The Chronicle
By Qhubani Moyo
22nd February 2010
THERE has been a lot of hullaballoo and noise emanating from the MDC-T circles regarding what they term a deadlock in the Global Political Agreement negotiations.
The noise arises from their belief that Zanu-PF is being insincere in the talks as it is said to be dodging the fulfilment of some issues that have already been agreed on.
Part of the key demands that form the basis of the alleged deadlock are around the delayed appointment of provincial governors, the continued occupation of office by the Reserve Bank Governor Dr Gideon Gono, the Attorney General Mr Johannes Tomana and what they term the alleged persecution of their treasurer-general Mr Roy Bennett.
In the MDC-T circles these issues are so important that if they are not resolved all the gains made in the GPA so far can be kicked out of the window and a fresh election called in the shortest possible time. But given the current Zanu-PF position that there would be no further concessions until the sanctions are removed and the current extension of the sanctions by the European Union for another year, it is apparently becoming clearer that the negotiations will indeed be protracted.
The Zanu-PF loud calls that the MDC-T should take the lead in the calling for the removal of sanctions seem to be falling on deaf ears as the MDC-T has chosen to conveniently call these restrictive measures.
While in the past, the sanctions have been viewed by many as a Zanu-PF campaign gimmick, that perception has changed after the current pronouncements by Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband that the sanctions are indeed in existence and that they can only be removed after a thumbs up from MDC-T.
However Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his crew have continued to conveniently call these devastating sanctions as mere restrictive measures in a bid to water down their impact.
PM Tsvangirai can of cause be forgiven for not knowing that sanctions are by their nature restrictive measures because it is public knowledge that the good prime minister is a certified academic dwarf. But when the same statement is parroted by Mr Gorden Moyo, the Minister of State in his office (who in real terms is a mere personal assistant), the public gets worried because he has at least seen the doors of a university and has two degrees up his sleeves.
Mr Moyo, in a typical fashion that has become synonymous with unelected public officials singing for their supper has been making all sorts of claims about the non-existence of sanctions when it is clear for all to see, including children, that they have become the biggest stumbling block to our way forward.
When the enlightened like Mr Moyo, who are supposed to be the torch-bearers in the understanding of international affairs become purveyors of such misleading rhetoric for the sake of protecting their positions that came as Christmas presents, the public gets concerned on their ability to hold public offices. Maybe this explains the 100 or so votes that Mr Moyo, as a Zapu candidate got against Mr David Coltart’s 23 000 or so in Bulawayo South in the 2000 parliamentary elections. His current defence of his appointed position is therefore not surprising given that he knows that he has no electoral stamina. Matabeleland definitely deserves better representation than boot-lickers.
The impasse in the negotiations and the call for an election by MDC-T raises a lot of questions as to whether this was a well thought-out decision given the political questions like the one confronting us can never be solved by an election but only by negotiations.
Also it is important that the MDC-T people know that negotiations are taxing and can be prolonged and that you don’t get everything you want — it is a trade off. Their continued fixed position does not help them and their followers.
But assuming hypothetically that the elections were to be held as they demand, what guarantee is there that they will emerge victorious when the conditions that existed and led to a GNU have not changed. What if we have another hung parliament, necessitating another GNU.
Evidence on the ground point to little change in the political landscape and this might work against them. The same laws that existed before are still in place and the State security apparatus have not changed their attitude towards PM Tsvangirai, one wonders if they can hand over power to him if by some miracle he wins.
There are also indicators that the African Union and Sadc now see MDC-T’s refusal to call for sanctions removal as a stumbling block to progress.
Some quarters rumour that these institutions and the rest of the world now prefer a reformed Zanu-PF than an amateurish MDC-T. The recent expose by Mr Miliband really placed the MDC-T in a very weak position as it came towards the start of the AU summit, which on hearing such revelations spoke with unanimity on the need to remove sanctions.
If the election were to be held now, I believe the MDC-T will be at its weakest position given the glaring reality that divisions in the party, especially in Bulawayo, Beitbridge and Chitungwiza, just to name a few, have risen to critical levels.
MDC-T’s position in Matabeleland has also been further weakened by their selective awarding of ministerial positions.
It is well documented that after the March 2008 elections in which MDC-T scored some 41 percent votes compared to the Arthur Mutambara formation’s 38 percent in Bulawayo (but winning all seats) they went on to appoint only one minister from Matabeleland, and that was Mr Eddie Cross of all the people.
It took serious protests from the region for PM Tsvangirai to revise his list to include Joel Gabuza and Sipepa Nkomo. In the eyes of many PM Tsvangirai was so disrespectful to his supporters that he went on to appoint Abednigo Bhebhe — a Mutambara faction MP — and hired Gorden Moyo from Bulawayo Agenda as if to confirm that all his MPs have no capacity to be Ministers.
The continued strategy of isolating Matabeleland continues up to now with revelations that in the current appointments to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the Media Commission and the Human Rights Commission, most strong candidates from this side who were in the backing of the MDC-T were dropped in the last minute. This is also true of the composition of the people constituting the constitution-making outreach teams.
The serious allegations of corruption by many MDC-T councillors and some of their ministers have further weakened their position in public. Also we have heard some serious overspending by the Prime Minister at the time when the civil servants are living in abject poverty, earning unimaginable salaries which in reality are just a curse and insult to their profession.
Professor Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, the minister in charge of civil servants, has been running in sixes and sevens failing to handle the strike, forgetting that in the recent past it was them who were using these workers as a ladder to get to power. Now that they are in power they want to pretend that all is well and that civil servants are unreasonable when their demands are genuine. Workers need decent wages, they don’t eat slogans.
It is important that before we engage in useless talks about elections we also look at the reality of whether we have the resources to run the election. Given the pathetic state of the national coffers, where does the MDC-T imagine the money to run elections will come from.
It is my proposition that before anyone can talk of an election, the following area addressed:
l A new people driven constitution;
l Removal of sanctions;
l Media freedom;
l Security reforms;
l Economic stabilization;
l Government institutions reform.
It is my conclusion that the country does not need an election now and that the political parties in GNU should stop being alarmist and negotiate patiently. Political posturing will not help the country move forward.
Qhubani Moyo is based in Bulawayo and specialises in Public Policy and Developmental Affairs. He is contactable on qmoyo2000@yahoo.co.uk.