National Dialogue : What Dialogue ? Whose Dialogue ?
By Hosia Mviringi .
Tuesday, 05March 2019
I write this article today with a heavy heart on the back of the American President Donald Trump having renewed the punitive regime of Economic Sanctions on Zimbabwe under the ZDERA Sanctions Bill for another twelve months.
Donald Trump reiterates that 'Zimbabwe poses an extra-ordinary threat to American foreign policy'.
Its a whole topic for another day.Lets talk about the proposed Zimbabwe National Dialogue.
Many a times people hear or talk about National dialogue.But most are confused what is it about and whether or not Zimbabwe really needs the dialogue.
I will try to dissect this highly emotive topic of dialogue in Zimbabwe.
What situations should prevail in a nation for its people to sit down and dialogue ? Is Zimbabwe indeed in such situation as to necessitate a round table of its citizens ?
It is an undeniable fact that Zimbabwe, just like any other nation needs a strong foundation of UNITY amongst its people, both the ordinary citizens and the political leadership.That is not questionable.
There is not question either that Zimbabwe is a highly and dangerously polarised nation which makes it easy for enemy to infiltrate and divide its citizens.
Zimbabweans are desperately in need of national convergence which is based on identified common national interests.This calls for a shared vision, ideology and clarity of destiny.
In the absence of this convergence of purpose it is difficult to unite a people.
The Bible tells us that any house divided against itself can not stand.This is true.
Unfortunately Zimbabwe has proven to be one such divided house which has struggled to cast a solid foundation for prosperity in the past nineteen (19) years.
Since the advent of multi-party democracy in Zimbabwe, and more specifically since the formation of the MDC in September 1999 Zimbabwe has been a country at war against itself.
The country has experienced a rare political phenomenon where the country's citizens have always been divided and pitted against each other on two extreme fronts.Either one is MDC or is ZANU PF.
There is virtually no middle ground in Zimbabwean politics.Neutrality is rare and its extremely hard to find common ground or areas of national convergence.
The problem can be traced to the ideological backgrounds of the two main protagonists in Zimbabwean politics which are the MDC and ZANU PF.
ZANU PF was founded on a Nationalist ideology which is founded in the history of the War of Liberation.The ZANU PF ideology puts emphasis on the need for the nation to repossess, secure and protect all its natural resources for the benefit of all its citizens.This ideology also most importantly stresses the need and thirst for self rule and self determination.This is total independence which is commonly refered to as Sovereignty.
On the other hand the MDC was founded on the basis of politics of convenience.Having been formed in 1999 in the aftermath of the legislation of Compulsory acquistion of farmland , their main sponsor was the White commercial farmers through the CFU and some agrieved nation parties.
The MDC's ideology, if any at all was centred on the need for preservation of White interests both in farmland and in other industrial investment sectors such as manufacturing and mining.This they conveniently or erroneously termed 'protection of property rights'.
These interested groups openly supported the MDC both morally and financially with the hope that sooner rather than later the MDC would assume State power and return those precious assets to the minority white community.
So this will not come as a surprise that in all my interactions both physically and on social media I have tried to get a grasp of the MDC ideology to no avail.The MDC ideology has been elusive so far.Not a single supporter of the Party can stand in honesty and try to explain the MDC ideology, because its none existent at most.
The MDC has tried to coin a few modifications to this ideology without success.What we will remember is that Morgan Tsvangirai lived his whole political life trying to remove ZANU PF from power.He never had a tangible governance plan despite that his friends would pour some money once Mugabe and ZANU PF were gone.
He survived on the 'Mugabe must Go' mantra until both were gone.
The MDC has never had a selleable ideology.
I have already alluded to and admitted that indeed a gulf exists in our body politic and there is an urgent need to reconcile and move together in tandem as a nation.But how do we achieve this with two irreconcilable ideologies with one seeking to outdo and undo the other ?
First things first.Talks or dialogue alone will not sufficiently address this question.
In most people's minds dialogue means and should only end in a GNU. But a GNU is not legally possible at the moment.
There are no conditions at present to necessitate a change to the constitution because the country had an outright winner in the July 30 2018 elections.
One will need to move mountains to attain a GNU in the current set up.
The MDC and its funders hope to get-crush into government so that they correct the mistakes of the 2008 GNU when they went in there but failed to deliver on their promises to their handlers.Remember that their promise is , as is contained in their unwritten Ideological document, to return 'White properties ( farms and mines) to their pre-2000 owners.
