The Sunday Mail
When we all thought the circus of sell-out against sell-out and betrayer against betrayer was over, at least until the next election, Mangoma allegedly betrayed one of his party members by sleeping with the party member’s wife and before he could be disciplined for having taken his betrayal to the bedroom, he formed the Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe, effectively creating a seventh centre of betrayal since 1999.
Written by Vhukani Madoda
There comes a time when you have to feel sorry for the opposition parties, in particular MDC.
There comes a time when strategic blundering becomes a great cause for democratic concern. Indeed, there comes a time when the weeping and gnashing of teeth of those who boycott elections reveal the sad manifestations of a failed political movement.
A lot of mixed feelings have emanated from Zanu-PF’s clean sweep of formerly MDC strongholds in last week’s by-elections.
There are some die-hards who refused to concede the elections for what they were and instead argued — unconvincingly — that there was a low voter turn-out because of MDC’s boycott.
By-elections by their very nature do not attract as many voters as a general election. It is, however, not surprising that MDC went further and childishly issued a shameless statement claiming they had been vindicated.
What utter drivel!
The June 10 by-elections clearly showed that MDC has finally succumbed to betraying themselves to think they are still relevant on the country’s political landscape.
The first betrayal was its very formation.
When they were formed in 1999, whites, Selous Scouts, Rhodies and Boers backed them as they dined with the devil to undermine their own kith and kin.
Now, the sanctions they called for against this country have been going on for over 15 years and have cost our great nation some US$50 billion. Their formation, which was a very great betrayal, has over the years also caused untold suffering amongst the masses.
The West pounced on the opportunity MDC presented to impose economic sanctions and cause a freeze of lines of credit to Zimbabwe with the ultimate agenda of having regime change and the installation of a puppet government.
In spite of better judgement given by Zanu-PF, MDC still revelled in its betrayal of Zimbabwe and its citizens and it is a betrayal which still hurts the innocent citizens of this country to this very day.
The chickens, however, have now come home to roost and the very betrayal MDC did to this country has now come knocking them in the face such that they are now betraying themselves.
When you are a sell-out you tend to reproduce sell-outs and MDC has been reincarnating sell-outs since its formation.
The first sign of the betrayal within the betrayal, the sell-out amongst the sell-outs, was when Welshman Ncube “sold out” in 2005; splitting from Morgan Tsvangirai and roping in Arthur Mutambara to lead a splinter.
It is instructive that the reason for this betrayal amongst themselves is similar to the one we are seeing in 2015. At that time Tsvangirai had called for a boycott of the 2005 Senate elections while the Ncubes would have none of the boycott. The latter went ahead and fielded candidates in that historic election.
Before long, the maverick — and often irrational — Job Sikhala sold out and formed MDC-99.
He claimed that the founding sell-out principles on which MDC was established were being trampled on by Tsvangirai, so he believed his MDC-99 could be a better sell-out than Tsvangirai’s was.
He paid dearly for that move as he got veiled in political obscurity until recently when he was recalled to re-join the sell-outs he had previously denounced.
Meanwhile, the MDC led by Mutambara was showing betrayal cracks as that genetic drive to deceive each other began to consume them. Mutambara was ousted and Ncube became the de-facto leader.
The melodrama did not stop there, and understandably so, because any party born out of betrayal will work hard to die by betrayal.
MDC-T, as Tsvangirai’s political ensemble was now known, faced a third set of sell-outs among the sell-outs in the mould of Tendai Biti and Elton Mangoma, who hastily stitched together a directionless rag called MDC Renewal.
By this time it was clear amongst Zimbabweans that the sell-outs were viciously competing amongst each other to see who amongst them was the greatest betrayer.
When we all thought the circus of sell-out against sell-out and betrayer against betrayer was over, at least until the next election, Mangoma allegedly betrayed one of his party members by sleeping with the party member’s wife and before he could be disciplined for having taken his betrayal to the bedroom, he formed the Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe, effectively creating a seventh centre of betrayal since 1999.
With this rich catalogue of betrayals, it is clear to see that the last victim which MDC in all its formations was left to betray were those that had voted them to enhance their sell-out mission.
In a move of rare stupidity and unintelligence, Tsvangirai recalled the Parliamentary seats of 21 members who had formed the Renewal ragtag, and as if the idiocy could not get any worse he further decided to boycott the by-elections of the very same seats he had made vacant.
When you are a sell-out, it is only the energy of betrayal that drives you. When you are a sell-out, you do not want to run out of things to sell — you will sell your fellows, your followers, your ambition, your integrity, your cat, your dog, your pets, your mother and eventually your soul.
After the June 10 by-elections, it is clear that never again will Zimbabweans be taken for a ride and vote for sell-outs.
The disillusionment of those that previously voted for the MDC is clearly understandable.
The shock of being taken for fools for such a lengthy period is not easy to overcome overnight. Swallowing a dummy for 16 years can never be readily acceptable.
After this great MDC betrayal, the enemy is very difficult to conceal. Clearly the British-sponsored regime change project has fallen flat on its face; thanks to the resilience of Zanu-PF and also thanks to the stupidity of the sell-outs which the Anglo-Americans put at the forefront of their callous intent.
At least now we can get on with our lives in peace.
Dubulaizitha!
