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alleged in an Independence eve statement on Wednesday that independence had not come with freedoms.
He said his party, which is ironically sponsored by the country’s erstwhile colonisers and their allies and has ex-Rhodies in its rank and file, wanted to “finish the business of the struggle”.
“Independence must come with freedoms if it is to have total meaning to all of us which is why some of us were party to the formation of a post-liberation political movement to complete the unfinished business of the liberation struggle.
“We have sought to complete the meaning of independence to include the basic freedoms which we have starved each other of even after attaining independence, thereby making such an important day hollow and empty despite the bloodshed.”
Mr Tsvangirai contradicted himself in the same statement when he showered praises on the same independence he was trashing.
“Today, we celebrate this independence with much happiness knowing full well that we now have an expanded bill of rights, the women have been empowered and never against will we have a national leadership that is not restricted by limits,” he said.
Thousands of Zimbabweans thronged provincial capitals to celebrate 33 years of independence and democracy with the MDC-T leader and his party’s top brass attending the main celebrations at the National Sports Stadium.
Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association chairman Cde Jabulani Sibanda, however, said this was expected especially from someone who fled the struggle when others were crossing into Zambia and Mozambique to prosecute the struggle.
Cde Sibanda said the MDC-T leader was “disabled psychologically”, adding that was the reason why he could not see the massive benefits that were brought by Independence.
He said if Independence was meaningless, the MDC-T leader should not have joined other leaders in Government in commemorating the day on Thursday.
“By attending the commemorations, he was accepting that the Zimbabwe was made free by some gallant sons and daughters of this country.
“The independence has seen Zimbabweans owning land, having the right to vote for him to be Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister today. If you go to the tobacco auction floors today, you will realise that over 97 percent of the crop is coming from empowered black people,” he said.
Cde Sibanda chronicled a number of things brought about by Independence, among them construction of more clinics, schools, roads and the introduction of free education that has seen Zimbabwe recording the highest literacy rate in Africa.
Zimbabwe celebrated 33 years of independence on Thursday. The celebrations drew people of different political affiliation, diplomats and political parties from the region.
Harare resident Mr Tinei Zvenyika said he was not surprised by Mr Tsvangirai’s statement because the man did not partake in the liberation struggle when other youths his age were crossing into Mozambique.
‘’Infact Tsvangirai’s memoirs say he left a Mutare textile mill for Bindura to work at Trojan Nickel Mine and contribute to Rhodesia’s GDP. Obviously he would not see the significance of independence because he did not see the significance of fighting colonialism.
‘’Ironically it is that independence he belittles that gives him the freedom to sell-out and even have Rhodesians in his party’s rank and file. He even has the freedom to marry and divorce in 12 days. Shame on him,’’ Mr Zvenyika said.
Political analyst Dr Charity Manyeruke said such words from Mr Tsvangirai could only be uttered by somebody who needed to re-examine himself.
“He is the odd one out,” she said. “He is hollow himself to make such a statement and requires psychiatric attention.”
Dr Manyeruke said independence was being recognised by many people, including those in other countries.
“We have countries such as Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and Mozambique, among others, who value Zimbabwe for its contribution to other countries,” she said. “These have a lot of respect for Zimbabwe and it is surprising to see a Zimbabwean who does not respect his country.”
Dr Manyeruke said the visit by the United States special envoy Mr Andrew Young who apologised for imposing the illegal sanctions on the showed the changing attitude of other countries to Zimbabwe’s sovereignty.
“This shows respect and value for Zimbabwe that has land, mineral and human resources,” she said.
“As a people, we have made mistakes and thank God we are approaching elections and we will have a chance to correct the mistakes and remove such elements and bury the disgrace to our country.”
Another political analyst Mr Gabriel Chaibva said Mr Tsvangirai should be forgiven “since he is a man of limited academia”.
“In all fairness, Mr Tsvangirai should be forgiven,” he said. “He is just parroting what his masters talk of. The western imperialists always talk of lack of human rights and democracy in their bid to re-colonise Zimbabwe.”
Mr Chaibva concurred with Dr Manyeruke that the recent visit by Mr Young showed that Zimbabwe had respect for human rights and was peaceful.
“We had the European Union visitors recently and these people will not come to a country that does not respect human rights,” he said. “Mr Tsvangirai is peddling falsehoods to force regime change and he does not know what he is talking about.” he said.
Ordinary Zimbabweans also took a dig at Mr Tsvangirai, saying it was clear that Zimbabwe attained freedom on independence day.
They said the oppression that Zimbabweans suffered under colonialism ended with the independence and the people were now free and were benefiting from the empowerment programmes as part of that freedom.
Mufakose resident Mrs Vimbayi Tumbare said Mr Tsvangirai was being ungrateful by ignoring the positive developments that were brought by the independence.
“Now our children can access quality education, a number of people were empowered through the land reform but we still have some people who do not appreciate the efforts,” she said.
Mabvuku businessman Mr Mafani Makotore said he was grateful to the Government’s indigenisation programme which came about because of the independence.
He said Mr Tsvangirai’s statement showed that he wanted colonialism to return.
“Is he saying blacks were better off during colonialism?” he said. “It is a simple fact that blacks were not free during that period, but independence brought freedom to the people. What is Tsvangirai talking about when so many people died so that he can enjoy the freedom he is having today.”
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