Zimpapers Logo

JOB SIKHALA

Tichaona Zindoga The Interview
Nomadic politician Job Sikhala is back in the MDC-T after joining a splinter party in 2005 and forming his own MDC-99 which never made any impact. Our Senior Political Writer Tichaona Zindoga (TZ) caught up with Sikhala (JS) to discuss his about turn and other issues…

TZ: You are rejoining the MDC-T after you left the party some years back. What made you change your mind?
JS: The first thing that you must understand that it is the regrouping of the MDC into the formidable political force that it once was. We noticed and realised that we cannot continuously defy the logic that it is not good for us to work in our splintered operations for many years. The call from the majority of Zimbabwe has been that there be a union among different splintered groups of the MDC to fight Zanu-PF. For us to continue defying the call of the people of Zimbabwe was not good for the common development of democracy and our fight for good governance in Zimbabwe. When Tsvangirai consistently called for the unity of all of us who have been with the MDC, and the founder members of the MDC to finish what we started in 1999, we made serious considerations and found out that the common interest — the common good — for the MDC was for all of us come together and finish what we started in 1999.

TZ: What position are you taking in the MDC-T considering you were president of MDC 1999? Where do you fit in within the MDC-T matrix?
JS: The problem with many people is that they look at very trivial issues. When it comes to such political developments the first thing that they look for is about positions and posts, which in this case is not an issue at all. The people of Zimbabwe should be allowed to allocate the person the position which they think they best serve the political party. So, specifically the issue of positions is not an issue as far as we are concerned: we are regrouping for the purpose of making sure that the resurgence of the MDC is achieved.

TZ: So you were not promised anything, any position or materially?
JS: The moment when materialism takes precedence over issues of conviction it’s no longer the struggle for the people and anybody who suggests issues of material benefits and positional benefits is a political mercenary whom Zimbabweans should not take seriously. Those things are far away and far divorced from the common objective and regrouping. What we noticed is that if we are not able to regroup ourselves we risked the danger of being extinguished and extinct ourselves from the national political radar by allowing our little differences to become supreme over the common interest. We noticed that the setback of 31 July 2013 elections can only be reversed when all of us regroup and refocus our energy to make sure that we come back to our formidable selves and make sure that Zanu-PF is challenged. Just as how Zanu-PF did it soon after the serious setback of 2008 elections. We saw those people who believed in Zanu-PF’s ideology regrouping: people like Daniel Shumba who was the president of UPP went back to Zanu-PF after he realized that there was a danger and risk for the party to be extinct from the political scene of Zimbabwe. This also applied to Professor Jonathan Moyo and several others. So, I as a founder member of the MDC realized and noticed that we risk extinction and we would be contributing to the downfall of the programme that we started in 1999.

TZ: What becomes of MDC-99 and why did you join the MDC-T instead of being a coalition partner just as Tsvangirai was calling?
JS: MDC 99 is now part and parcel of the broader bigger MDC family. You have to understand that this was the branch of the MDC family. This still family of the same totem and the same tribe coming together, reunite and enjoy the themselves in one bigger family to become a bigger family. Everybody in the MDC99 including the leadership of my party, my vice president Gideon Magadzire, the secretary general and everybody in the part knows that we are now part and parcel of the bigger MDC. We are no longer a small branch of the MDC family but we are now part of the bigger MDC family which we started in 1999. The coming together of the MDC–T is a very important aspect to the national political developments of our country.

TZ: You are coming at a time when the MDC-T is beset with internal problems and incidents of intra party violence. Are you comfortable in this house, considering you once left the party unhappy especially with the use of violence?
JS: Whatever environment in politics even during the liberation struggle, you know when people are still in the process of running a movement towards the total freedom and independence of the party, internal friction and dissention is common. This even happened in Zanu-PF so it is very common in every big organization to have people of different opinions and so forth. The role that I should also play is to make sure that the internal violence is reduced, the people come together, the people reconcile. As we are currently in the process of reconciling, we must also be able to reconcile the different interests and groups and thinking in the party. We will be focused in one common objective of dealing with what we have agreed to deal with since 1999, that is to make sure that Zanu PF is removed from power.

TZ: What value are you bringing to MDC?
JS: Lets us not talk about individual value: the question is in how much value do we bring by bringing ourselves a regrouped MDC. Value is not brought by an individual but by a group of people. What value do you think a regrouped MDC will cause to Zanu-PF. Fundamentally, only fools and those people who want to believe their own lies will say this regrouping will not add not any add value. Some of us who have been in politics for too long a time know the kind of value that we are adding. If there was no any value we could add even you would not been scrambling for a long time to have an interview with me. Why would you bother yourself rather than for you to do other things for people who add value rather than for you to other disturb my weekend, my Friday, to have an interview with me? You understand and the truth of the matter is that people hide and run away from reality and are in denial. Those who deny the value of our regrouping deny it at their own peril because the truth of the matter is the resurgence of the MDC has come.

TZ: What is your assessment of the opposition movement in Zimbabwe currently?
JS: The truth of the matter is that opposition politics is in the process of refining itself; trying to bring itself back on the strong footing which will actually take place. At the present moment there is a lot of enthusiasm and everybody is agitated and ready to take action. The people of Zimbabwe want us to finish what we started in1999 and as you see MDC is re-organising itself, re-grouping itself to become more formidable as it once was. Anybody who is starting to write obituaries about the opposition politics in this country, are free to author the obituaries but they will realise that there will not be any death of the opposition.

TZ: Some commentators are calling for the “de-personalisation” of opposition — MDC-T secretary general Tendai Biti has actually called for it. Do you believe the opposition can be de-personalised?
JS: It’s the views of those people but what we understand is that MDC is an institution that has its own values and beliefs and those values and beliefs are the ones that bind us together. If there is any personification of politics in our country it depends on whose angle it is coming from and also there are other people who think that ZANU PF has been personified in the image of (President) Robert Mugabe which makes us believe that ZANU-PF will not exist when Mugabe is no longer there. Whether the people talk of personification or not the truth is that MDC will live until the coming of Jesus Christ. The political organization is here to stay. I t will be there even when Morgan Tsvangirai is no longer on the political scene. So whatever personalisation people are talking about is part and parcel of the political villification which is taking place against the opposition in our country, which is very common and we are not surprised about it .

TZ: And your take on the so-called Third Force or coalition of opposition?
JS: I don’t think when Tendai Biti was talking about united democratic front he was talking a new political organisation. He was talking the broader interest of what we are currently doing that all democratic forces must be able to come together for a common purpose and of a common good which is that we must first deal with ZANU-PF. So that thing is one that has been abused by ZANU-PF to just bring whatever confusion they want to invite into the opposition party at the present moment but with all due respect l defend Tendai Biti to the hilt. That was deliberate misinformation; a deliberate distortion of his intended good in calling all democratic forces to come together under one umbrella which we are currently doing under the banner of the original MDC of 1999 which we are currently reconstructing and rebuilding to bring back the spirit of the people into the struggle.