So you will understand what they mean when the West, America in particular, demand what they call ' restoration of property rights'. Here my reader they mean restoration of land tenure to pre-land reform patterns where 4000 white farmers owned more than 90% of Zimbabwe's arrable land while 13million black natives share the remaining 10% of arable land.
Now this a direct existential threat to the ZANU PF government which stands for preservation and promotion of property rights of the once dispossesed native African and the total empowerment of the black citizenry.
Now we can all see that the difference here is like heaven and earth.
It is therefore folly to imagine reconcilling the two through dialogue.
Something definitely has to give.
Either the MDC abandons its foreign backed ideology and embrace a people oriented (nationalist) one as opposed to one that represents foreign interests.Of course they can do this at the risk of losing financial and moral support from their Western backers.
People of Zimbabwe went through the rigours of war of liberation and they know how important the issue of land is.You can starve them to death but they can never sell out on the land question.
ZANU PF sufficiently educated the people of Zimbabwe on the need to control the primary means of production, the LAND.
Thats where ZANU PF derives its strength and mandate.
Now lets talks about the proposed National Dialogue.
We have an elected President in place in HE Cde ED Mnangagwa who called for national round table to kick start a process to find one another through dialogue.
Others attended but one Nelson Chamisa chose to abscond on the strength of his demands which he says have not been met.
Some of the demands relate to the legitimacy of President Mnangagwa which he still challenges despite him having lost a ConCourt challenge already.Forget about the litany of other conditions.This alone tells you the kind of a person we are dealing with and the calibre of powers backing him.
One can almost see through the American agenda in these demands.
Yes the nation remembers very well the recent American demands that Zimbabwe engages its citizens, the MDC Alliance in particular, in what they call an 'inclusive dialogue, presided over by an acceptable neutral convenor'
Thus the questions,
'What dialogue ? Whose dialogue ?
Nelson Chamisa is saying President Mnangagwa should relinguish his Presidency as first condition for dialogue.Really ? He displays a nausating disdain of rule of law when he disregards a ruling by the nation's highest Court and this betrays a sinister plot in the whole thing.
This exposes big brother's hidden interest their insincere call for respect of democracy and rule of law.
What Dialogue ? Whose dialogue ?
The honest truth is that the MDC and ZANU PF are two distinct entities which are like water and oil and can never mix.It doesnt matter how hard we try or how desperately we need the national dialogue.
It can never yield desired results for as long as the parties' ideologies are worlds apart, and when one party continues to receive advice and support from foreign interested Nation parties.
As already alluded to , the inconvenient reality is that one party has got to give up something in order to win something ( peace , unity and stability). One party has got to give up its ideology and identity for the sake of the Dialogue for UNITY.
Regretably ZANU PF will not give up that which the nation's fallen heroes died for.
The MDC may not give up or renounce its ideology for the sake of its leaders' safety and also for fear an expected backlash and loss of traditional financial support once they betray Big Brother.
Its a near impossibility to find common ground here , making it a sheer waste of time talking to or negotiating with Nelson Chamisa's MDC Alliance.
Negotiating with the MDC Alliance and Nelson Chamisa will be like begging for favors from the Devil himself.
Its not possible to please the Americans.Sanctions will never go away regardless of how hard we try.ZANU PF has to go before sanctions are lifted.President Mnangagwa has done a lot to try to iron out differences with America.HE has made numerous concessions in that regard , unlike Robert Mugabe who never seemed to care.
Look at the Venezuelan example.We will have to talk about this in future instalments.
It is a fact President Mnangagwa carries the mandate of the people of Zimbabwe who elected him into office and as such any challenge to his legitimacy is a direct attack on the moral intelligence of the people, on its own a cardinal sin.
Nelson Chamisa has got to choose his interests well so that he is not conflicted.I have said that the original MDC ideology seeks to restore the pre-2000 land tenure by returning land to the minority white farmers.We know that the MDC is highly indebted to the former White farmer community and is increasingly coming under pressure to deliver.
It is also a known fact that the MDC complexion today is not complete without the G40 element.One can not be more G40 than one Robert Mugabe.
It is a known historical fact that the MDC campaign last year only took off the ground after securing Mugabe's support.The MDC could hardly hire decent stagework until the Mugabes came on board.Credible information at hand has it that a $20million bounty was pledged by the Mugabes in exchange for a VP post for Grace Mugabe in the event that they won elections.No wonder Chamisa went into elections without a named Vice President.
Now honestly how do we expect President Mnangagwa to go in and negotiate with the vanguished G40 cabal by proxy? It is very clear that Chamisa's arrogance in this whole episode is not of his own modelling.Its all reminiscent of Robert Mugabe's counsel.
