Right Honourable Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Morgan Tsvangirai will respond positively to any well founded grievances from his supporters
The Biblical scripture of Galatians (Gal 6:7-8) reads;
"Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit."
How true this holds today as it was when stated. The world now generally holds true that;
“What goes around comes around.”
“He or she got a dose of their own medicine”
“Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it.”
In Zimbabwe vernacular Shona adage they say;
Hapana chisingaperi (lit: Nothing is everlasting) or invariabily;
Chinobhururuka chinomhara (lit: Anything that flies will land)
Zimbabwe has witnessed the political soft landing of....
Robert Gabriel Mugabe (President) and the take off of Morgan Richard Tsvangirai (Prime Minister).
So momentous was the occasion that it has caused varied reaction among us and as expected in the aftermath of such monumental political events, we are already debating the landing from our varied persuasions.
And not surprisingly the focal point is not on the landed but the airborne.
It is early days yet for the political ramifications of Tsvangirai’s ascendency to Prime Minister in the Inclusive Government that political heavyweights have supplanted for the elected Government to be competently assessed.
What is not in dispute is that the former Trade unionist turned the most adored political leader in the country is now legally at the centre of the governance of the country.
The first evidence of a nation coming to terms with that reality is the vocal expression of anxieties over the development which for any good leaders bodes well as it gives them direction on what to prioritise.
The first anxiety raised surprisingly for a nation in an economic quandary is tribalism.
This is a sad development but never the less an important political dimension Tsvangirai must attend to in the early days of his premiership tenure of office.
The people of Matabeleland feel they have been alienated from government based on the appointments to Cabinet by the premier.
They point that while most of the Premier’s support came from Matabeleland his Functional Heads in government are mainly from one province-Masvingo- and therefore tribalist.
In essence what they are saying is that Tsvangirai’s flight has left behind critical crew he will need in-flight and that could cause him to land prematurely.
Tsvangirai’s MDC party secured 100 Parliamentary seats distributed throughout the country as follows;
| Province. | Assembly | Senate | Possible Assembly | Possible Senate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bulawayo | 12 | 05 | 12 | 06 |
| Harare | 28 | 06 | 29 | 06 |
| Manicaland | 20 | 04 | 26 | 06 |
| Mashonaland Central | 02 | 00 | 18 | 06 |
| Mashonaland East | 04 | 00 | 23 | 06 |
| Mashonaland West | 06 | 01 | 22 | 06 |
| Masvingo | 14 | 03 | 26 | 06 |
| Matabeleland North | 05 | 02 | 13 | 06 |
| Matabeleland South | 02 | 01 | 13 | 06 |
| Midlands | 07 | 02 | 28 | 06 |
The tribal balance in distribution of the 14 Cabinet position allotted to the MDC that people from Matabeleland are crying foul over is premised on the belief that Matabeleland having banked a combined 27 of the 124 legislative seats controlled by the party ought to have been allotted a proportionate share of the Cabinet seats.
Since the 27 seats translate to 22% of the Legislature under MDC control the argument is that at least 3 0f the 13 cabinet posts should have been assigned to MP’s from that region.
Only one MP Abednico Bhebhe was to be appointed from the region and worse from the rival faction led by Professor Mutambara for that matter giving rise to the grievance.
The somewhat off tangent explanation from the MDC President and Prime Minister’s office so far is that appointments are in progress and the anxieties will be taken cognisance of does not wash neither does the reminder that already the region has bagged the Parliamentary Speakership and the Deputy Premiership.
The grievance has nothing to do with the Premiership or the Speakership but simply the 13 Cabinet positions and the choice of a representative from another faction ahead of party loyalists.
The official answer reflects that the MDC President never anticipated racial balance to head grievances about his selection which he said was premised on the abilities and commitment of the individuals to deliver the change the party promised in electioneering.
What is encouraging is that he has already responded by acknowledging sensitivity of the grievance and we are sure there is still time for corrections before the swearing in ceremony tomorrow.
The sad fact though is the people of Matabeleland have a genuine tribal concern which concern does not necessarily address the real grievance they hold that their region has been neglected by successive Zanu PF regimes.
The region had banked its future political fortunes in the MDC but was severely let down by its initial leadership that revolted and formed the parallel MDC structures led by Prof Mutambara whom many from the region do not know or trust.
Veteran MDC founder members Gibson Sibanda, Prof Welshman Ncube, Fletcher Dulini Ncube and Paul Themba Nyathi would easily have made the grade of Cabinet Minister from the MDC but they decided against union with Tsvangirai and paid dearly when they failed to get re-elected.
The vacuum their revolt created meant that Tsvangirai was left with the arduous task of rebuilding his party’s structures in the Matabeleland Provinces and most of the current leadership from the region is still relatively inexperienced to deal with challenges that await the Party in the Inclusive Government Cabinet where Zanu PF octogenarians like Mnangagwa, Chinamasa, Mutasa will be pushing their weight.
It was thus wise for Tsvangirai to pick those in his party ranks he felt had the experience and clout to be respected by Zanu PF Ministers rather than novices who could easily be awe stricken by the experienced Zanu PF contingent and achieve nothing for the region.
In that context then it was the wise choice to follow and give the veterans of the MDC a go at the veterans in Zanu PF and assign the first time Parliamentarians from the region less demanding positions as they learn the ropes of parliamentary business rather than expose them to the ridicule of Zanu PF.
But now that a grievance has been registered we implore him to exercise sound judgement and accommodate those feeling alienated.
The three highest government positions allotted to the party in the Inclusive Government have gone to Matabeleland 2:1 with Tsvangirai occupying the highest while Thoko Khupe and Lovemore Moyo took the remainder.
These two are tried and tested leaders of the party who can stand their own against anyone in the country’s political arena.
Nobody whinged about their appointment notwithstanding that Lovemore Moyo came from the worst performing Matabeleland South province and indeed nobody is expected to complain about an appointment that will shame those in the province that rejected the MDC most.
Be that as it may it will not take anything away from the PM if he replaces Bhebhe with a nominee from his own MP’s and compliment that with the remainder of the Deputy ministers he is yet to nominate so as to give them an opportunity to learn the ropes of the trade.
The next anxiety has been raised from promised foreign currency denominated salaries the Prime minister promised all workers.
Where will he get the foreign currency from is the question on every sceptic’s lips.
Not one has stopped to consider whether there was enough inflow of forex to the country to achieve that all along but that the inflows were being diverted into the privileged pockets of a few Zanu PF adherents at the expense of everyone else.
Imagine the savings that can be realised from destocking the military armouries filled with imported arsenal for suppression of dissent.
By merely suspending military gear and hardware imports the Prime Minister can raise enough the entire Civil service in forex for the rest of the projected lifespan of the Inclusive Government.
Not only that, but was it not part of the incentive to go into the inclusive government from the ADB that it would mobilise funding for reconstruction projects.
Is it not fact that all reconstruction projects are human resources driven and project plans that exclude salaries and wages incidentals will simply not take of the ground?
Tsvangirai is on a mission to prove that the Zanu PF government had wrong motives and priorities for external funds that accrued to the State and he will when everyone gets paid in forex at the end of the month.
The ZCTU is already on board calling for workers to return to work after a single meeting with the Prime minister on his first day in office.
Mugabe did not want to discuss with the worker leaders and preferred to arrest and detain them instead.
How could they cooperate and turn in a day’s job for no reward?
Securing human support and commitment is a critical first step in initiating productive venture and the Prime Minister seems to be on the right track. We urge him to hold the next meeting with the politicised ZFTU leadership in attendance.
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