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Brave and confused
Gugulethu Moyo
April 25, 2007

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=305807&area=/supzim0407_home/supzim0407_content/

Outside the cities, few people in Zimbabwe read newspapers. The state press belongs to Robert Mugabe and he controls television and radio stations. There is no doubt that the deck is heavily stacked in the president's favour.

So it was hardly a surprise when, invited to share his vision of Zimbabwe's future with readers of the Mail & Guardian, staffers in the office of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai responded with enthusiasm. "This is wonderful," gushed communications adviser George Sibotshiwe, "we will take you up on your offer."

That was on April 3, a month after we first asked the MDC leader to contribute to these pages. Tsvangirai's spokesperson William Bango told the editors of this supplement that Tsvangirai's article would arrive within two weeks. He could not have known what the next fortnight would bring.

On March 11, Tsvangirai and Bango were savagely beaten by police in Harare. Television pictures showed Bango's bruised body and Tsvangirai leaving hospital in a wheelchair. Doctors were said to be concerned that Tsvangirai had received fractures to his skull. We feared he might never write again.

Then, a day after leaving hospital, Tsvangirai issued a compelling account of his beating to the Independent, a British newspaper. "They brutalised my flesh. But they will never break my spirit. I will soldier on until Zimbabwe is free," he wrote.

This was good news. We allowed a decent time for the MDC leader to recover, and called again. Sibotshiwe promised that Tsvangirai's contribution to this supplement was on its way.

Then the apologetic emails began: "I am sorry to let you know that we will not be able to meet the deadline today," Sibotshiwe wrote on April 13. "Tsvangirai has not finished editing his piece. He, however, promised to give it to me on Sunday."

Naturally, we moved the deadline. On April 16, Sibotshiwe wrote again: "I am sorry to let you know we won't be able to meet the deadline. I have just been given more definite times, the indication is Thursday morning … if we promise you anything else, we will be lying."

Thursday morning passed. Sibotshiwe assured us that Tsvangirai's article would be worth the wait. The MDC leader planned "exclusive revelations". These would be ready by the weekend of April 22, just as the editors of this supplement promised, in last week's edition, to M&G readers.

And then … nothing. Telephone calls and emails go unanswered. Again, we feared the worst. We called Roy Bennett, a senior MDC member based in South Africa. He explained that Bango, the party's chief of communications, was still away from work after his beating at the hands of police officers.

Meanwhile, Tsvangirai had been picked up by the police again: "He's busy running around, all our people in Zimbabwe are recovering from beatings. They are not working."

But police harassment was not the only problem. Bennett was also concerned with the finer points of press freedom. M&G proprietor Trevor Ncube had "published some very damaging things about the MDC in the M&G", said Bennett: "Why should we fit in with his agenda now that it suits him?"

The editors replied that this particular objection had not been raised before. Surely, an article by Tsvangirai was an ideal opportunity to correct the "damaging" reports in Ncube's newspaper. Bennett appeared satisfied: "Fine, leave it to me," he said. "You'll get the article tomorrow."

As this newspaper goes to press, we are still waiting and so we must apologise to readers who opened these pages expecting to find the exclusive counsel of Tsvangirai.

Perhaps it will be some small consolation instead to consider the words of another MDC president. One leader is not enough for Zimbabwe's opposition, after all. The MDC -- unable to agree on whether to contest or to boycott elections -- has split into two factions.

Each of these two MDCs has its own president. The other one, Arthur Mutambara, shares his vision of the future here. He says that the MDC must present a united front against Zanu-PF.

Mutambara is an expert in robotics and computer science. Asked to write about the prospects for Zimbabwe after Mugabe, he suggests that new wireless data networks and biotechnology will revive the country's fortunes.

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the MDC contributions (or lack of them) to these pages is emblematic of the problems that confront Zimbabwe's beleaguered opposition.

Mugabe has little trouble from them. While the 83-year-old president dominates Zimbabwean politics, the two MDCs are stubbornly unable to agree on a strategy to challenge his increasingly dictatorial regime.

Disorganised, divided and unequal to the fight, the MDC has failed to forge a convincing coalition of his enemies. When people point this out to the MDC, party leaders accuse their critics of harbouring hidden "agendas".

So MDC leaders may be encouraged to know that their difficulties have not deterred some influential foreign friends. Robert Rotberg, the Harvard University professor who has developed a new index of governance in Africa, argues that the talents of MDC leaders will stand Zimbabwe in good stead after Mugabe.

Zimbabweans, meanwhile, are likely to be more sceptical. Tempting though it might be to wish away the opposition's difficulties, it is not yet clear how the two MDCs will be reunited. Nor how a newly invigorated MDC will confront Mugabe.

If only the undisputed courage of Zimbabwe's opposition leaders were enough to oust Mugabe, the ageing despot would be long gone.

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