This man, some people declared a perfect leader who is untarnished by the power struggles that has rocked MDC in the past and others opposed saying he is too much of an outsider who has lost touch with the realities of Zimbabwean politics. Others also questioned about his credentials and experience as a genuine mainstream politician.
“He has a good history as a student leader but will need time to grow into the position of national leader,” political scientist Brian Raftopoulos, told the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper.
Arthur Mutambara became popular in 1988 – 89 when he was a student leader at University of Zimbabwe where he organised anti-government protests that led to his imprisonment. Since then he disappeared into the oblivion, 15 years later he appeared to lead the splinter group after MDC had splinted over disagreements on whether to participate in 2005 senate elections. In February 2006 at a Congress of the breakaway MDC faction Mutambara admitted that he was against the elections “My position was that the MDC should have boycotted those Senate elections. I guess then that makes me the anti-Senate leader of the pro-Senate MDC faction. How ridiculous can we get? That debate is now in the past, let us move on and unite our people.”
So is Mutambara an opportunist or elitist? Whose interests will he try to serve then, the people’s or his? Only he can answer these questions.
During his early days of joining the splinter bandwagon, he became part of smear campaigns and bitter war of words led by Welshman Ncube, Paul Themba Nyathi and followers like Gibson Sibanda etc. Arthur Mutambara once proclaimed doomed Morgan Tsvangirai to repent by joining his splinter group. How can the President of the main faction repent by joining a splinter faction? Only Arthur can answer that question.
Now on every opportunity that he gets he preaches about the indecisiveness of Morgan Tsvangirai and forgetting about his own indecisiveness or simply lack of wisdom to make quality decisions.
In the March 2008, Mutambara decided not to run for President instead ran for parliamentary elections for a seat in Zengeza which he lost dismally. His faction decided to back Simba Makoni, a ZANU-PF affiliate running as an independent Presidential candidate, for what reasons? Only Mutambara can answer that.
In April after Tsvangirai and his MDC faction had won the elections, Mutambara blown by this euphoria pledged his faction to support Tsvangirai. However now it seems he is teaming up with Thabo Mbeki and Robert Mugabe to pressurise Tsvangirai to sign a farce of a deal that will repeat the same history of ZAPU that was swallowed by ZANU. Why is Mutambara in a hurry to agree on a quick deal with these two beleaguered leaders who have failed their own people in their two respective countries? Zimbabwean people have been patient with the leadership failure for the past 28 years; they can’t be impatient now in this 1month of very important make or break talks.
Arthur Mutambara in his article, Exalting the Heroic Revolution meant to be a heroes’ day message attacked the irritating ignorance, political insensitivity, double standards, and patronising arrogance of the west. He also accused the west of trying to pinpoint their preferred Zimbabwean leader to lead the new government.
But questions still stand, who is he trying to impress of late, Mugabe, Mbeki or the Zimbabwean people? Whose interest is he serving, his personal or Zimbabwean people’s? Is he a traitor or a patriot? Â
Post published in: Opinions