Tsvangirai is not taking the plight of Zimbabweans seriously

The death toll in Zimbabwe is rising while Morgan Tsvangirai continues to place his personal and selfish ambitions before the plight of millions of Zimbabweans who have been subjected to misery. The ruins of Zimbabwe are nothing to do with Tsvangirai but he has been party to sustaining the downward spiral of the economy by reneging on the deal he signed on September 12 2008.

Zimbabweans are in desperate need of a government that would extricate them from the abject conditions imposed on them by the tyrannical Mugabe regime. That Mugabe is not the ideal candidate for the presidency cannot be contested, but the reality of the situation is that he is there and a significant number of Zimbabweans voted for him (over 40%); whether by hook or crook, they expressed their preference of him to lead. We cannot just simply wish him away. The debate about the fairness of the elections will not resolve the dire situation that Zimbabweans are facing now.

Morgan Tsvangirai, as I have said before, does not display the quality of leadership that is necessary to bring about a speedy and permanent solution to the problems facing Zimbabwe. He has consistently behaved like a prima donna and hurled insults at regional leadership when certain decisions do not favour him. It appears he has failed to grasp the concept of negotiations; that its consequence is born out of compromise and foregoing of certain resolute positions in order that there is traction towards a lasting solution. He has undermined mediation efforts and accused it of bias towards Zanu-PF, but the letter written by Thabo Mbeki has revealed the disingenuousness with which Tsvangirai has engaged the media in an attempt to portray Mbeki and the SADC as stalling progress by forcing him on a raw deal.

Tsvangirai was at pains to inform anyone who cared to listen that the SADC took a decision that the Ministry of Home Affairs should be shared by the MDC and Zanu-PF, which it transpired, was in fact a lie. Tsvangirai said “This issue of co-sharing does not work. We have said so ourselves, we have rejected it and that’s the position … there is no agreement to co-sharing, to rotation, to swapping of ministries.”

According to Mbeki, during the meeting held on November 9 with the SADC Troika, Tsvangirai agreed to what he disputes above. Mbeki in his letter to Tsvangirai said: “You will remember your own insistence that in the context of the agreement that there should be two ministers of home affairs, these should serve in rotation, with the MDC (T) appointee taking the first slot.

You affirmed that if this were to be agreed, it would mark the conclusion of the negotiations about the distribution of the ministerial portfolios, and therefore enable the establishment of the Zimbabwe Inclusive Government, with your endorsement and support.”

It is very clear that Tsvangirai is being dishonest in his engagement with the SADC and the mediation and continues to play silly games when the millions of Zimbabweans are desperate for a settlement to be reached in order that they can be saved from their economic and health woes. It is rather alarming that the Prime Minister elect would spread untruths about leaders of the region, portraying them as colluding with Mugabe and denying the MDC a fair compromise in terms of the General Political Agreement (GPA) signed on September 12, when in fact the SADC was endorsing what had already been agreed to between the negotiating parties. Tsvangirai is failing the people of Zimbabwe by refusing to honour obligations imposed on him by the GPA and ensure that a government is formed without further unnecessary delay.

Whether you like him or not, Mbeki is correct in saying that the problem of Zimbabwe is for the three negotiating parties to resolve. The region would do whatever it can to assist them in finding a solution; but it can only do so when all parties are committed to the process and place national interests ahead of their partisan and personal interests. Zimbabweans care less of who is in charge of home affairs; theirs is the desperation for government to fulfill its constitutional obligations towards every citizen of Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai said Thabo Mbeki should step down as the mediator in Zimbabwe’s political crisis. “He does not appear to understand how desperate the problem in Zimbabwe is, and the solutions he proposes are too small. He is not serving to bring the parties together because he does not understand what needs to be done.” It is worrying that Tsvangirai who should posses a greater understanding of the need to resolve all issues before negotiating parties speedily would seek to advance his personal fortunes at the expense of lives of the Zimbabweans he pretends to represent. To continue to accuse the mediator as biased and lacking insight into the problem in Zimbabwe is not going resolve that problem. The worsening of the Zimbabwean situation is an indictment on Tsvangirai and his MDC and he cannot exonerate himself from that.