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Good luck to Tsvangirai,but why did Ncube throw Gibby under the bus

It was great to witness Zimbabwe’s ‘Yes We Can’ moment,I can only wonder what Mugabe was thinking as Tsvangirai, was sworn in as Zimbabwe’s second prime minister since independence.

In his inaugural speech, Tsvangirai promised a virtual revolution: rule of law, political freedoms, independent news media, economic reform, food for needy Zimbabweans regardless of party affiliation.

I am still sceptical if the unity government will allow Tsvangirai to achieve his ambitious and essential goals I am even more skeptical that Mugabe and his Joint Operations Command(JOC ) will allow it.

If there is any real hope, SADC — must pressure Mugabe to stop tormenting MDC supporters,first Mukoko, Mudzingwa and Bennet must be released unconditionally and let Tsvangirai do his job. SADC must make clear that if Mugabe does not, they will finally stop protecting him.

The United States, Europe and others must continue providing humanitarian aid to help Zimbabwe cope with the cholera epidemic and feed the people. But they are right to hold back major development aid and maintain sanctions until Mugabe shows he is serious about keeping the commitments.

I was only three years old when Zimbabwe got its independence,but I have a feeling that this same enthusiasm and hope I have today for a new dispensation. While we were all hopeful on 14 April 1980,there were sour grapes from our former foes who wanted the new government to fail and lets not forget that due to corruption and gross mismanagement it did not take long for our hopes to be quickly dashed and crumbled like a deck of cards. But we never stopped hoping.

In the words of Obama,”despite the enormity of the task that lies ahead – I stand here today as hopeful as ever that … we will endure – that the dream of our founders will live on in our time”. Let us all be hopeful after all thats all we got.

I have read Joshua Nkomo’s memoir ‘The Story of My Life’ more than five times, I would recommend that all new MDC cabinet appointees in particular co-Home Affair Minister Giles Mutsekwa should read the book to get a feel of what it is like to work in a government with ZANU PF functionaries.

In the book Nkomo writes about his frustration as a minister and he says he was merely a ceremonial minister,with no powers of his own and there were several occasions where his signature was forged and his ministerial stamp stolen and used for certain purposes he was not aware of.

The MDC and Tsvangirai must also remain clear-eyed about Mugabe’s reprehensible ways and not be seduced by the limited power he has managed to negotiate. Zimbabwe desperately needs an end to its horrors and deserves the hopeful future.

I was not surprised at all by Tsvangirai’s cabinet picks,I knew Gabhuza,Sipepa Nkomo,Mangoma Mukonweshuro, Mudzuri,Makone Biti and Bennet would be appointed. I was however baffled by the Mutambara faction’s exclusion of Vice President Gibson Sibanda.

Why did the Welshman Ncube throw Gibson Sibanda under the bus,is he trying to tell us he is not good enough to run a ministry but he is good enough to run a whole country. A vice President as we all know is just a heart beat from the presidency.

Do you notice a pattern here,talk of Job Sikhala and Gift Chimanikire being used to split the MDC and all they got -nothing. Ncube reportedly dangled the MDC presidency to Gift Chimanikire if the MDC deposed Tsvangirai only to be dumped in favour of Arthur Mutambara- who for a decade had been divorced from Zimbabwe ‘s politics. His addition of value to the faction is still negotiable up to this day.

Well whatever breadcrumbs Sibanda finally gets in this fiasco, I see a manifestation of the proverbial cry, ‘I was used and thrown away like a condom’.

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Posted by on February 15, 2009. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.