admin
Ranga Mataire-Writing Black
LAST week, we had the opposition MDC-Alliance frantically trying to position itself as an entity that cares for the ordinary rural folk by convening a media briefing ostensibly to express their concern over the mining of granite in Motoko, which they claimed was displacing ordinary people from their ancestral lands.
Leading the charge was Happymore Chidziva, who is said to be the Secretary of Rural Mobilisation and Strategy.
Chidziva was in the company of spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere as they laid charge against so-called Chinese companies that they claimed were wantonly mining granite without regard to the local communities in Mutoko.
If the press conference was meant to be an indictment on the Government, then it dismally failed to have any gravitas because of two main reasons.
The first reason was that Chidziva who chose to deliver his speech or presentation in English was a disaster as he stuttered and failed to pronounce certain words, a clear sign that someone had handed him the incomprehensible speech. The second reason is that the press conference exposed the party as disingenuous in its posturing as a party concerned about the welfare of ordinary rural folk when it is clear that their gripe just like the Americans is against the Chinese companies that are part of an array of companies mining granite in Mutoko.
When asked about what’s their next course of action or plan given what they had presented, Mahere hesitated to answer then ushered in Chidziva who to the utter embarrassment of everyone present talked about the need for the Mutoko people to vote for MDC-Alliance so that their issues could be addressed. In short, Chidziva and his party showed that they had no plan.
In fact, it further exposes the MDC Alliance’s fake sympathy for the ordinary people in Mutoko as it failed to articulate its plan besides accusing Chinese companies of exploiting the granite resources without regard to the welfare and development of the area.
While it is given that companies operating in a given area must out of necessity contribute towards the development of the area, we find it curious that only Chinese companies are cited as culprits when for years several companies including local ones have operated in the area.
When one starts unravelling the MDC-Alliance’s gripe in Mutoko, it becomes apparent that their issue is only with supposed Chinese companies. We are quite aware of America’s disdain for the Chinese’ successful forays on the African continent.
We are quite aware that far from their pretentious care for the ordinary Mutoko folk, the MDC was doing the bidding of their benefactors. For who doesn’t know that the MDC at its inception never made it a secret that it was an appendage of the West and that it existed principally to reverse everything that the revolutionary Zanu-PF stands for?
Who will forget the image of Morgan Tsvangirai being in the company of white former commercial farmers beamed on CNN vouching that they are investing in the opposition party for they believed that the party would protect their interests?
Who will forget the most derisive words from Tsvangirai likening those who had been resettled by the Government to “hohwa” that randomly germinates anywhere? Who will forget the mocking remarks from some MDC officials towards former freedom fighters for leading the fight for land redistribution?
So it’s clearly disingenuous on the part of Chidziva to talk about the liberation struggle when his own leader Nelson Chamisa is infamous for deriding the liberation struggle. For the benefit of so-called millennials who have no idea as to how the MDC came into being, a bit of history is essential. Sometime in 1998, the United Kingdom pushed for the European Union (EU) to commission a study on Zimbabwe to be conducted by the Conflict Prevention Network (CNP), a division of the EU Analysis and Evaluation Centre.
The CNP produced a report titled “Zimbabwe: A Conflict Study of a Country without Direction” which was forwarded to the EU Africa Working Group. This report, together with a draft produced by the Harare-based Friedrich Ebert Foundation convinced the EU to support the “Robert Mugabe Must” drive.
With the EU support, a rapid succession of meetings in Europe and the US took place where among other things was the idea of forming an opposition political party which would be the instrument for toppling Mugabe and Zanu-PF out of power. One of the meetings convened with the sole purpose of forming an opposition political party was held at the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London on January 24, 1999.
So called experts on Zimbabwe examined the implications of the EU decision and came up with strategies that would lead to the removal of Zanu-PF from power. The meeting was chaired by Richard Dowden, who, in years to come, was to become the director of the Royal African Society. Shamefully, some of the strategies adopted included a military coup, buying the opposition, fomenting insurrection and subverting Zanu-PF.
Two months later another meeting was held at the US State Department on March 23, 1999 whose agenda was to deal with the “Zimbabwean crisis” and some of the strategies that were suggested at the meeting include strengthening civil society and opposition to foment dissent, bringing the opposition together under a single banner to enhance its chances of success at the polls, funding to be channelled through Western-backed non-governmental organisations and dissident groups to be strengthened and urged to take to the streets.
The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), which had been formed prior to these meetings became an ideal organisation for launching a political party to remove Zanu-PF. Already, work was underway to turn the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) into a political party. One George Limke of the Danish Trade Union Council had been deployed to Zimbabwe between 1006 and 199 with the main task of identifying other groups outside the ZCTU that could join the envisaged political vehicle to dislodge Zanu-PF rule.
Among those roped in were students through the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) and another youth movement, Youth Initiative for Democracy (YIDEZ) — both the creation of the US. The US State Department’s Zimbabwe 2007 Performance Report categorically states that: “Youth organisations like the ZINASU and YIDEZ are two good examples of civil society organisations that were natured through US funding from an ideal to a level where they are able to stand on their own and attract other funders.”
For those not in the know of the ZINASU roots, the students body was formed by the American embassy in 1996 for the sole purpose of destabilising Zanu-PF. ZINASU was to become the major training platform for opposition and confrontation politics which eventually developed a regime change agenda in Zimbabwe.
When the MDC was eventually formed in 1999, ZINASU became a key stakeholder and it’s no surprise today that the MDC-Alliance is today dominated by former leaders of the students’ body including Nelson Chamisa, with the old and new members all hoping for a piece of the tartlet. Given this apparent history of the MDC, it therefore came out as side-splitting for Chidziva and Mahere to masquerade as champions of the rural folk who bore the brunt of the liberation struggle.
It was even more comical for Chidziva to attempt to use the liberation struggle as an entry to reinforce the issue of land. MDC-Alliance has never identified itself with the liberation struggle because doing so would certainly offend its benefactors.
Online Reporter