A FEW years ago a Tsvangirai UK meeting would certainly attract thousands of party supporters and the UK media.
Any MDC-UK fundraising dinner/event would certainly raise a lot of money, but not anymore.
All that is now history judging by his recent UK visit.
Even his effort to meet the new Foreign Secretary, Phillip Hammond, the incoming UK Ambassador to the Republic of Zimbabwe Ms Catriona Laing CB, and other British officials, also came to nothing!
Instead, he only met a trade union on Tuesday; an official from the Friends of Zimbabwe Parliamentary Committee, and a Labour Party Mayor for Birmingham City Council, the latter at the Birmingham meeting to talk about the possibility of “twinning the town (Birmingham) with MDC-T council-led towns in Zimbabwe” (to quote an MDC-T insider).
There was nothing on SKY News or BBC to show that the twice Nobel Peace Prize nominee and frontrunner was on the UK shores, with the media preferring to give more coverage to Usain Bolt attending the Commonwealth games (Bless him I am Usain Bolt’s fan!).
Instead, Tsvangirai’s visit was only covered by a few online Zimbabwean newspapers, some claiming that the meeting was attended by less than 100 people while the fundraising dinner was attended by about 30 people.
However, Makusha Mugabe (a journalist with Change Zimbabwe) and another colleague who attended both the meeting and the dinner estimate that there were about 100 people at the Birmingham meeting.
Former MDC-T UK big names such as Taurai Chamboko, John Huruva, Ephraim Tapa and Everisto Kamera were also missing.
Chamboko, Kamera and Tapa have since joined the MDC-Renewal Team where they hold positions while Huruva is active in Zimbabweans United for Democracy (ZUNDE).
The MDC was a vehicle people used to get political asylum in the UK and Europe so much other African nationalities such as Nigerians, South Africans, Zambians and Malawians conveniently became ‘Zimbabweans’ to claim political asylum in Europe.
A few days ago I spoke to a friend in the Republic of Ireland (an economic refugee) who told me how the Irish government is battling to verify the ‘Zimbabweaness’ of political refugees from ‘Zimbabwe’ now applying for citizenship.
He said: “My papers were delayed because they were verifying my Zimbabweaness.
“In the end I was interviewed by an Irish Immigration official who once taught at Fletcher High School.
“We ended up talking about many places, people and foods in Zimbabwe in the end he was satisfied that I was a Zimbabwean.
“Many Nigerians in Ireland got political asylum after lying that they were fleeing Mugabe.”
In 2009, Tsvangirai appealed to Zimbabweans in the UK to return home saying it was now safe to do so.
The Home Office has renewed its deportation of Zimbabweans, and they quote the former Prime Minister’s words whenever they refuse someone an asylum application.
Many people have not forgiven him for that.
I had the chance to speak with Mr Makusha Mugabe, a journalist who used to work for the Financial Gazette and MDC-T stalwart, about Tsvangirai’s visit
According to Makusha Mugabe, the low attendance could have been due to the fact that there was not enough notice given to people to attend it.
It was hastily organised because the focus was to attend the Chatham House meeting.
“The purpose of his visit was to attend the Chatham House meeting; we had a short notice to make preparations because the Chatham House meeting was brought forward so we had to fit everything else within the tight schedule,” he said.
Some disgruntled former MDC supporters had threatened to stage an anti-Tsvangirai demonstration at the meeting and pelt him with eggs, but Makusha said nothing of that sort took place.
It has also been alleged that after the Birmingham meeting, Tsvangirai instructed his relative Caston Matewu, and Muganda to go and cause some disruptions to an MDC-Renewal Team meeting taking place on Sunday July 27 in Luton.
But Makusha Mugabe dismissed that as untrue although he acknowledges that Luton had been a thorn in the MDC-T flesh.
MDC Renewal is strong in Luton and South-end-on-Sea where Stanford Biti (Tendai Biti’s brother) lives.
On the other hand, the MDC-T is strong in Portsmouth where Caston Matewu lives; Nottingham where the Chairman Tonderai Samanyanga lives, and Birmingham where Mr Chaora, Mr Mugabe and a few more stalwarts live.
By dissolving MDC-T UK structures a few years ago amid allegations of misappropriation of funds (about £57 000), Tsvangirai made a huge blunder because he forgot where his bread was buttered.
For many years his party benefitted from MDC-UK structures: selling membership cards, asylum support letters (as much as £120 per letter) to asylum seekers to strengthen their political asylum cases.
I asked Makusha why Tsvangirai was snubbed by Phillip Hammond the new Foreign Secretary, but he said Hammond was busy settling in the new office.
Meanwhile, many people in the UK are warming up to Biti and his Renewal Team.