Dr. Simba Makoni a confused political nonentity

Former Zanu PF Politburo member and Finance Minister now masquerading as Zimbabwe opposition MKD leader Dr Simba Makoni presented several budgets like this one that impoverished Zimbabweans but now wants to endear himself with the same people he pauperised during his heydays in politics.

How else are we supposed to describe Dr Simba Makoni’s diatribe against the MDC-T than to point out that it is a feeble attempt by a confused political nonentity aimed at gaining lost attention.

After spending 28 years in a romance with Zanu PF during which he has been in the news limelight as a Minister and Member of the party’s Politburo Dr Makoni should be the last person to chide MDC-T for neglecting people.

For all we know none other than Dr Makoni and Zanu PF are responsible for the neglect of the people he shamelessly attempts to apportion to the MDC-T.

For 28 years Dr Makoni towed the Zanu PF political line that disenfranchised voters, militarized State enterprises, reduced our currency to ashes, dehumanized us, plundered and looted anything that was considered of national value and abandoned our social and economic wellbeing.

During this time Dr Makoni did not find it proper to give a single press conference or write a single article to any publication voicing concerns about our suffering at the hands of the government he was a key member of.

But within days of the MDC-T announcing disengagement from GPA interaction with Zanu PF the same Dr Makoni found his voice to speak about our abandonment and chide the MDC-T.

One wonders how a person who did not see anything wrong in the past 28 years when he was entrenched in power suddenly sees with such alarming clarity the neglect of the people by a Party and not the government.

“If the amount of attention that is being given to who gets what post in the inclusive government was directed towards delivering jobs, economic recovery, social harmony and stability, this country would have been much further down the road to prosperity than it is now,” stated Dr Makoni recently as he lynched the MDC-T.

This statement alone exposes the confusion in the mind of the distraught MKD leader who is fighting to regain lost political relevance not just in his tumultus movement but also nationally.

Having accurately observed;
“It is clear that Zanu PF and President Robert Mugabe have never been serious about engaging the MDC-T and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, specifically, and about the concept of power-sharing in general,” it is difficult to see how Dr Makoni then got it so wrong as to come to the conclusion that it is the MDC-T that is to blame and not the intransigent Zanu PF and its leader President Mugabe.

“Zanu PF has acted in bad faith throughout the life of the inclusive government, the MDC-T itself has also acted in a manner that does not inspire confidence in their ability to rise above the problems bedeviling Zimbabwe” said Dr Makoni in his futile attempt to exonerate Zanu PF for all its failures and ultimately his personal failures in the past and in the coalition government.

He quoted the Premier recently stating that "Mugabe is genuine", “Mugabe is not the problem, but other people around him", and "Mugabe is committed to power-sharing" "Mugabe is indispensable and irreplaceable,” at a time when the MDC-T nominee for Deputy Minister of Agriculture and several MDC-T MPs and supporters were persecuted and harassed all over the country as evidenced that MDC-T was culpable for the current state of affairs in the country.

For that reason Dr Makoni then concluded that the disengagement decision was motivated by MDC-T’s failure to secure jobs for the boys and girls in its ranks as opposed to a fight for “policies that can deliver real change for Zimbabweans.”
Dr Makoni then went on to tell us what the people want.

“The people want stable and permanent jobs, economic development, repair of dilapidated infrastructure, food, functioning health and education systems and social support networks. The people want their dignity and respect back,” he said.
“In this regard, we note that since they entered the inclusive government, the MDC-T have not put forward policy initiatives aimed at pulling the country out of crisis. The modest improvements that have occurred in people's lives over the past year are the result of the default dollarization which commenced in early 2008 and was formalised by Zanu PF before the inclusive government,” he lashed at the MDC-T.

Is it any wonder why we are where we are economically as a country when a former Finance minister and respected authority on financial matters within Zanu PF like Dr Makoni makes these crass statements?

Is it not true that as Finance Minister he was pushed out by Zanu PF after arguing for devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar in vain and never proposing the stabilizing dollarization of the economy then when there was scrap value in most organisations to salvage.

If dollarization was by default that the Zanu PF Junta of 2008 formalised what was he doing in the Finance Ministry and why was he paid?

More tellingly why did it take up to 2008 for Zanu PF to formalize dollarization of the currency when it is clear the country’s fiscal quagmire extends back to his tenure as Finance Minister?

Could it be that he was the square peg in the round hole within the Zanu PF government if dollarization was only formalized following his departure from the establishment.

Dr Makoni argues that people want stable and permanent jobs, economic development, repair of dilapidated infrastructure, food, functioning health and education systems and social support networks and they want their dignity and respect back.

We ask what has happened to these wants during his sojourn in successive Zanu PF governments he was a crucial member for people to demand them from the nascent coalition government that is only a year old.

If he and Zanu PF and Dr Makoni had not denied people these wants would there be any issue arising from them?

The height of confusion within MKD and Dr Makoni is exposed by his argument that the MDC-T must be happy that it still has no ambassadors posted, no provincial governors and resident ministers appointed and that Bennett has still not been sworn in as Deputy Minister of Agriculture because such appointments bloat the government but does not explain in what way as the positions have long been established during his reign in Zanu PF.

Clearly Dr Makoni is happy for these positions to be occupied by Zanu PF and if possible MKD activists so that they can continue frustrating MDC-T efforts at delivering real change to the people.

For how else can he explain the appropriation of the meaningful change from dollarization to a Zanu PF government that was busy printing worthless Zimdollars and is clamoring for the resuscitation of the money printing powers even as he ascribes the policy shift to the same party?

“The people expect MDC-T to champion causes such as national reconciliation and healing, in order that we never get a repeat of the violence and brutalities that have characterised recent elections.

The people expect the MDC-T to demonstrate better governance competency than Zanu PF, instead of helping implement destructive Zanu PF policies, as they have been doing since they entered the inclusive government.

The people want the MDC-T to demonstrate they can govern the country, facilitating prosperity through policies that are different from what we have come to expect from Mugabe and Zanu PF.

This is not happening,” Dr Makoni observed.

Indeed the people want all those things and much more. They want Zanu PF to reform and desist from using disguised activists like Dr Makoni to cast aspersions on the abilities within MDC to deliver real change when nightly they are at the centre of manufacturing the obstacles that are hindering the delivery of real change.

Real change is delivered by willing workers and not partisan political activists that Dr Makoni does not seem to realise are responsible for implementation bottlenecks within the coalition government.

MKD will not deliver meaningful change using MDC-T MDC-M and Zanu PF activists whose sole reason for occupying positions is to entrench their political formation in power at whatever cost.

Real change can only be delivered if the positions in government are occupied with willing professionals that uphold statutes and live by agreements, which is not the case in the coalition government.

Dr Makoni should realise that once he has identified Zanu PPF as being the insincere party in coalition government engagement he cannot justify ascribing failure to the sincere partners.

It is the people who exercise power that matter in the success or failure of a government and the argument that the MDC-T must achieve real change using unwilling Zanu PF activists strategically positioned in every public institution is a manifestation of the blindness in MKD leadership.