Kuthula Matshazi
Now we hear that the self destruction of the MDC is continuing. It is interesting to know what those MDC supporters and sympathisers are attributing that violence. To the CIO? To Zanu PF? Morgan Tsvangirai has been bought by MDC to kill the party from inside? Or Matibenga is being funded by the CIO and Zanu PF to cause commotion?
The uravelling of the previously hidden dirt is now embarassing those who were so shallow minded to attribute their own shortcomings to their opponents. Of course, opponents will make use of any weaknesses that manifests themselves. If we are to accept that it is the CIO and ZPF that are causing commotion in the opposition, then it demonstrates how hopelessly weak MDC is. How can it rely on its enemy for its viability? But we all know that it is not ZPF or the CIO which weakened the MDC. It is MDC which is causing its own demise.
Some people, ironically those who trumpeted themselves as well informed and educated were resorting to petty reasoning suggesting that the MDC was being weakened by the CIO and ZPF. Now its all in the open. The worst nightmare for MDC is MDC.
It is advisable that those who were burying their heads in the sand now take them out and start being realistic. You cannot make hatred and wishful thinking a substitute for reality.
24 comments:
Our country is in the midst of the greatest destruction of wealth outside of a war situation and all you can do is critisize the party which is not in power and was never in power and has nothing to do with the current situation.
Open your eyes Kuthula.
Dave you are running away from facts...the burying of heads I was talking about.
Why cant we talk about MDC. IN this article I did not say MDC is responsible for the condition of the economy, I said they are are an undemocratic and violent party. Yes or no? Are they not?
It's doesn't matter because if the MDC were to vanish tomorrow the situation in the country would still be as dire as it is today. It is you who are running away from the facts by discussing the MDC ad nauseum, what is the point? The MDC will not come to power we all know that.
The Facts are that our country is failing our people are hungry, our infrastructure is old and failing, power cuts are becoming more frequent, our resources are being given away for a song, people are watching their retirement nest eggs vanish into thin air if they haven't already, crime is on the increase, young people are fleeing the country and the list goes on and on. These facts my friend were not caused by the MDC, the MDC does not have the power to improve these conditions as we speak. So I ask you just who is running from the facts? It is you Kuthula, you are afraid to critisize a corrupt regime.
The MDC a violent party? How many Ndebele's have they killed? As many as ZPF? How many white farmers have they beaten? I haven't seen Mugabe, the head of his party battered and bruised but I have seen the head of the MDC that way. Undemocratic? Was it not Mugabe who once his terms as Prime Minister expired decided to become President? Is it not Robert who has been in power for 27 years? Is it not the ZPF that has been accused of vote rigging?
As an educated man you have no excuse whatsoever for your behaviour. You clearly do not want what is best for our people, you are more concerned with Britain and the MDC rather than the one party that can actually make a difference to our people if Zimbabweans chose to stand up and defend our right to prosper and suceed.
So go on talk about MDC as much as you want and see where it gets us.
Yes, you can blame the government for all the ills. But what I am asking you is - giving you the benefit of doubt that govt. did all what you say they did - do you still deny that MDC is a violent party, that Tsvangirai is disctator and weak leader?
Yes, you can blame the government for all the ills. But what I am asking you is - giving you the benefit of doubt that govt. did all what you say they did - do you still deny that MDC is a violent party, that Tsvangirai is disctator and weak leader?
Morgan is not yet a leader and he is definately not a dictator. Do you know what a dictator is? First of all a dictator is :
a person exercising absolute power, esp. a ruler who has absolute, unrestricted control in a government without hereditary succession.
Is this Morgan or Mugabe? Morgan is not even a leader of any government or country.
Let me answer your question like this. If I am walking on the road and I am blown to bits by a landmine does it matter that my foot happened to land on a nail? ZPF is totally destroying our home and you want to complain about paint chipping on the wall. To be honest it is Robert who is the weak leader, he holds onto power through fear and corruption and with the assistance of people like you who have a vested interest in seeing him remain where he is.