Dialogue ; What dialogue ? Whose dialogue ?
I am hopeful that the answers to these two questions are already taking shape.If President Mnangagwa decides to dialogue with Chamisa it will be hoped that he knows the real enemy that HE will be seeking to please and reconcile with on behalf of the suffering people of Zimbabwe.
I am happy that HE will know that it is not possible to please this monster hiding behind this baby faced character called Chamisa unless one is ready to trade their soul for expediency.
People of Zimbabwe must come up with just one condition for dialogue to resume, that all sanctions be removed completely before any dialogue resumes.
The Americans who are funding and advising Nelson Chamisa are already bringing a tilted and uneven negotiating table for Zimbabweans to sit on and decide a future for generations whose result will smell some imperialist flavours.
The President of Zimbabwe will be mandated to carry this demand from the people so that the suffering masses get relief ahead of any possible concessions.
I refuse to be part of a generation which will give away the fruits of our liberation struggle for the sake of fleeting comfort.God forbid !
Look, this worked recently in Vietnam at the talks between North Korean President Kim Jong Un and American President Donald Trump.
Donald Trump was asked to scrap all sanctions against the North as a pre-condition for dismantling the North's Nuclear program, and the US became frustrated, unstuck and Trump walked away.Strong leadership by President Kim Jong Un.
Donald Trump was forced to walk away empty handed, with his tail shamefully tucked inbetween his legs.
Zimbabwe should make similar demands and stand firm because the MDC 's master is the one who imposed sanctions on this country.This can be judged by the American government's recent utterances demanding dialogue between political parties.
Americans are an interested party who deserve to be confronted directly with the issue of sanctions as a pre-condition for any dialogue with the MDC Alliance party.
So here are just three conditions to Nelson Chamisa for any dialogue to resume;
Nelson Chamisa must immediately ;
a) Call for immediate removal of punitive economic sanctions on the people of Zimbabwe.
b ) Dump and depart from a Foreign interests inspired Political ideaology.
c) Publicly renounce all known or otherwise close relationships with the fallen G40 cabal in general and Robert Mugabe in particular.
The MDC Alliance must assume a true Zimbabwean outlook before they can be considered for any serious national dialogue to define a Zimbabwean future.
Hope this is not too much to ask for any peace loving Zimbabwean citizen.
Kutsho Mina !
By Hosia Mviringi .
Tuesday, 05March 2019
I write this article today with a heavy heart on the back of the American President Donald Trump having renewed the punitive regime of Economic Sanctions on Zimbabwe under the ZDERA Sanctions Bill for another twelve months.
Donald Trump reiterates that 'Zimbabwe poses an extra-ordinary threat to American foreign policy'.
Its a whole topic for another day.Lets talk about the proposed Zimbabwe National Dialogue.
Many a times people hear or talk about National dialogue.But most are confused what is it about and whether or not Zimbabwe really needs the dialogue.
I will try to dissect this highly emotive topic of dialogue in Zimbabwe.
What situations should prevail in a nation for its people to sit down and dialogue ? Is Zimbabwe indeed in such situation as to necessitate a round table of its citizens ?
It is an undeniable fact that Zimbabwe, just like any other nation needs a strong foundation of UNITY amongst its people, both the ordinary citizens and the political leadership.That is not questionable.
There is not question either that Zimbabwe is a highly and dangerously polarised nation which makes it easy for enemy to infiltrate and divide its citizens.
Zimbabweans are desperately in need of national convergence which is based on identified common national interests.This calls for a shared vision, ideology and clarity of destiny.
In the absence of this convergence of purpose it is difficult to unite a people.
The Bible tells us that any house divided against itself can not stand.This is true.
Unfortunately Zimbabwe has proven to be one such divided house which has struggled to cast a solid foundation for prosperity in the past nineteen (19) years.
Since the advent of multi-party democracy in Zimbabwe, and more specifically since the formation of the MDC in September 1999 Zimbabwe has been a country at war against itself.
The country has experienced a rare political phenomenon where the country's citizens have always been divided and pitted against each other on two extreme fronts.Either one is MDC or is ZANU PF.
There is virtually no middle ground in Zimbabwean politics.Neutrality is rare and its extremely hard to find common ground or areas of national convergence.
The problem can be traced to the ideological backgrounds of the two main protagonists in Zimbabwean politics which are the MDC and ZANU PF.
ZANU PF was founded on a Nationalist ideology which is founded in the history of the War of Liberation.The ZANU PF ideology puts emphasis on the need for the nation to repossess, secure and protect all its natural resources for the benefit of all its citizens.This ideology also most importantly stresses the need and thirst for self rule and self determination.This is total independence which is commonly refered to as Sovereignty.
