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MOVEMENT for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai is peppering over widening cracks in his beleaguered party and his visit to Bulawayo today should be seen in that light. Since the vicious and barbaric assault of deputy national treasurer Elton Mangoma at the party’s Harvest House headquarters in Harare on his watch, the increasingly embattled MDC president has sought to downplay the turmoil engulfing his party and adopted desperate measures to contain the revolt.
So deep is the crisis in the MDC-T, Tsvangirai has even extended an olive branch to former members who quit for exactly the same reasons secretary general Tendai Biti, Mangoma, Promise Mkhwananzi and Roy Bennett are now on the verge of jumping ship. It is an indictment on the leadership qualities and democratic credentials of Tsvangirai that his closest lieutenants past and present, all have issues with his propensity for violence when confronted with grim realities.
When colleagues the late Gibson Sibanda, Welshman Ncube, Priscilla Misihairambgwi-Mushonga, Paul Themba Nyathi, Fletcher Dulini-Ncube and David Coltart raised concern at the flagrant disregard for the very democratic tenets they were clamouring for within the united MDC in 2005, Tsvangirai and his cabal came down hard on them. Announcing the final split of the party, then deputy president Sibanda said: “It is a matter of great regret that Morgan Tsvangirai continues to show disdain for the constitution of the party”.
He was backed by then secretary for information and publicity Paul Themba Nyathi wrote in an op-ed piece: “Accusations of ethnicity and tribalism, when people are unable to win an argument, are easy to make but extremely dangerous. It is akin to riding on the back of a tiger. To suggest that some provinces have no right to take a position on an issue lest they be accused of ethnicity, is totally absurd. Such intolerance, and shameless appeal to ethnicity, stokes the ethnic fires”.
A report on the disturbances that rocked Harvest House in the run up to the split of the MDC pointed to a strong anti-Ndebele sentiment coursing through the party with senior officials perceived to be aligned to Professor Ncube being targeted for attacks. There were barbaric attacks on Trudy Stevenson who was left for dead while some party functionaries deemed sympathetic to Prof Ncube were bashed right inside Harvest House.
In the wake of the recent disturbances in the MDC-T and the moves to unseat Tsvangirai by Biti and company, the MDC leader has turned to his former comrades some of whom he vilified and lampooned in 2005. In his desperation to retain power, Tsvangirai has turned to spent forces like MDC99 leader Job Sikhala and chairman of another splinter MDC faction, Mr Joubert Mudzumwe whose parties command minute followings. The two were paraded to the media in Harare on Thursday after announcing that they were rejoining the party.
Ironically, Sikhala left the MDC in 2005 citing violence and lack of democracy but is returning at the height of the same ills making his decision suspicious. Tsvangirai has also invited Prof Ncube and his MDC comrades to return “home” but has found no takers. As he flies into a storm in Bulawayo today where the provincial structures are comatose due to the opposition by the local leadership to his violent and undemocratic tendencies, he should be wondering whether Matabeleland is still the MDC stronghold it was or the people are fed up of his unprincipled leadership.
As we reported yesterday, MDC-T Bulawayo provincial chairman Gorden Moyo is disenchanted with recent developments in the party and is taking a sabbatical from his duties. This is amid reports that he wants to resign because he is not comfortable with the latest turn of events.
Structures in Matabeleland in general are in disarray as a witch-hunt for those perceived to be sympathetic to Biti and Mangoma continues. All signs point to another damaging split of the MDC and no amount of peppering and damage control can heal the rift. Amid the hullabaloo, it is trite to note that Tsvangirai is the author of all his misfortunes and should be ready to face the consequences. He has single-handedly destroyed the MDC-T because of his unbridled quest for power at all costs.
Online Reporter