By the way that's me above.
If Mugabe is weak, why is Tsvangirai failing to get into power...to defeat Mugabe. A weak leader is a weak leader. They can't do anything...so if Mugabe can defeat Tsvangirai then he is not weak relative to Tsvangirai. Maybe relative to you he is weak, but certainly relative to Tsvangirai he is very strong. If you want to say Tsvangirai is not a dictator just because he does not run a government, fine. But he has tendencies of a dictator and he is saved by his weakness which has denied him govt office, from being a prototypical DICTATOR. he has all the characteristics except that of a leader!!
Ah, you argument has quickly begun to break down. When there is a bully at school who forces the other children to do his bidding do you call this child a "good leader". No, the first thing we tell our children is to stand up to a bully because the only power they have is intimidation. The same goes for Mugabe, you confuse his bullying tactics for good leadership. A leader is one who can lead by example and can achieve positive results for those he is charged with leading. Robert does not lead by example and his people are suffering as a result of his egomaniacal form of leadership.
It is obvious to me why our so called Zimbabwean leaders fail to lead, if they are anything like you they simply don't understand what leadership entails. Leadership is not simply preventing others for taking your power, a leader does not need to cling to power, it is the people who will allow him to wield that power for their own good. In the case of Zimbabwe we have a person who has hijacked the peoples decision making power for his own. This is not the mark of a leader but a dictator. Stalin was able to keep others from leading but did that make him a good leader for his people? No, Kuthula it did not.
Maybe instead of concentrating on your commuication skills you should take some courses on leadership.
Dave,
I take your advice. I'll further enhance my leadership skills. I am always trying to enhance everything about me because we always learn. Its dangerous to think, at any time that we have reached the "End of History".
"What are your comments on the words Well, I think one has to really go back to the beginning of the MDC as journalists and look at how we covered the MDC, certainly how I covered it from July 2001. I’m afraid to say I was very neglectful of looking at the MDC. My excuse is that it wasn’t such a big foreign story, it was more of a domestic story - the opposition - but I bitterly regret that I didn’t do more work in finding out about the various fault-lines in the MDC, which I have subsequently discovered were there right from the very beginning and I was totally unaware of it. I had no idea until I think it was July 2005. I had no idea.
And the domestic press, certainly The Daily News and what else was there apart from the Daily News? What ever else, what ever other domestic media there was, also didn’t investigate the MDC - almost at all. And because of the polarization any criticism that appeared in the Herald or on ZBC I think we all dismissed as propaganda, and that’s also a natural thing that would happen.
below?" - Peta Thornycroft
So you admit that Mugabe is a poor leader? I didn't quite get that from your facetious post.
It depends on what you mean by "poor leader". Relative to Tsvangirai he certainly is not. Evidence abound. Even if we say he is a poor leader, the focus is on Tsvangirai. Do you accept that Tsvangirai is a weak leader? Again, I warn you, dont bury your hand in the sand and always seek to skirt the main issue.
Morgan must be given the chance to lead before I can call him a weak leader. Before George Bush was president no one knew just how bad a leader he could be and now we know. If you think you can predict the future then you must be a witch doctor or something.
Is'nt he leading the opposition I mean Morgan and he is doing a mess of it,He can't even hold his party together and you you want to give a chance,well go vote for him yourself.I will never waste my vote on him, no sir I will not,Even if it means it only running in those elections
Jazzenga, unless you currently reside in Zimbabwe you won't be voting for anybody seeing as ZPF does not trust Zimbabweans living abroad with the responsibility to vote for the ruling party.
Go ahead and vote for Mugabe, you can continue seeing the bare shelves in supermarkets, you can continue relying on candles for light at night during a powercut.