On the other hand the MDC was founded on the basis of politics of convenience.Having been formed in 1999 in the aftermath of the legislation of Compulsory acquistion of farmland , their main sponsor was the White commercial farmers through the CFU and some agrieved nation parties.
The MDC's ideology, if any at all was centred on the need for preservation of White interests both in farmland and in other industrial investment sectors such as manufacturing and mining.This they conveniently or erroneously termed 'protection of property rights'.
These interested groups openly supported the MDC both morally and financially with the hope that sooner rather than later the MDC would assume State power and return those precious assets to the minority white community.
So this will not come as a surprise that in all my interactions both physically and on social media I have tried to get a grasp of the MDC ideology to no avail.The MDC ideology has been elusive so far.Not a single supporter of the Party can stand in honesty and try to explain the MDC ideology, because its none existent at most.
The MDC has tried to coin a few modifications to this ideology without success.What we will remember is that Morgan Tsvangirai lived his whole political life trying to remove ZANU PF from power.He never had a tangible governance plan despite that his friends would pour some money once Mugabe and ZANU PF were gone.
He survived on the 'Mugabe must Go' mantra until both were gone.
The MDC has never had a selleable ideology.
I have already alluded to and admitted that indeed a gulf exists in our body politic and there is an urgent need to reconcile and move together in tandem as a nation.But how do we achieve this with two irreconcilable ideologies with one seeking to outdo and undo the other ?
First things first.Talks or dialogue alone will not sufficiently address this question.
In most people's minds dialogue means and should only end in a GNU. But a GNU is not legally possible at the moment.
There are no conditions at present to necessitate a change to the constitution because the country had an outright winner in the July 30 2018 elections.
One will need to move mountains to attain a GNU in the current set up.
The MDC and its funders hope to get-crush into government so that they correct the mistakes of the 2008 GNU when they went in there but failed to deliver on their promises to their handlers.Remember that their promise is , as is contained in their unwritten Ideological document, to return 'White properties ( farms and mines) to their pre-2000 owners.
So you will understand what they mean when the West, America in particular, demand what they call ' restoration of property rights'. Here my reader they mean restoration of land tenure to pre-land reform patterns where 4000 white farmers owned more than 90% of Zimbabwe's arrable land while 13million black natives share the remaining 10% of arable land.
Now this a direct existential threat to the ZANU PF government which stands for preservation and promotion of property rights of the once dispossesed native African and the total empowerment of the black citizenry.
Now we can all see that the difference here is like heaven and earth.
It is therefore folly to imagine reconcilling the two through dialogue.
Something definitely has to give.
Either the MDC abandons its foreign backed ideology and embrace a people oriented (nationalist) one as opposed to one that represents foreign interests.Of course they can do this at the risk of losing financial and moral support from their Western backers.
People of Zimbabwe went through the rigours of war of liberation and they know how important the issue of land is.You can starve them to death but they can never sell out on the land question.
ZANU PF sufficiently educated the people of Zimbabwe on the need to control the primary means of production, the LAND.
Thats where ZANU PF derives its strength and mandate.
Now lets talks about the proposed National Dialogue.
We have an elected President in place in HE Cde ED Mnangagwa who called for national round table to kick start a process to find one another through dialogue.
Others attended but one Nelson Chamisa chose to abscond on the strength of his demands which he says have not been met.
Some of the demands relate to the legitimacy of President Mnangagwa which he still challenges despite him having lost a ConCourt challenge already.Forget about the litany of other conditions.This alone tells you the kind of a person we are dealing with and the calibre of powers backing him.
One can almost see through the American agenda in these demands.
Yes the nation remembers very well the recent American demands that Zimbabwe engages its citizens, the MDC Alliance in particular, in what they call an 'inclusive dialogue, presided over by an acceptable neutral convenor'
Thus the questions,
'What dialogue ? Whose dialogue ?
Nelson Chamisa is saying President Mnangagwa should relinguish his Presidency as first condition for dialogue.Really ? He displays a nausating disdain of rule of law when he disregards a ruling by the nation's highest Court and this betrays a sinister plot in the whole thing.
This exposes big brother's hidden interest their insincere call for respect of democracy and rule of law.
What Dialogue ? Whose dialogue ?
The honest truth is that the MDC and ZANU PF are two distinct entities which are like water and oil and can never mix.It doesnt matter how hard we try or how desperately we need the national dialogue.
