Sunday 16 February 2014

The grandstanding 'tactics' that destroyed Morgan Tsvangirai

 By Budiriro Peter Moyo


Well actually when I met him (Tsvangira) at the YES/NO Referendum in 2000, then a student journalist, we voted at the same voting station in Ashdown Park. He arrived in a Mazda twin cab with a few aides. I had just voted YES for the constitution which I thought was going to give them better ground for them to win and rule Zimbabwe, he came in, voted NO and then came out. As he walked towards his car in a hurry as it seemed he had been running away from media which had been tracking him. I then stopped him with my dictaphone and asked what he thought of the new constitution and what his position was. Immediately a swam of international media arrived and asked him to wait so he could answer during their recording. His answer which i repeated in an article in the Daily News clearly summed up what kind of man and what kind of legacy he was to leave. "Our stance is NO! We cannot be party to such a flawed process," he answered. I then asked him if he had ever read the constitution. His answer was muted, more rushing to attack personalities than concentrate on the substance of the document and the difference voting YES would have meant. of course he had a chance to make history - a YES vote would have insured the death of Lancaster constitution - he would have challenged Mugabe on pure neutral grounds of a new document and he would have had a better chance of winning under the new constitution, with elections just 3 months away. But then, they were all for grand standing. He loved the international attention and it was then I made my analysis, that if Tsvangirai was a brand, he could be a Nokia - a brand that had it all, controlled all, took the market for granted thinking there would never be anyone better, that it was an anointed brand, no one would ever live a normal life without owning a Nokia but then we all know what happened to Nokia. It is there but the Finnish brand is all but finished. It had a good ride while it lasted and with time had shrunk to become a shadow of it former self. Don't get me wrong, it is still there, the Nokia, but that's just it. When I had a chance to have a talk with Innocent Gonese during my incarceration in Mutare, I asked the question why with all the chance to be part of the history changers in 2000, they had decided to do some grand standing with a NO vote, he said, it had been a political decision. They had not wanted to be seen to be agreeing with Zanu PF and infact they had opposed for the sake of it, hoping the YES vote would carry the day. And I was like what a bunch of MORONS! WHAT A BUNCH OF BUFFOONS! They literally stole Zimbabwe's future through their grand standing and with every NO vote they campaigned for all those years back has served them right and come back to haunt. The seat of power shall elude them to their grave

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