Edinah Masanga | A fresh wind blew over Zimbabwe today as opposition members united in protest against Zanu PF. I posit here that they have to be smart, strategic and take nothing for granted if they are to beat Robert Mugabe and get him out of power. Since rogue Mugabe began tightening his grip on power, politics in Zimbabwe has become a poisoned chalice, you have to be careful where you drink from and with whom you drink. Mugabe is known for coming down heavily to crush any opposition by hook or crook, including sowing divisions among opposition using, among things, state-controlled mouthpieces such as the Herald. When Thoko Khupe was peeved by Tsvangirai’s appointment of two men as co – Vice Presidents, Nathaniel Manheru (believed to be presidential spokesperson George Charamba) joyously jeered at Khupe accusing her of being incompetent.
At face value, this can seem as though Manheru just being Manheru, singing for his supper, but on closer inspection, one can see that Manheru’s clapping could have been meant to sow divisions and public squabbles in the MDCT. Mugabe thrives on divide and rule, that being his strength, it can also be his weakness if opposition politicians do not play into his hands. Like what Joice Mujuru and Morgan Tsvangirai have done now. I must applaud these two who also if I may add, happen to hold genuine doctorates; the launching of the national convergence strategy is a huge step forward in the right direction.
The imminent coalition between Tsvangirai’s MDCT, Mujuru’s Zim People First and other opposition parties, will cause nightmares for Mugabe (if he can still sleep given the havoc he has wreaked in the country). I am thrilled at the prospect of the combination of the formidable fighter that Tsvangirai is matched with the composed liberation war hero that is Mujuru.
If they do not let power hunger go to their heads, a coalition between Mujuru and Tsvangirai is poised to dislodge Mugabe’s rule, or we should say Zanu PF given that we can’t plan for the future with Mugabe in mind.
Mujuru is a vital player in the politics of Zimbabwe at the moment, she brings in crucial institutional knowledge about the thievery and thuggery of Zanu PF, above intelligence which has been lacking in the opposition, while Tsvangirai is a seasoned, tried and tested fighter for democracy.
Since entrance into mainstream politics, Mujuru has shown the much-needed calmness and maturity required in politics through messages of healing and moving forward. She also rightly challenged yapping Grace ”Queen Marie Antoinette” Mugabe and his husband’s Zanu PF faction to bring forward evidence of her corruption which she preached all over the country, to no avail.
I know people will say Mujuru is cut from the Zanu PF cloth, but the woman was shamed and frog marched out of Zanu PF by a former typist whose sexually transmitted power came decades after Mujuru had been Zanu PF. In fact years after Mujuru selflessly volunteered her precious life to save the country from colonial rule. I cannot imagine anything more painful than the betrayal that Mujuru endured, therefore she has the wrath needed to topple Mugabe, and with right partnerships such as with the MDCT, Zanu PF might just be teetering on the brinks of collapse.
I feel that as Zimbabweans we need to be strategic in our hate. I know we might have issues with Mujuru but let’s choose between two evils if we have to. I will pick Mujuru any day.
Tsvangirai has made a fair share of his own blunders during his tenure as Prime Minister and as an opposition politician but he is not yet as evil as Mugabe. We have to keep our eyes on the prize, the goal is not to have perfectly squeaky clean politicians because perfection in humans, in general, is a pipe dream, the goal is to remove the dictatorial Robert Mugabe and his thieving Zanu pf which is plundering Zimbabwe’s wealth.
My wish is that Mujuru will know where she is coming from, both for herself and for women in general. She must not replicate what Khupe did when she was deputy prime minister – becoming elitist including organising an African conference which ordinary women could not attend in the flamboyant Harare International Conference Cente.
Mujuru must work hard to put women at the fore, she must help reign in Tsvangirai and his toxic masculinity which is evident in his recent appointments of two male vps in a party which is galore with women who have worked tirelessly to build the MDCT. Minus these issues, I am confident that a coalition between Mujuru and Tsvangirai is a tag team of our dreams.
Edinah Masanga is a Zimbabwean journalist and writer based in Sweden. She can be contacted via Facebook and Twitter as @EdinahMasanga.
2 Replies to “Will an opposition coalition weather Mugabe’s political storm?”
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This is what the ZANU PF thugs feared. First they feared that Joyce Mujuru would form a political party, and surely it came to pass and ZANU PF thus second fear was that Joyce Mujuru would join force with Tsvangirai. The second fear will definitely cause untold panic within the ZANU PF camp, as they are all aware that there will be no chance, I mean absolutely no chance for the ZANU PF thugs to win the 2018 elections if Mujuru and Tsvangirai join force. That is even so, if they manage to patch up their affairs and sustain themselves until 2018, since the facts on the ground indicate that their survival until year end will be a real miracle. What I see though is ZANU PF will support the formation of a new opposition which will be led by someone in diaspora, in what may seem to be the fulfillment of the Makandiwa prophecy. This will help ZANU PF to survive the endgame as the opposition supporters will be divided between two main opposition parties. ZANU PF has notorious thugs and you underrate them at your own peril. We should be serious through and through, if we are to dislodge ZANU PF from power. Talking power from ZANU PF thugs is not like a walk in the park. We are yet to see the ugly sins of ZANU PF politics. We are prepared, the endgame is in full swing.
This is what the ZANU PF thugs feared. First they feared that Joyce Mujuru would form a political party, and surely it came to pass and ZANU PF thus second fear was that Joyce Mujuru would join force with Tsvangirai. The second fear will definitely cause untold panic within the ZANU PF camp, as they are all aware that there will be no chance, I mean absolutely no chance for the ZANU PF thugs to win the 2018 elections if Mujuru and Tsvangirai join force. That is even so, if they manage to patch up their affairs and sustain themselves until 2018, since the facts on the ground indicate that their survival until year end will be a real miracle. What I see though is ZANU PF will support the formation of a new opposition which will be led by someone in diaspora, in what may seem to be the fulfillment of the Makandiwa prophecy. This will help ZANU PF to survive the endgame as the opposition supporters will be divided between two main opposition parties. ZANU PF has notorious thugs and you underrate them at your own peril. We should be serious through and through, if we are to dislodge ZANU PF from power. Talking power from ZANU PF thugs is not like a walk in the park. We are yet to see the ugly sins of ZANU PF politics. We are prepared, the endgame is in full swing.