Love him or loathe him Professor Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara the fortuitous Zimbabwe Deputy Prime Minister is adding colour and fanfare to the coalition government.
The Professor who must rank the luckiest political opportunist in the world was bound to be the political clown in the coalition government given his entry route to political prominence and he has not failed in that regard.
In 2005 Mutambara returned to the Zimbabwe political arena in controversial circumstances where he was to lead a faction of MDC malcontents within the party’s National Executive Council who had broken away from the Party over participation in Senate elections.
He said of his invitation to lead the Tribal faction of deviants that he was the Anti-Senate Elections leader of the Pro-Senate Elections faction of the MDC and he would rebrand the faction by renaming it and cleansing it of its bad reputation as a puppet of the West lacking leadership strategy and direction.
That set the stage for Mutambara becoming the Mukadota politician that he has turned out to be.
And boy do they love him in the MDC-t for the lighter moments he brings to the serious s and tense political environment that pervades the coalition government.
There appears to be consensus that in his own ways Professor Mutambara and his grouping of renegades is a useful political clown to have around when things get tough.
He has raffled a few feathers in Zanu PF at unexpected moments as insiders within MDC-T will bear testimony.
There was the incident in Kampala Uganda when he lapsed into his favourite rebranding subject and took a dig at African Heads of State for failing to establish internationally reputed political brands that earned him rebukes from Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Jakaya Kikwete.
He reportedly took the stage by storm and roared and thundered;
“The problem with African politics is the lack of internationally recognized brands.
What is your brand Museveni? What is your brand Kikwete? What is your brand Mugabe” he allegedly asked. “Africa must strive to establish political brands that are endorsed by the Western democracies and not by the Africans” he thundered in those exact words or something to that effect.
The Sentinel is advised that when Mutambara took to the podium Mugabe was too tired to remain in attendance and was on his way to bed but had to turn back when operatives rushed to hint him of the drama that was unfolding in the auditorium from his erudite deputy premier.
He entered just in time to hear the deputy premier castigate the African statesman much to the chagrin of Museveni and Kikwete.
Mugabe was not amused but could do nothing about it. After the speech Professor
Mutambara allegedly took his seat in the Zimbabwean delegation, rolled his eyes in the peculiar way he always does, wiped sweat drops forming on his forehead with an open palm and asked;
“How did that go?”
Needless to say he had read the body language in Mugabe’s eyes to know he had not been well received and the feedback was immediate from Museveni and Kikwete who told the Deputy Premier in their response that he still had a lot to learn about African politics if his views were anything to judge him by.
There is a widely held belief within MDC-T that the Zimbabwe deputy Premier sometimes lapses into the world of the bizarre and says things unintentionally landing himself in trouble.
Although he meant no malice on senior African statesman when he asked about their legacies he nonetheless raffled feathers when he implied that the West are better judges of what constitute democracy and good governance in Africa.
Far from it all the Deputy Premier was saying is that self praise has no recommendation and the African leadership bravado about practicing democratic governance is hollow unless the international community endorses that to be indeed the case.
But the real reason why he was not received well was because he sounded most disrespectful by naming the leaders he singled out as examples to drive home his branding obsession by their surnames and without reference to their esteemed titles which they cherish so much.
You only have to see how long and loaded some of their titles are to appreciate how offensive it is for a political novice like Mutambara to ignore them in a formal meeting of African Heads of State.
In many African customs calling elders or seniors at work by their surnames without the honorific prefix is a great insult.
Whichever way they took it Mutambara had once again pointed to a truism many an African leader would rather it not be said in public.
Then there was the incident in Nyanga where government had retreated to review its operations and redefine its objectives.
For the first time in the History of the Zanu PF party Professor Mutambara made them walk out in protest. Something akin to making a Zanu PF boycott of proceedings because they were in such a weakened position they could not defend themselves other than through a walkout.
Professor Mutambara had reminded the party not to make unreasonable demands on how government should operate as they had years of uninterrupted power to implement those ideas but failed dismally to the extent that they had to rely on stealing recent elections to remain politically relevant.