It can never yield desired results for as long as the parties' ideologies are worlds apart, and when one party continues to receive advice and support from foreign interested Nation parties.
As already alluded to , the inconvenient reality is that one party has got to give up something in order to win something ( peace , unity and stability). One party has got to give up its ideology and identity for the sake of the Dialogue for UNITY.
Regretably ZANU PF will not give up that which the nation's fallen heroes died for.
The MDC may not give up or renounce its ideology for the sake of its leaders' safety and also for fear an expected backlash and loss of traditional financial support once they betray Big Brother.
Its a near impossibility to find common ground here , making it a sheer waste of time talking to or negotiating with Nelson Chamisa's MDC Alliance.
Negotiating with the MDC Alliance and Nelson Chamisa will be like begging for favors from the Devil himself.
Its not possible to please the Americans.Sanctions will never go away regardless of how hard we try.ZANU PF has to go before sanctions are lifted.President Mnangagwa has done a lot to try to iron out differences with America.HE has made numerous concessions in that regard , unlike Robert Mugabe who never seemed to care.
Look at the Venezuelan example.We will have to talk about this in future instalments.
It is a fact President Mnangagwa carries the mandate of the people of Zimbabwe who elected him into office and as such any challenge to his legitimacy is a direct attack on the moral intelligence of the people, on its own a cardinal sin.
Nelson Chamisa has got to choose his interests well so that he is not conflicted.I have said that the original MDC ideology seeks to restore the pre-2000 land tenure by returning land to the minority white farmers.We know that the MDC is highly indebted to the former White farmer community and is increasingly coming under pressure to deliver.
It is also a known fact that the MDC complexion today is not complete without the G40 element.One can not be more G40 than one Robert Mugabe.
It is a known historical fact that the MDC campaign last year only took off the ground after securing Mugabe's support.The MDC could hardly hire decent stagework until the Mugabes came on board.Credible information at hand has it that a $20million bounty was pledged by the Mugabes in exchange for a VP post for Grace Mugabe in the event that they won elections.No wonder Chamisa went into elections without a named Vice President.
Now honestly how do we expect President Mnangagwa to go in and negotiate with the vanguished G40 cabal by proxy? It is very clear that Chamisa's arrogance in this whole episode is not of his own modelling.Its all reminiscent of Robert Mugabe's counsel.
Dialogue ; What dialogue ? Whose dialogue ?
I am hopeful that the answers to these two questions are already taking shape.If President Mnangagwa decides to dialogue with Chamisa it will be hoped that he knows the real enemy that HE will be seeking to please and reconcile with on behalf of the suffering people of Zimbabwe.
I am happy that HE will know that it is not possible to please this monster hiding behind this baby faced character called Chamisa unless one is ready to trade their soul for expediency.
People of Zimbabwe must come up with just one condition for dialogue to resume, that all sanctions be removed completely before any dialogue resumes.
The Americans who are funding and advising Nelson Chamisa are already bringing a tilted and uneven negotiating table for Zimbabweans to sit on and decide a future for generations whose result will smell some imperialist flavours.
The President of Zimbabwe will be mandated to carry this demand from the people so that the suffering masses get relief ahead of any possible concessions.
I refuse to be part of a generation which will give away the fruits of our liberation struggle for the sake of fleeting comfort.God forbid !
Look, this worked recently in Vietnam at the talks between North Korean President Kim Jong Un and American President Donald Trump.
Donald Trump was asked to scrap all sanctions against the North as a pre-condition for dismantling the North's Nuclear program, and the US became frustrated, unstuck and Trump walked away.Strong leadership by President Kim Jong Un.
Donald Trump was forced to walk away empty handed, with his tail shamefully tucked inbetween his legs.
Zimbabwe should make similar demands and stand firm because the MDC 's master is the one who imposed sanctions on this country.This can be judged by the American government's recent utterances demanding dialogue between political parties.
Americans are an interested party who deserve to be confronted directly with the issue of sanctions as a pre-condition for any dialogue with the MDC Alliance party.
So here are just three conditions to Nelson Chamisa for any dialogue to resume;
Nelson Chamisa must immediately ;
a) Call for immediate removal of punitive economic sanctions on the people of Zimbabwe.
b ) Dump and depart from a Foreign interests inspired Political ideaology.
c) Publicly renounce all known or otherwise close relationships with the fallen G40 cabal in general and Robert Mugabe in particular.
The MDC Alliance must assume a true Zimbabwean outlook before they can be considered for any serious national dialogue to define a Zimbabwean future.
Hope this is not too much to ask for any peace loving Zimbabwean citizen.
Kutsho Mina !
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