ZIMBABWE’S political history has been littered with opposition malcontents for a very long time, which has caused the weakening and splitting of the main opposition political party in the country.
The Movement for Democratic Change, which was founded in 1999, faced many splits during critical times when the majority of Zimbabweans thought change was now beckoning.
That is why the late party founding leader Morgan Tsvangirayi could not make it because he was surrounded by sellouts like Obert Gutu, Douglas Mwonzora, Emmanuel Chiroto, Lillian Timveous, Elton Mangoma, James Maridadi, Gabriel Chaibva, Morgen Komichi, just to mention a few.
These were working in cahoots with Zanu PF just for self-aggrandisement.
Today, Nelson Chamisa is also facing the same problem.
In 2014, there was The Mandel meeting which was convened by the then Tendai Biti-led group, which called for leadership renewal in the MDC-T, specifically that the late Tsvangirai steps down.
During the meeting, the renewal group resolved to suspend Tsvangirai and six other members of his inner circle, including Mwonzora, who is now leading MDC-T and Chamisa, who is now the leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
Such disputes caused the formation of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which was led by Biti, MDC-N led by Welshman Ncube, which later became MDC-M led by Arthur Mutambara and then MDC-99 led by Job Sikhala.
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Within such political outfits, the opposition was not spared of sellouts who always worked with the ruling party to derail the people’s movement.
Zanu PF has been targeting influential members of the opposition party in its modus operandi, where it rewarded them with trinkets and kickbacks to destroy and decimate the opposition from within.
When the MDC Alliance coalition idea was mooted, those who had left the party came back, and power struggles within the MDC Alliance started manifesting, with Mwonzora and Komichi working round the clock to wrest power from Chamisa.
They were successful and left Chamisa without any option but to form the Citizens Coalition for Change, which contested in the 2022 by-elections and won a sizeable number of seats.
Today, the web of sellouts within the opposition continues unabated.
This really shows that there are people in the opposition who don’t even care about the suffering majority, but are just there for themselves.
The regime is now salivating for a two-thirds majority in Parliament and using Sengezo Tshabangu as its proxy.
This self-proclaimed CCC interim secretary-general recalled 15 members of the opposition, thereby causing by-elections which are set to be held on December 9, 2023.
Now Kucaca Phulu, who was in PDP together with Biti, is also entangled in this sellout web, giving the ruling party a free lunch in Mabvuku constituency, where it failed to field a candidate after recalling MP Munyaradzi Febion Kufahakutizwi.
There is an invisible hand of Zanu PF in all this circus.
There is no need to destroy a place which you call home. We have the future which must find shelter in that place.
Tshabangu and his handlers have lost the plot big time and the citizens will punch back. The court of public opinion will judge them harshly.
Conflict resolution and management are key to solving disputes arising in the opposition and this must be given priority whenever matters of concern arise.
There should be ways of facilitating dialogue among the warring factions. - Leonard Koni