The rebuke was apt and stinging and took Zanu PF ministers by surprise leading
Patrick Chinamasa to call a boycott of proceedings through the infamous yet shameful walkout for which he later profoundly apologised to the Premier.
At the time he led the walkout Chinamasa stated;
"The meetings were going on very well until this morning when Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara made some very provocative statements that the parliamentary and presidential elections of last year were all fraudulent, null and void,"
"We, members from the ZANU-PF side, walked out in protest at the reckless and irresponsible utterances by Professor Mutambara because they are intended at undermining the legitimacy of a party in the inclusive government,"
None of the permanent secretaries in attendance followed suit and the embarrassed Chinamasa and Webster Shamu had to eat humble pie when they had to apologise to the Premier for their ill advised and cowardly response.
But instead of disclosing that embarrassing episode to the nation Chinamasa sought to mislead the nation into believing that Professor Mutambara had apologised to Zanu PF for having caused the walkout which he never did.
In fact the Premier accepted Chinamasa’s apology and reminded him of the serious responsibility he carries in ensuring that the coalition government succeeds as a leader of Zanu PF.
He reminded Chinamasa that Mutambara was in government at the behest of Zanu PF and if they now have a problem with their project to neutralize MDC-T dominance they should not vent it in government fora but in the political arena.
Whichever way Professor Mutambara behaves it always seems to benefit and strengthen MDC-T’s hand in the coalition government and they love him for that.
As the adage goes in Shona “Anebenzi nderake kudzana kwaro anopururudza “in the MDC they applaud Mutambara’s political tomfoolery which is now being landed weight by Professor Moyo’s attempts to rejoin Zanu PF.
That is why when Professor Mutambara comes out strongly condemning Zanu PF intransigence in implementing the GPA we must support him and urge him to come good on his promise to mediate between Gushungo and Save.
More importantly we urge him to make it clear that he and his party take exception to being compromised by unilateralism in Zanu PF.
It is obvious that the decision by State Prosecution Services to commit Roy Bennet to custody following indictment compromised the entire government including Deputy PM Mutambara.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Roy Bennett’s bail was granted by the High Court and upheld by the Supreme Court at the time he was arrested.
This was after the Attorney General had refused to abide by the Mutare Magistrate Court to grant Bennett bail through invocation of section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA).
The AG having indicted Mr Bennett for trial in the same High Court that had granted the accused bail had no basis upon which to incarcerate Bennett with the sole intention of igniting a legal process similar to the one that had been resolved by the Supreme Court at the time of the accused’s arrest.
It is sad that in all this legal gerrymandering the AG is using taxpayers’ funds for a vindictive Zanu PF political agenda which has nothing to benefit the taxpayers outside that party.
The unanimous decision by the MDC-T National Council to boycott government structures that Zanu PF is abusing to soil the good standing of the party must be commended and fully supported.
In politics it is the most bizarre and irrational decisions that change thinking and directions of the State.
If Mugabe does not address the GPA concerns at the centre of the boycott he will be forced into violence or alternatively he will find that his party will have nothing to offer the country.
Most people will go with the MDC-T led wing in Government and that is a frightening prospect for Zanu PF’s future relevance.
Meanwhile those that have been selling the idea that the MDC-T is in the throes of another split or about to ditch its leader Premier Morgan Tsvangirai must take note of the unity and cohesion within the party that the resolution has sent.
Most of the alleged sources of such malicious stories are frequent visitors to the Premier’s residence seeking job positions in the bureaucracy by night.
Some from within the party ranks have broken down to tears in their pleadings for jobs from the Premier. Many others from outside MDC structures have made nightly visits to the Premier to pay homage and seek jobs.
Army Generals that are threatening MP’s with loaded pistols are not any exception to these nightly visits.
The more subtle are those campaigning against the constitutional reform process who are using the platform to gain political recognition as opposed to spearheading a principled stand against the process.
It is remote that these same persons could successfully stage a palace coup in the MDC-T when their very existence and repute is in the Premier’s sphere of influence.
So it is with the Deputy PM who realizes that his political wellbeing is better served with Tsvangirai on his side and does not hide the fact when an opportunity arises.
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