IF at all it is true that Professor Lovemore Madhuku has now decided to turn the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) into a political party, then his motive leaves a lot to be desired.
His judgment to do so also becomes highly questionable.
Is he driven by the agenda of making money (from donors) or is he doing so to remain relevant now that Zimbabwe has a new constitution?
What can he do, that which the other cluster of political parties in Zimbabwe, the MDC-T; MDC-N; MDC-M; MDC 1999; Mavambo-Kusile-Dawn and ZAPU 2000, have failed to achieve?
Many Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, where he most likely hopes to come and raise funds from, have no appetite for supporting and funding another political party.
In fact many Zimbabweans in the UK are looking at various ways of returning home to live peacefully and catch up with development.
Since I returned from Zimbabwe I have been bombarded by people asking me how conducive it is for them to return home and participate in economic development.
It is a time when the Home Office is now tired of Zimbabwean asylum seekers and is now deporting failed asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe.
Gone are the days when political parties used the asylum process to fundraise from vulnerable asylum seekers. In Zimbabwe two weeks ago, I interacted with people at all levels; in the villages, cities and with politicians and the mood was that of a new Zimbabwe.
The recent harmonised elections which gave ZANU PF party a landslide victory are also evidence that Zimbabweans are tired of Western funded political parties and want a ZANU PF government to take the country’s agenda forward.
One wonders, therefore, if Zimbabwe’s problems are a shortage of political parties given the mushrooming political parties and their dismal performance during the last election.
Or does the professor believe that perhaps Zimbabwe’s opposition politics lacks an intellectual and educated opposition leader?
What of Professor Welshman Ncube, Dr Simba Makoni and Professor Arthur Mutambara?
While we embrace multi-party democracy, however, Professor Madhuku’s new political party seems to be driven by the desire to make money than to offer real opposition.
He lacks the stamina to connect with grassroots people.
He risks following the same blunders of the MDC: A Western backed political party deriving from a pressure group. He is offering old wine in a new bottle.
He is mixing his political concoction with a pseudo-pan Africanist ideology to lure support from the SADC and AU, yet behind he hides a Western backed regime change mantra!
This week I have had the opportunity to interview a few Zimbabweans in the UK, who come from different political backgrounds and below are some of their views.
Bongani Sibanda, an electrical engineer based in London: “Let democracy flourish in our beautiful free and democratic country. Anyone is allowed to duplicate MDC but the end result will be the same.”
Annah (aka Mafirakureva), a social worker based in Leicester: “All I can say is, nderipi gumbeze rinodziya idzva kana dzaru??? Inga varungu vakati the devil you know is better! Dotson Madhuku apenga achadzoka chete.”
Jimmy Malunga, Hertfordshire: “Madhuku’s party doesn’t have any grassroots appeal. MDCs are far much better in that their leaders had some strongholds and could appeal to certain communities to which they aligned their policies. With Madhuku I am not seeing anyone excited about his entry into the political arena. His party adds numbers into a motley collection of insignificant groupings. To worsen matters, it comes at a time when everyone is focussed on bread and butter issues after the recent elections.
Tinomudaishe Chinyoka, PhD student of Zimbabwe’s Land Law, Leeds: “It’s a non-starter. Madhuku hasn’t got a constituency. The NCA’s single issue was a new constitution, and that has now since been resolved in a constitution that he endorsed. He said people must accept the results of both the constitution and the election. The election was based on the new constitution, which was endorsed by 3,5 million people. That agenda is therefore resolved. Varungu vanoiti ‘that train has left’. How many new constitutions are we going to have?
Masimba Musodza, a university student in Middlesbrough: “Last year Madhuku said that the West is disillusioned with Tsvangirai and that they wanted someone more educated for an opposition leader. My view is that he is the one who went to Western countries’ embassies and sold himself as an ‘educated’ alternative to Tsvangirai. This shows you how out of touch he is, not only with Zimbabwean politics but with world politics as well. He is going to be another joke. Haasiri iye here wekudanana nekunhumburisa munin’ina wemukadzi wake? That shows you what type of a person he is. Vanhu muri kungoti hee Tsvangirai, Tsvangirai; Tsvangirai akambozviita here? My advice to Madhuku is that chill out. Politics dzake dzemadonor hadzishande! Dzaishanda kuma 1990s, not now. We live in Europe. We know that these European governments have no money. Kune ma budget cuts. Havachadi kuendesa mari kuAfrica. He is just trying to remain relevant and hopes that he will get a job as a university lecturer at one of the top universities after politics dzaramba. The party is made up of vanhu vakarambwa muMDC. What makes him think that the electorate will vote for them now that they are in his political party?”
Garreth Tembo (Bulawayo): “We all know what happened here. The financiers of puppetry have found another stooge. It’s a perennial thing from Muzorewa and Sithole. They were promised funds, which they have earned from claptrap media mongering. Madhuku being an obvious candidate…we all know what he is famous for. It’s just another MDC that will eventually be a friend of the Western countries than of Zimbabweans…”