MDC-M : A concoction of variance

hullabaloo on who is at the helm of the most fragile political party in the country with both Professor Arthur Mutambara and Professor Welshman Ncube hogging the limelight for wrong reasons. It is certainly a hotchpotch of a political alliance, which also could not bottle up the burgeoning egos which, characterises the nature of the leading brands in the MDC splinter group.

The irony of the whole battle lies in the role of Welshman Ncube in inviting the robotics professor to the helm of a political party he feared to lead at first.
It seems the departure of one of the faction’s influential leaders to a diplomatic office, in this case Trudy Stevenson marked the indecent exposure of “yours truly” as the dogfight for the top position remains fierce.
Mutambara has been touted as the stabiliser to the perennial divergence of principles that seemed obvious between President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai. He came and played the junior politician position to the other principals and this might have incensed his followers as they presumed their party was supposed to play a much more influential role in the coalition.

The presence of a party compatriot from the faction who holds such a significant portfolio of International Trade and Industry should send shivers to the economy. This after fathoming that chances are high of the respective minister balancing the struggles for his political survival will be at variance with what a son of the soil will look forward to in terms of his expected delivery of a trade policy which promotes economic growth.

Can the responsible departmental heads from such a faction do Zimbabweans a favour and relieve themselves of national duties than moonlighting between Cabinet meetings and boardroom meetings to quench political upheavals arising due to their political naivety.
How can we trust either of the two leaders from the smaller MDC faction to lead the nation if they are struggling to manage the seven legislators in their own party? Zimbabwe is at crossroads where it cannot afford to entertain “swung politicians” in its ranks. The fight for power has reached tragicomic levels beyond representation of ordinary Zimbabweans who demand uninterrupted power supply, clean water, a relevant constitution, their own domestic currency and empowerment to define their destiny.

The danger of political arrogance is that one still believes one deserves a constituency regardless of what the residents within that constituency will be demanding. This could be analogous to the MDC-M state where those without constituencies still fight for what those who were chosen on the ballot are being short-changed of.
I recall vividly my last encounter with Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara at the beginning of this year when Deat Capital was hosting a London Stock Exchange conference where he was the special guest.

I demanded to know when the infighting between him and Professor Ncube would end. What he could only promise then was immediate calmness of the situation. A year had almost passed and the promise had only brought more “political tsunami” than what could be envisaged. Can we really turnaround our economy if we are incapable of turning around the political views of those who are supposed to share the same political beliefs as ours?

The crucial portfolio, which falls under the embattled splinter group, includes Trade and Industry, Regional Integration, Education, Sports, Arts and Culture. If such ministries are to be relegated to play second fiddle in this Government, a recovery will definitely be delayed.
A clash of professors is normally devoid of a human dimension and manifests in a clash of intellectual structures. Zimbabweans cannot be held to ransom by a clique of political elitists who presume their thinking is infallible and insulated from critiquing.

The nation had suffered due to both economic sanctions and political attrition for quite some time and the panacea rests in the political protagonists who represent their parties. To date, no one seems to know the true name of the smaller faction of MDC which some consider it M and others see it as N. How do we expect them to map a clear path for the nation if their identity in naming is still disputable.
In Africa, it is common to see chief whips of political parties streamlining their legislators’ positions on pertinent matters, the likes of Joram Gumbo, Innocent Gonese and the obscured representative from the smaller faction remains the two elephant in a hut, Arthur Mutambara and Welshman Ncube.

Their legislators had of late registered their frustration and vote of no confidence with their leaders. It is time they bring democracy to their splinter group by allowing their people to decide on the leader through legislative representation.
It defeats the purpose of this party’s existence if the executive can’t call for a fresh congress to elect the suitable leader. It certainly boggles the mind to see Professor Mutambara struggling to market his national vision to his fellow party members. This could be a lesson even to aspiring politicians that the highest literacy rate of this southern African nation is not just a statistic but a benchmark of knowing how to win the hearts of the nationals on a ballot.

This is a nation, which demands pragmatism ahead of eloquence, relevance ahead of idealism, substance instead of slogans. Wake up to smell the coffee my fellow nationals and know that we can vote out political mercenaries and embrace true revolutionaries.