.
Another actor in opposition politics, Moyo was quoted as saying the leadership in the opposition suffered from the big egos syndrome.
“The biggest problem in opposition parties is the question of egos.”
Perhaps that is why talks of a possible coalition between Tsvangirai’s MDC-T, Welshman Ncube’s MDC, Dumiso Dabengwa’s Zapu, Simba Makoni’s Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn(MKD), Biti’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Elton Mangoma’s RDZ and Mujuru’s People First movement look set to hit a brick wall.
There were also media reports that Tsvangirai was panicking over the alleged inroads into his constituency by Mujuru, and perhaps that explains that Mujuru’s project is more of an MDC-T offshoot than anything else, and of course, like wise, with nothing to offer.
Bongani Ndlovu