By Bernard Bwoni
Opposition politics in
Zimbabwe always falls short because of a number of niggling issues that require a lot of fine
tuning before they can reach the standards required to govern. The main
criticism against the MDC inclusive of all its fragments is the lack of an
alternative shadow policy strategy and their tendency to point fingers and to always
oppose just for the sake of opposing without presenting solutions or
suggestions. The issue of political immaturity is what has been holding
Zimbabwe back in a lot of ways. The political playing field in Zimbabwe is
highly polarised, there is no consensus and there is inter-party and intraparty
circumspection. There is an atmosphere of cynicism and criticism from the
opposition on every decision made by the ruling party, even on clearly positive
policies presented. The ruling party and opposition ideologies are miles apart
but for the sake of the development of Zimbabwe both must engage in meaningful
and constructive dialogue on national issues. It should not just be about opposing
for the sake of opposing because it imposes limitations on execution of
national programmes. There is need for a shadow strategy from the opposition
and in some cases consensus on matters of national importance. There has to be
a high level of maturity on the part of our political leaders for they
represent all Zimbabweans.
“Tingaswera tichitevedzera zve AIDS dzana Biti idzo (We do not
follow people like Biti who have AIDS). Do you think if I was such a sexual
pervert like how your people created yesterday dai tisina AIDS sa Tendai Biti?
We could have been looking miserable like him. It’s a fact that Biti has AIDS.
He wanted to kill one of the current MPs in MDC-T in 2008. I am going to be
merciless on this”. This was the flowery rant from
the Facebook wall of an opposition leadership aspirant, a party which actually
believes it is the alternative to the ruling party to address the country’s
many challenges. Job Sikhala who is in the MDC-T leadership ranks was venting
his anger at MDC-Renewal Secretary General Tendai Biti. Sikhala went on to pour
even more colourful and highly-charged expletives which cannot be repeated due
their graphic nature.
People do have a right to
question the character traits of those who are intending on leading them and
that is allowed. Remember when Mr Tsvangirai was challenged regarding his
relationships which became public because that had a bearing on his ability to
lead the country. His character was being brought into question. It is when
people who are aspiring to office start engaging in online public displays of
political immaturity as Mr Sikhala then you know you have genuine problems
within some section of the opposition ranks. In as much as I do not subscribe
to Biti’s politics the unwarranted and unethical attack on him leaves a very
bad taste in local politics. In a country like ours where lives have been lost
and families have been torn apart because of the ravages of the HIV and AIDS
pandemic and for a public office aspirant to come out guns blazing and putting
stigma right back on a disease which Zimbabwean society has worked so hard to
demystify is just the highest level of political immaturity. The crude and rude
remarks about AIDS had an undertone and were an indirect attack on those within
our society living with the disease and those whose relatives had been touched
by the killer disease. Sikhala refused to back down even when his ‘many followers’
questioned him and those who disagreed with him had more profanities hailed at
them and reminded that he had ‘6613 followers. There was a sense of over-stating
own importance bordering on childish behaviour. The man was unrepentant and
refused to concede that his views on AIDS were not indicative of leadership
material and did not cast a very bright light for the MDC-T. The hope is that
these are his own views and not that of the party he represents and speak on
behalf of as his remarks gives the impression that the MDC-T as a party views
HIV and AIDS as a disease of ‘sexual perversion’ and that those who suffer from
the disease have no place in Zimbabwe society.
The honest truth is that in
Zimbabwe millions have been affected by the disease one way or the other,
either themselves or family members. The AIDS pandemic has ravaged lives in
Zimbabwe and Sikhala ought to be respectful to those who have been affected not
‘mercilessly’ mock them publicly. So what exactly is the MDC-T party position
on AIDS which frankly is a national tragedy? Is it a disease of the promiscuous
as Sikhala boldly puts it or national tragedy that has brought untold suffering
to so many Zimbabweans? Politicians ought to be advocating and championing for
the rights of those touched by this unrelenting disease instead stigmatising
them further. The problem with some characters in the opposition is that they
are still stuck in student politics activism and most likely never to come out
it. They remain tainted by the naivety and immaturity of activism instead of
taking the next step into the world of the mature of politics. These are the
opposition figures who go round making counterfeit claims of violation of their
own civil liberties yet goes on to publicly diagnose another man with AIDS on
Facebook and threaten those ‘followers’ who found his utterances revolting.
This is one of the reasons why
the opposition in Zimbabwe will always remain in the opposition ranks because
of this level of immaturity. You start questioning the whole leadership of the
party for including such twisted characters in their national structures. The
downfall of the opposition lies in the inexperience and immaturity of those in
their ranks. With such juvenile antics, the boastful over-stating of own
importance, the slander and the petty pickings on online public forums
completes the disastrous jigsaw. Many ‘followers’ were left in shock and
feeling uneasy by the shallowness, the low show of morals and ethics and the
irresponsible utterances by a representative of the opposition leadership in
Zimbabwe. I could not care less for Tendai Biti’s politics but such unprincipled
Sikhala tactics of hitting below the belt are unacceptable, disappointing and
disgusting to say the least as the man failed to rise above the lowly, the
despicable and unethical politics of name-calling.
bernardbwoni.blogspot.com
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