Zimpapers Logo

Morgan Tsvangirai

Mukachana Hanyani Correspondent
IT was such a surprise to hear the MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai urging Zimbabweans to engage in street protests against President Mugabe’s rule which he said had been characterised by suffering and abuse of power.
Tsvangirai was speaking at his party’s 15th anniversary celebrations at Mucheke Stadium in Masvingo on September 15.

History should teach Tsvangirai that the route of demonstrations which he is inciting his supporters to take to catapult him to power is long discredited and futile.

The MDC-T leader should be advised that destructive demonstrations can leave trails of violence and economically cripple the country.

It is a fact that Zimbabwe is a democratic country which always ensures that elections are held every five years in fulfilment of a democratic principle which this country religiously upholds. In that way, those with leadership aspirations take the opportunity to challenge those in power through democratic electoral pro- cesses.

As such, the MDC-T leader should be the first to realise that there is no short cut to success.

While demonstrations are permissible under the new Constitution, history has shown that such demonstrations have never achieved their intended goal.

Leadership change in Zimbabwe comes from the ballot.

It is surprising that Tsvangirai is failing to read between the lines and get to appreciate that demonstrations will never take him to the helm of the country. They only leave trails of violence which of late have been the order of the day in the MDC-T.

Tsvangirai should also recall that since the 1990s, strikes and job stayaways which he organised while he was still the secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, failed to achieve his intended selfish goals. Zimbabweans are politically conscious and cannot be used as pawns in a political game meant to fulfil personal aspirations of fortune seekers and directionless, nonenties masquerading as politicians.

Zimbabweans are seized with bread and butter issues that Zanu-PF is also seized with. In view of that, Tsvangirai should know that demonstrations have no place in Zimbabwe.

It is still vivid in everybody’s memory that in 2003, the MDC, smarting from the heavy thumping by Zanu-PF in the 2002 presidential elections, organised what they called the “final push”.

It was meant to smuggle Tsvangirai into State House.

However, Zimbabweans did not join that ill-advised move and it became a failure. The MDC failed in that regard as people knew quite well that the suffering which they were experiencing was as a result of the sanctions imposed at the behest of the MDC.

The sanctions imposed by the Western countries have caused untold suffering to the people of Zimbabwe.

People are still suffering from that scourge and they would at least appreciate it more if Tsvangirai would admit that they were wrong in calling for the sanctions than calling for demonstrations to oust Zanu-PF from power.

The call for people to stage demonstrations against the Government shows that the MDC-T leader is power hungry.

His failure to beat President Mugabe in three consecutive presidential elections has frustrated him. Tsvangirai thinks that demonstrations would be the only way to make him become the Zimbabwean leader.

Tsvangirai must learn to live with the reality that he is a failure.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow but it is the reality that can never be changed by demonstrations.

Zimbabweans know better than to be willing tools for power-hungry politicians.

They must desist from engaging in needless demonstrations that are counterproductive to national economic revival.

It should be realised that Zimbabwe is eager to attract foreign direct investment and demonstrations can only work at cross purposes with that objective.

Investment in any form would help Zimbabwe to curb unemployment which has risen drastically and Tsvangirai’s call for demonstrations is not a good move and is only meant to cause the economy to further deteriorate.

Zimbabweans should not be fooled by Tsvangirai’s call for demonstrations to overthrow a democratically elected government. They should wait for the 2018 harmonised elections to elect a new government of their choice without violence, conflict and killing of innocent people like what is happening in the Arab region.

Zimbabweans should take a leaf from what is happening in countries like Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, among others. The so-called Arab spring uprisings which swept across the Arab region a few years ago caused the violent ouster of democratically elected leaders, leaving behind trails of violence and conflicts.

Now those who tried to take over from the so-called dictators in those Arab countries have failed to normalise the situations and the Arab region is now characterised by violence, killings and conflicts with no sign of peace in the near future.

So people should not be fooled by Tsvangirai’s call for demonstrations to overthrow a democratically elected government. They should wait for the 2018 harmonised elections to elect a new government of their choice without violence, conflict and killing of innocent people like what is happening in the Arab region.