By Patrick Guramatunhu- “Rinemanyanga hariputirwi!” (The one whose defects stick out like horns cannot hide them forever. They will stick out!) so goes the Shona saying.
Nelson Chamisa and his CCC friends are corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent. For the last 22 years, they have portrayed themselves as the democrats; “Change Champion in Chief”, as his supporters have given to calling Chamisa; who will deliver the democratic changes to end the Zanu PF dictatorship. The democratic façade, mask, is falling off to reveal the corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless up starts!
MDC leaders lost political credibility in 2013 when they failed to implement even one meaningful reform in the five years of the 2008 to 2013 GNU. SADC leaders who had forced Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party to agree to the raft of democratic reforms were so disappointed by MDC leaders’ pathetic performance during the GNU the regional body reverted to endorsing Zanu PF rigged elections in disgust. Many of the MDC’s western backers followed SADC and deserted the party in droves.
MDC continued to enjoy the support of ordinary Zimbabweans because they did not know what the GNU was about implementing the democratic reforms. Indeed, many did not know what the reforms are much less how they were going to be implemented, even now, with benefit of hindsight. And so, they never realised MDC leaders had sold out big time. How could they blame MDC leaders of failing to do something they still do understand!
The recent story that CCC and MDC A MPs were joining their Zanu PF colleagues in getting US$40 000 loans over and above MP’s generous salary and many equally generous allowances including the US$60 000 loan for a car; has forced the people to sit up!
“MPs work very hard and deserve to be rewarded. Beside by paying them well, this will stop them becoming corrupt!” some people have argued. This has worked in the past but not this time.
If the MPs worked hard and they number one task is to craft the necessary laws to guarantee the freedoms and rights of all the citizens, justice, peace, rule of law and to buttress the country’s economic prosperity. Then why is Zimbabwe a failed state, a pariah state, plagued by gross mismanagement, rampant corruption, and lawlessness?
The people of Zimbabwe risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders on the ticket the party will implement the democratic reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections and thus end the pariah state, the mismanagement, etc., etc. These problems are still there because MDC leaders have joined Zanu PF in the lawlessness and looting.
Of course, the US$40 000 loan to the MPs was a bribe, one of the many bribes the MPs received from the Zanu PF regime to buy the lawmakers’ blind loyalty allowing the lawlessness and looting to continue unchecked. Nelson Chamisa was forced to agree, the loan was a bribe.
“To call it a loan is to be very nice; this is a bribe disguised as a loan, a donkey is a donkey, you cannot call a lion a cat,” Chamisa admitted on twitter. He argued his CCC MPs not to accept the bribe.
A livid CCC legislator yesterday dismissed Mr Chamisa’s threats as empty thunder, “because he is receiving donations from well-wishers every day, but the money is not accounted for because there is no accountability in the party,” said a report in Bulawayo 24.
The truth is Chamisa is a hypocrite! He is pontificating about this loan being a bribe when he knows this is not only the first bribes these MPs have received but, worst of all, he is recipient of many such bribes himself. It was the very generous salaries and allowances, limos, the US$ 4 million mansion for Tsvangirai, etc., etc. from Mugabe that made the MDC leaders forget implementing reforms for the five years of the GNU. Not even the constant nagging by SADC leaders to implement reforms got MDC leaders to move an inch!
Ever since the GNU debacle MDC/CCC leaders have participated in the flawed elections knowing fully well that doing so will only give SADC the excuse to grant Zanu PF legitimacy and thus perpetuating the Zanu PF dictatorship. Still, they have participated because they also knew that Zanu PF was giving away a few gravy train seats as bait.
It is nonsensical therefore that Chamisa should now ask the few CCC leaders who won the few gravy train seats to the US$40 000 loan, one of the benefits of being on the gravy train, now that many ordinary Zimbabweans have are finally wake up to the reality MDC/CCC leaders are corrupt and incompetent.
Now that the people of Zimbabwe are sitting up and paying attention, Chamisa will not only have to explain this US$ 40 000 bribe but more significantly why MDC failed to implement even one reform in 22 years and why the party is participating in these flawed elections.
The US$ 40 000 loan has led to the unravelling of many things MDC/CCC did not want to come out. And now the people can finally see Chamisa and company for the corrupt, breathtakingly incompetent and sell outs they are. Renemanyanga hariputirwi!