Tsvangirai apologises to late Gibson Sibanda

Tsvangirai apologised without excuse or reservation for any distress caused to Sibanda, whose funeral was held Sunday in Filabusi

After the MDC split in 2005 over a controversial decision to contest elections for a Senate, Tsvangirai and Sibanda exchanged harsh words.

Sibanda even wrote to Tsvangirai to complain. Tsvangirai told mourners in the Methodist Church along Main Street: “What we said after the split, I regret it. I am sorry Gibson for what we said at that moment, it was a moment of weakness and it was not worth it.”

The MDC split on October 25, 2005, after a national council meeting at which party leader Tsvangirai was accused of vetoing a vote to field candidates in Senate elections due later that year.

Observers however say the MDC was inexorably heading towards a split anyway – plagued by tribal mistrust and competing political ambitions.

Fears that Tsvangirai would be jailed at the end of his treason trial split the party, with one group of senior officials unprepared to have Tsvangirai’s deputy, Gibson Sibanda – a Ndebele – leading the party.

The charismatic MDC leader said if what he said added to Sibanda’s distress, which he said he did not intend, he asked him to accept his apologies, without excuse or reservation.

“The political developments in this country will never be the same again after the formation of the MDC but the saddest thing in my life is the split of the MDC. It represents the saddest part of my relationship with Sibanda,” Tsvangirai said.

It was the second time he made such a call after making another plea at the launch of a new MDC card last week.

Sibanda, aged 66, died in Mater dei hospital last Monday.

He was a minister of National Healing, and played an active part in the trade union movement.

Sibanda was described by his colleagues as “the ultimate professional” and an outstanding example. A Sibanda family spokesman appreciated Tsvangirai’s apology, but said it should have been made in person.

Speaker after speaker digressed so much from commemorating a loved one to slam the refusal by Zanu PF to grant him hero status.