Where Tsvangirai Could Have Gone Wrong

Zimbabwe’s harmonized elections have come and gone, the people have elected leaders of their choice in the local authorities, House of Assembly and the President.

The playing field was very free and fair as all the contesting political parties had adequate and equal opportunities to sell their election manifestos to the electorate through rallies, public debates, state, private and numerous social media platforms.

Morgan Tsvangirai pondering the next move

Throughout the campaigning period Zimbabweans have exuded high levels of political maturity and tolerance, making this previous election the most peaceful the country has ever witnessed since Independence.

July 31 election was the defining moment for ordinary Zimbabweans, Zanu PF and the MDC-T. It sought to end the SADC brokered Global Political Agreement (which subsequently led to the Government of National Unity after a contested election in 2008) and usher in a people driven and democratically elected government. Zanu PF and the MDC-T both desperately wanted to win this plebiscite as evidenced by their vigorous campaigns and endless efforts to cajole people to vote for them.

The results were a shock, a great shock to MDC-T, the European Union and the United States of America who for the past fourteen years have been singing the regime change agenda tune. Robert Mugabe, (at 89) and his Zanu PF managed to defy all the odds against them and romped to victory, ‘usurping’ 160 seats in the National House of Assembly and a 61.9% victory over his long time arch rival Tsvangirai.  

Confronted with such an embarrassing defeat and a simmering guilty conscience for betraying the people of Zimbabwe who for so long had pinned their hopes in MDC-T. Tsvangirai found solace in the rigging rhetoric which has to date saturated the political landscape in Zimbabwe.

To my surprise, many people even those who voted against MDC-T and Tsvangirai seem to agree to the rigging rhetoric, but no one has ever questioned if Tsvangirai really deserved to win given the circumstances surrounding him. Without completely ruling out the rigging factor, there are several factors that contributed to Tsvangirai and the MDC-T’s defeat, these include; poor advice and lack of political strategy and ultimately betrayal by the CSOs.

                                                                              It was evidently clear that during the run up to the harmonised elections Tsvangirai became prone to bad advice from his ‘hired’, highly ‘venerated’ and arrogant political cheer leaders masquerading as advisors, whose understanding of the political situation and reality was rather sketchy. Quite sad that instead of searching for best advice for Tsvangirai and the party from colleagues and the electorate, the so called think tanks spent most of their time fantasying so much on Facebook, investing trust in a faceless Facebook character, Baba Jukwa, misleading Tsvangirai that 'he has people'. 

Such was the situation, and one wouldn’t know why people were so thrilled that Tsvangirai was going to win, yet the man didn’t campaign. Taking a closer look, since the inception of the Inclusive Government, Tsvangirai’s party never dared to go back to the people who voted them into office, only to make a dramatic appearance just after the proclamation of the election date. They got too comfortable under Mugabe’s 'warm armpit' (Inclusive government) giving the octogenarian and Zanu PF a political pivot to re-strategise, and come up with clear strategies and policies that enticed the electorate, no wonder the land slide victory.

Pre-occupied with the 'we have arrived' or “Dziiii paState House” mentality, the MDC-T failed to clearly articulate its policies to the electorate.  Rather than concentrating on bread and butter issues, Tsvangirai spent most of entire campaign time declaring war on traditional leaders, media houses and journalists, and of course the service chiefs.

Well, that is politics, politicians gain support through a plethora of means, but threats and bullying shouldn't be one of them. But sadly, for the past five years Tsvangirai spent his energies vilifying his long time, critical, strategic and faithful partners in the name of Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU), Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) and the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) the very organisations that strongly campaigned for him in the 2008 elections. ZINASU was tattered, ZCTU disintegrated and the NCA financially starved all because they didn’t agree with a certain position.

Shame, how ungrateful he is?

That said, Tsvangirai was left with no choice but to rely for support more on a rather compromised civil society.

One of the local artist entertaining revelers in the high density suburbs during Feya Feya campaign meeting

A cabal that betrayed him in trying times, but well, what do you expect from money loving mercenaries whose flamboyant programmes only targeted drunks in bottle stores and taverns.

It’s really pathetic that this cabal failed to extent such programmes to  Dotito, Chendambuya and my rural home Dombwe  in Shurugwi  there to  instill confidence in the electorate, and they still expect Tsvangirai to win.  This cabal trivialised, commercialized and commodified the struggle and their ranting about the  election not being free and fair is just but a way of trying to wipe shame from their sorrow faces.

Instead of holding the nation at ransom, Tsvangirai has to show leadership by accepting defeat and apologize to the people of Zimbabwe for giving them false hope. The country has to move forward.