Maybe you don't understand my position. I am not voting for Morgan, I am voting against Robert. You are like a wife who has an abusive husband, you are afraid of the alternative because it means being alone so you stay with a person who is constantly beating you and putting you down emotionally. Neither you or I know what type of future Zim would have under an alternative ruler but I for one feel it is safe to say we cannot afford more of the same. The status quo is not an option. So until you or Kuthula decides to run I will go with anyone but Mugs.
Unlike you who is against Mugabe, I am sure Jazzenga and I are not against Tsvangirai per se, but we are merely judging him from an "objective" position. You want to complicate a simple issue: Tsvangirai is a hopelessly weak leader. If you want to make a case for Mugabe make it separate from the fact that Tsvangirai is a horribly inept leader.
Dave, you are against Mugabe and you hate him with passion, but unfortunately many people support him. You can deny it all you want but the fact on the ground will not change. I think the earlier you accept this fact, the better for you.
Dave ,if I am asked to choose btwn Bob and Morgan ,Bob wins hands out,
Kuthula, I am a practical person so taking part in a discussion that only discusses one side of an argument to me is foolish and here is why. When the election comes around we will have a choice of candidates, at this point it is most likely to me going to be Mugs and Morgs, like it or not that is our choice. Therefore if I am going to discuss one I am forced to compare versus the alternative.
I do not hate Mugabe, I think he was in part responsible for freeing Zimbabwe from the tyranny of Rhodesia and for that all Zimbabweans should be grateful. The issue is not whether or not I like Mugabe, the issue is who is best suited to lead Zimbabwe going forward.
Douglas states that given a choice he would pick Mugabe. As usual with people like him with they give no rationale for their reasoning and therefore make any logical discussion impossible. Kuthula although you may disagree with my positions 100% you cannot deny that I always provide my rationale for my decision, this is the only reason I imagine you are willing to engage me even if you disagree.
So for your benefit Douglas I shall give you my rationale for preferring anyone but Mugabe.
1. Mugabe has a personal vendetta against western leaders which would be better left out of politics. Mugabe's distrust may or may not be warranted but currently it is detrimental to the welfare of the Zimbabwean people.
2. With Mugabe in power there will be very little direct foreign investment in Zimbabwe. Most multinationals are actually divesting their assets in Zimbabwe with Heinz being the latest that I have heard of.
3. Like it or not Western nations will continue their sanctions against us as long as Mugabe is in power just as the US has done with Castro.
4. We have already seen what this government can do in power and we can no longer afford to continue down the path of racism and digging up old wounds.
5. With the west steadfast against Mugab we are at the Mercy of the Chinese. There is nothing wrong with the Chinese but we have no bargaining power at the moment and the Chinese are taking advantage of our current weakness to rob us of our raw materials.
These are just my top 5 reasons. We cannot let this situation continue for much longer. Even our neighbors are taking advantage of the situation, they are taking the most educateed of our populace for their labor forces, they have gained greatly by the experience of our farmers, they enjoy vast trade surplusses with us as our citizens must travel to their countries to buy the most basic of goods.
How Jazzenga, Douglas and you Kuthula can stand to see our country continue on its current path is beyond me.
Douglas do you currently live in Zimbabwe?
We are not standing by seeing our country going "on its current path" rather we are fighting those like you who want to promote neoliberalism, turning commonsense upside down.
Take off the economic sanctions and see whether the country will face this kind of economic violence. WE never saw such kind of economic violence until the West applied their genocidal sanctions with the cheering of people like you Dave - who purport to have the people's welfare at heart. If you do, what do you say about the economic sanctions that is hurting them? Don't hide behind Mugabe this, Mugabe that! Even if its Mugabe this or Mugabe that, we have clearly seen that the sanctions have affected the ordinary people and not Mugabe or other individuals "targeted". What do you say about the effects of sanctions on the ordinary people? Answer this one Dave. Do you support the genocidal economic sanctions that are hurting the ordinary people? Yes or NO. Leave Mugabe out of this. DO YOU OR DO YOU NOT SUPPORT THESE VIOLENT ECONOMIC SANCTIONS THAT ARE KILLING PEOPLE?
