Politically dead Simba Makoni should try teaching Dr Simba Makoni
Dr Simba Makoni

Dr Simba Makoni

George Chisoko Senior Assistant Editor
In the world of academia and society in general, PhD holders are held in high esteem because they are considered to be fountains of knowledge and reference points. Their thinking and analytical skills are considered superior to those of the ordinary person because they seek for deeper meaning and understanding of how and why things happen the way they do. We have had quite a number of such people who we have relied upon over the years to predict occurrences, outcomes, break down jargon and make sense of heaps of data to explain phenomena.

I have great respect for such people because of their contribution to the existing body of knowledge. But there is one PhD holder going by the name Dr Simba Makoni, who is now making society develop a very negative view of people holding such qualifications because of his inability, if not outright incompetence, to make observations, analysis and conclusions that are congruent with his level of education.

Dr Makoni is a former Zanu-PF Politburo member and is now fronting the Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn (MKD) party. To the surprise of many people – and we guess he should have even been surprised to hear himself talk – Dr Makoni claimed in one of the gullible daily newspapers this week that Zanu-PF was “dead and buried and that it had completely lost support of the grassroots”.

This is rich coming from a person whose party at best has remained stunted since 2008 when it came into being. At worst, if one were to look at MKD and Mavambo as forces that were touted to jolt the ruling party and wrest power, one may say that it is a project that has suffered a stillbirth.

It has gone the way of other attempts at removing Zanu-PF and President Mugabe from power. For a much hyped project and person of a presumed stature like Dr Makoni, one may say MKD has fared worse.

If taken as a product that goes through a life cycle of four stages of introduction, growth, maturity and decline, I would without any hesitation posit that Mavambo has been stuck in the introduction stage and thus remains a party that is inconsequential to the body politic of the republic. Zanu-PF, on the other hand, is enjoying the fruits that come with the maturity stage where it continues to consolidate its support base by delivering on its electoral promises, in the process winning the minds and hearts of the electorate.

When PhDs speak, naturally people listen, but not so with Dr Makoni because instead of accepting the reality that it is his party, Mavambo, that needs resurrection from the land of the dead, he shocks us by making wild claims that Zanu-PF does not exist anymore as a political party when facts and figures on the ground point to its growing popularity.

To conclude that an organisation that emphatically won the 2013 general elections that were endorsed by the EU, AU and Sadc as particularly free and fair, does not exist anymore as a political party, is the kind of pedestrian analysis one would not expect from the learned Simba, as he is expected to know better.

It would be instructive at this juncture to refresh the memories of readers that in the 2008 presidential elections, Dr Makoni managed a paltry 8,3 percent of the vote. In the 2013 Makoni Central parliamentary election, Dr Makoni got 3 411 votes against the winner, Patrick Chinamasa’s 7 654.

In the same year in Chitungwiza North, Mavambo got 83 votes against Zanu-PF’s 6 507 and 66 votes in St Mary’s against 5 524 for Zanu-PF. In Murehwa North constituency, Mavambo garnered 207 votes against Zanu-PF’s 8 733 and 116 votes in Mazowe South to 11 741 for Zanu-PF.

The losing trend has continued with Mavambo’s candidates in this year’s by-elections falling by the wayside. The candidates contested in Kuwadzana, Dzivarasekwa, Kambuzuma and Highfield West where they lost dismally. It is a tragedy that Dr Makoni refuses to realise he only managed to launch Mavambo straight into the graveyard and has remained stuck there ever since.

Recently, the largely pro-opposition Mass Public Opinion Institute and Afrobarometer conducted surveys whose findings showed that Zanu-PF remained the political party of choice and that President Mugabe was hugely popular. Even the MDC-T realises the invincibility of Zanu-PF. This is why it is always making noise about security sector reforms as a condition for its participation in the coming elections.

Essentially, it is Mavambo that does not exist as a political party and Dr Makoni only remembers he leads a political party when it is time for elections and this reflects badly on someone who aspires to be a national leader as it gives him away as an opportunist of great measure. His claims that Zanu-PF has ceased to be a going concern, when viewed from the angle of an opposition leader, makes sense in that true to oppositional language, there is no way he would acknowledge an opponent as being strong and formidable as that would make his few supporters lose confidence in him.

In fact, the former Sadc executive secretary would do himself a lot of good by seizing himself with raising Mavambo from the dead in preparation for the 2018 general elections, which a number of research think tanks have predicted will result in another Zanu-PF victory which has continued to consolidate its grip on power by winning all by-elections conducted across the country to fill seats made vacant by deaths and expul- sions.

Zanu-PF’s victory in elections over the years has hinged on solid party structures that have representation at all levels from the cell right through to the districts and provinces, which has enhanced its visibility countrywide. The structures are very much alive and vibrant in all corners of the country, something which dead parties like Dr Makoni’s Mavambo cannot do because he is the party.

It is unfortunate that Dr Makoni could mistakenly be reading from a factional script to draw his conclusions about Zanu-PF losing support yet the divergence of views is expected in any organisation or family. Internal conflicts are normal whenever people from diverse backgrounds converge and in the case of Zanu-PF the ideological drilling should eventually carry the day and lead to convergence of thought.

Events in recent times clearly reveal Zanu-PF showing positive signs of a party full of life as evidenced by its agenda of engaging development partners, such as the International Monetary Fund in an effort to turn around the country’s economic fortunes. It is also a big confidence booster for Zanu-PF to be recognised by the leader of the second biggest economy in the world, Chinese President Xi Jinping.

These are development partners with the muscle to shore up our economy and obviously they do not come to engage a Government of a party that is “dead and buried”. Instead they see life in Zimbabwe in the context of Zanu-PF.

In future, Dr Makoni should spare us such uninspiring claims lest he exposes himself more. He must rest in peace in the dustbins of political history where he is sure to remain.

Perhaps he can perform better in teaching given the currency and thrust on the STEM system of education which obviously needs people like the good Doctor who has a decent qualification in chemistry. Political analysis is not one of his strong points.

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