Yet in an interview with a weekly newspaper, Ncube is quoted saying “Zanu (PF) is in terminal decline…it cannot revive itself. At the same time the MDC-T is also losing popularity. This points to a situation where votes will be fundamentally split, leading to another coalition government.”
If I had been in his shoes, I would at least have said “the decline of Zanu (PF) and the MDC-T paves the way for us to win the next elections” or something to that effect, to instil confidence in the electorate. The people rallying behind him in the hope that he will dislodge dictator Mugabe from the throne should pin their hopes elsewhere.
Could Simba Makoni be the answer, as some shrill lonely voices have suggested? At least he has not publicly admitted he will lose again, even though his poor performance in 2008 when he had the support of Arthur Mutambara, Ncube and Dumiso Dabengwa rules him out in the opinion of many.
Having been idle since the last elections, and deserted by the colleagues who supported him in his last bid, I do not see Makoni being a threat at all to dictator Mugabe.
Mutambara hasn’t given any indication of where he stands, while a few other aspirants are said to have shown interest, among them Egypt Dzinemunhenzva. The only person with a real chance of beating Mugabe is Morgan Tsvangirai. All those looking for a New Zimbabwe should therefore rally behind him and his party.
One would have thought that if these politicians who talk so much about the mess Zanu (PF) has made of our country were really concerned, they would support Tsvangirai.
Why do they want to split the vote again? All that will achieve is leaving the people, who they claim to love so much, in the jaws of crocodile Mugabe.
Ncube has made it clear that he will not form any working relationship with the MDC-T, which he accuses of being violent and corrupt.
Good on him, but the suffering people have now heard it from him that he is not presidential material, so why should they waste their vote on someone who has no confidence in himself? A vote for Ncube will not help the victims of Gukurahundi get their cases heard if all he is aiming for is a second GNU? As he admits in the same interview, the current GNU has failed, and GNUs do not work.
If I were Ncube, rather that hope for a kingmaker role in the next government, I would go to Tsvangirai and say, “look Morgan, I know we have some fundamental differences – we are like oil and water which can never mix, so I will never re-unite with you, but for the sake of removing Mugabe so that Gukurahundi atrocities can be investigated and justice done, I will not contest you, provided your party does not field a candidate in any constituency of interest to me in the next election.” That will be a win-win situation for us all.
A return to parliament on an elected ticket will also revive Ncube’s fortunes. His political career is likely to sink into oblivion should he decide to contest against any MDC-T candidate at any level. Once in parliament, his voice can be heard challenging corruption if it is still rampant in the Tsvangirai-led government.
He will also be able to sit on some parliamentary committees where his voice will attract attention. – Benjamin Chitate, New Zealand
Post published in: Letters to the Editor