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MDC-Alliance’s decision to go against all the other political parties’ resolutions to pursue dialogue as a rational way of solving the country’s problems makes the party a proverbial swimmer who goes against the tide.

The party’s leader Mr Nelson Chamisa has announced that his party will unleash protests against the Government next week. His announcement comes at a time when most of the parties in the country have heeded President Mnangagwa’s call for peaceful engagement through the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad).

Almost all political parties have seen the rationale in President’s initiative, but MDC-ALLIANCE seems blinded by unreasonable ambitions.

Literally, when a swimmer goes against the tide, the action only exposes failure to understand the basic laws of nature and dangers associated with breaking norms that have been followed since the creation of the world.

It usually leads to self-destruction.

In the same way, the figurative act of going against the tide is tantamount to appalling failure to figure out the obvious.

We believe that by now the MDC-ALLIANCE, a party that claims to be fighting for the good of the masses, should have realised that violent demonstrations are counter-productive and negatively impact on the economy and ultimately, people’s welfare.

The party has been allowed to demonstrate, as President Mnangagwa’s administration shows commitment to ensuring that people’s rights — including the right to protest are guaranteed — but MDC-ALLIANCE demonstrations always turn violent and destructive.

In January, MDC-ALLIANCE demonstrators destroyed infrastructure and left many individuals and organisations counting losses. The country lost income and many services were crippled.

It is our view that a party with people at heart does not destroy their properties or put their businesses in danger. A party standing for people’s rights does not send out its members to loot and intimidate residents.

We believe it is prudent for MDC-ALLIANCE to do an introspection and see why their heads seem too hard to accept a common belief. They should question why all the other parties are choosing dialogue over protests. Times have changed and failure to move with time is a worrying sign of lethargy.

A person who fails to see the light where everyone sees beaming rays should be worried about himself or herself. MDC-ALLIANCE should be very worried about itself. Failure to be concerned about the way they see things makes MDC-ALLIANCE leaders the least qualified to worry about or try to seek solutions for the country’s problems.

We believe the party’s leaders should observe how the likes of MDC-T president Dr Thokozani Khupe, with whom they once shared notes, have decided to be reasonable.

In our edition yesterday, Dr Khupe said dialogue is the only way to go.

“You cannot resolve issues by throwing stones, by burning tyres and by going out there. But you can only resolve issues by sitting around and discussing issues like we are doing right now (in Polad),” said Dr Khupe.

Being level-headed is the only way to go for anyone who is truly concerned about building the nation. Rebellion in such circumstances smells of ulterior motives.

Also in yesterday’s edition we carried a story on how youths from parties that are part of Polad will have a conference in Harare next week where they are expected to engage President Mnangagwa on issues related to agriculture.

In a week when others will be brainstorming to find possible solutions to important issues in the country, MDC-ALLIANCE will be sharpening swords to unleash hooliganism. It is a typical situation of saboteurs trying to frustrate any efforts towards productivity.

It is obvious that violence scares away investors that the country desperately need at the moment to facilitate economic development. If MDC-ALLIANCE is really determined to rebuild the economy, why should it indulge in acts that scare away investors?

President Mnangagwa is on record saying violence defeats the core of our roots, which is Ubuntu.

We believe it is time for MDC-ALLIANCE leaders to realise that, before they became politicians, they were born to a culture that values peace, love, unity and dialogue

These are the values that define us as Zimbabweans. They are values that make us proud of our culture. It is wise for MDC-ALLIANCE to go to the mirror and see whose culture they represent.

Every sane religion and culture in the world preaches peace, unity and dialogue. There should be no room for violence.

But MDC-ALLIANCE’s violence demon seems to possess most people who decide to follow its ideologies regardless of gender, age or location. It is a sad scenario.

The party needs to exorcise the demon to see the light that everyone else is following.