Judging from this primary school level of discussion, it is little wonder that Zim is in such a mess! And this coming from a man who calls himself a communications professional!
Sooo, you call Mugabe a great leader! He He He He! A president who destroyed his country's economy? Ruling a country who are fed by the hand-outs of his 'enemies'? Where inflation is running at 1500%? One US dollar for 4000 million original zim dollars? Banned in person by all civilized countries? Who believes the ancestors will supply diesel clean from a rock? He He He He! Eish, siRious!
Well, Mugabe and Zanu-pf caused the sanctions, kuthula! So, get rid of Mugabe and Zanu-pf, and sanctions will be gone. If you REALLY cared about stopping the genocidal economic sanctions that are hurting the ordinary people, then YOU should fight Mugabe, not Tsvangirai!
Kuthula you seem to be a revisionist. The sanctions were put in place after Zimbabwe was well on the road to decline. As a matter of fact I do support the sanctions. I want the children of people who support this Dictatorship to be forced to go back to Zimbabwe instead of living it up in Australia, UK and the USA and CANADA. Maybe that is why you are against sanctions, you don't want to be kicked back to Zimbabwe with the rest of your friends.
How do Sanctions preventing party supporters from travelling to and buying assets in the west cause the ordinary man hardship? Please explain in detail listing the sanction and the hardship it has caused. I challenge you to explain explicitly this relationship.
Not only do I support the sanctions but I hope they are extended to YOU, you should be forcibly removed from Canada and forced to live under the rule of Mugabe who you love so much.
I wrote this in response to someone else who agrees with your position but it applies to you as well.
First of all I totally disagree with you conclusions regarding sanctions, however for a moment I will indulge you. Let's assume for a moment that the sanctions are the cause of Zimbabwe's downfall. Would it not be hypocritical if the west did not implement these sanctions? The world was correct to impose sanctions on aparteid South Africa in response to an undemocratic government stomping on the rights of the majority. Yet when the same treatment is imposed on black leaders in Zimbabwe you cry foul? In Zimbabwe you have an undemocratic goverment that has hijacked the majority of the democratic rights associated with a free society, why should the international community not do everything in their power to combat this injustice. I think that history tells us that it was the right thing to do in South Africa even though it was more than likely the poor in South Africa who suffered more than the elites.
The real cause of the downfall of Zimbabwe was Mugabe's taking of land from the white commercial farmers without a surefire plan of what would happen afterwards. I compare his actions to those of President bush in his war in Iraq. Everything sounds easy but once you complete the action you realize that you have made no sustainable plans to fill the void that you have created. Zimbabwe's landless people had a right to retrieve some of their historical property but at the same time we knew that the majority of the forex coming into Zimbabwe was from Tobacco and other horticultural products as well as tourism. By taking the land we destroyed both sector of our economy in one fell swoop, firstly we had very few indigenous farmers who could maintain the level of agricultural output required to feed the nation and bring in forex and by forcibly removing farmers we showed the world an unstable environment, one which is not conducive to tourism.
Sanctions arrived only after the destruction of our economy was in full swing. If you understand anything about the credit markets you would know that they are based on risk. The risk of default was raised greatly once Zimbabwe cut of its two greates forex producing sectors in the economy. How would we repay any loans without this production?
By not implementing sanctions the rest of the world would be an accomplice to the atrocites that are being committed in Zimbabwe, we have seen farmers severly beated and we have seen members of the opposition violently attacked. Today I view China as an accomplice to the Sudanese governments genocide in Darfur due to their lack of movement on anything that could be seen as a warning to the Sudanese government regarding their behavior. I am sad that the common Zimbabwean has seen the fall of their country into an economic disaster but I am glad that the west has been able to take the moral high ground by imposing sanctions against a morally bankrupt government.
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