The Sunday News
OVERESTIMATING their competences and capabilities, they said to one another, “Let us build a tower with its top in the heavens and make a name for ourselves”.
The Babylonians made this resolution under the tutelage of the arrogant Nimrod. To this effect, they set out to make burnt brick and tar and undertook the construction of the tower in Babylon, itself meaning confusion.
Despite casting a long shadow, obscuring the sun and threatening to reach for the skies, the seemingly yet to be gigantic tower of babel provided a stairway to nowhere instead. All this happened amid great linguistic confusion on the part of the too ambitious yet incompetent architects.
In reality and in God’s eyes, the structure was just an ambitious dwarf. God perceived the danger of such unity and said NO!
As Christians would sing: When Jesus says yes, nobody can say no and when He says no, nobody can say yes. In similar fashion with its sacred referent, the much hyped about opposition coalition creating hullabaloo in the Zimbabwe political landscape presents a sharp contrast between man’s own perceived capabilities and realities. Already, at its nascent stages, the already doomed structure can’t hold together. The bricks keep falling off, much to the frustration of this legion with accolades in political disappointment.
Being architected by political dwarfs, comprising troubled souls who are panicking at their political setting suns, the architects of this doomed structure cannot stomach the pain of having failed to be tall enough for the political occasion during the days of their lives. They keep attempting to Lazarously rise from the political ashes, or at least be visible even if it means in appalling ways.
Their being dwarfed by politicians of good morals and social standing has caused much disdain and disgust on their followers, financiers and funders. They have even ceased to trust themselves and the perpetual splits in their camps allude to this.
Taking after Morgan Tsvangirai, the father of opposition, they have lured like-minded opportunists, mostly rebels from the MDC and Zanu-PF. They have said, “Come on guys, let us try and make a name for ourselves once again, let us build ourselves a tower, with its top rising up to the State House, come 2018”, thanks to Zimbabwe’s robust democratic system which allows people, regardless of whatever moral standing, appearance or affiliation, to freely express themselves.
“Let us not forget the widow Joice Runaida,(Mujuru) for who knows? Probably the electorate and the international community might have compassion on her”, they have added I presume.
Luckily for them, she has not disappointed. Like Tsvangirai and unlike wine, Mujuru seems not to be maturing with age.
Recently, out of dishonesty and in fear of international crucifixion at that Golgotha called BBC, she unashamedly in biblical Peter-style, sought international sympathy and denied anything to do with Zanu-PF.
As if that was not enough, she went on to blatantly lie about her wealth in the full glare and multiplicity of the global audience.
Mujuru claimed she only owns an “inherited” farm and a house before adding that she has never been involved in anything to do with mining. Yet not so long ago when her Waterloo seemed imminent, she tried to mislead this literate nation. She blamed her woes on people who were jealous of their (with her late husband) mining claim(s) which were releasing more gems.
That helicopter-fame frame has a very short memory, it seems. With bitter hearts, the oppositions have failed to dwarf the ruling Zanu-PF party. They have chosen to focus and divide the ruling party along factional lines, the so-called Team Lacoste and G40. In as much as factionalism is irritating and disheartening as it threatens to reverse the gains of the liberation struggle, it has to be put into cognisance that factionalism is actually a result of ineffective and invisible opposition.
Ah! Did Pharaoh’s chariots not stampede on each other when the Israelites were no longer on sight at the sea of reeds? You see, good politicians are versatile. They just need to be occupied, idleness is nowhere in their vocabulary. Failing to understand that a coalition is not about names but minds and that great minds are inborn, Tsvangirai and Mujuru are leading the pack in the brick- burning exercise and preparing tar for the construction of the already demised political tower, amid great confusion.
The confusion in tongues has gotten out of hand in the opposition confines, shattering any dreams of speaking with one language again. Citing that opposition parties needed to field candidates with a real chance of winning in 2018, Tsvangirai clearly shut out Mujuru on leading the coalition. He dictated that the presidential candidate must be selected on the basis of the best individual who can win an election for the coalition against President Mugabe. The party, based on past performance and other factors, and which is the strongest electorally in a given constituency must also field the candidate for the coalition.
Mujuru’s outfits, ZimPF or NPP, have no electoral history save for the Bikita West rude awakening. But she and those around her are hungry and thirsty for power as well. It is already survival of the fittest at her just-formed-yesterday NPP outfit ahead of its elective congress slated for next month. Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, Bongani Nyathi, Cuthbert Ncube, Linda Dube, Elliot Kasu and John Shumba are already jostling for the VPs posts.
Meanwhile, with parochial interests, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has reportedly forged an alliance with Mujuru. On the other hand, her prospective coalition colleagues in the MDC-T and MDC have rubbished any prospects of her leading a coalition. Tsvangirai has himself hinted on starting solo preparations for the forthcoming elections. The MDCs have seen a political liability in Mujuru and have regarded Tsvangirai as a natural leader for a coalition. Mind you, these have travelled with Tsvangirai for more than 17 years on a thorny road to nowhere. That is not a joke.
Added to the confusion, suspicion is engulfing the opposition camp. There is lack of trust and suspicion with regards to whether the other oppositions, devoid of any liberation credentials, uphold the values of the liberation struggle. The opposition landscape now comprises former liberation cadres who were expelled from the ruling party. They fought their hearts out in the protracted war of liberation. Having to be equally yoked with western engineered political formations should, in all respect, look themselves in the mirror and allow conscience to take its toll in their lives.
It therefore becomes a bone of contention if God can allow such a dangerous union. Imagine the mayhem and turmoil, or even bloodshed likely to grip our motherland as these political home seekers with similar genes will obviously stampede for positions and candidature come 2018 as they execute their politics of the belly.
Languishing in bankruptcy in as far as time, money and the people are concerned, the opposition movements are like-minded in selfishness and poor strategy.
Financial coffers have dried up due to poor funding from the West owing to their failure to fulfil the reason for their existence, which is to effect a regime change.
Let us have a front row seat to the unfolding calamity and watch the fading shadows as the opposition coalition shadow fades like the rest of the failed resuscitation strategies, which have gone down the dungeons of Zimbabwe’s political history.
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