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"The MDC disengagement": The time to begin
Thabani Nyoni
November 11, 2009

The current polarized political debate in Zimbabwe over the controversial decision by the MDC-T to 'disengage- from some executive functions of the power sharing government no doubt needs careful attention. Some analysts have gone to the extent of questioning MDC-T-s wisdom in joining the inclusive government in the first place, a certain section has queried the rationale behind partial disengagement, even claiming that the MDC is now gainfully part of the lucrative business of politics. This may be an indicator of the Great Expectations and Hope people have invested on this party. It may also be a genuine reminder to the MDC-T that it is walking a tight rope and every step must be made with utmost care. At the same time, one can sense growing culture of cynical inaction or self-righteous action that lacks objectivity and may distract people from appreciating the value of this moment.

Perhaps a way to begin is to make sense of the how the MDC-T signed the deal to form an inclusive government with ZANU PF in the first place. One cannot do so without understanding the social and political context of that time: the days leading to the signing of the deal and even after the signing itself were hell on earth for most Zimbabweans. Apart from the cholera epidemic, there was drought, no economic production worth talking about, and if anything was in abundance, it was the ever-increasing supply of the valueless Zimbabwean dollar notes which tumbled a million times with every daily printing. Against this background, the bold and justified calls from the Zimbabwean civic movement for a broad-based, open, and inclusive negotiation process for transition had to be unfortunately rendered less urgent. Understandably, the supplications to the MDC-T to set aside 'their selfish political interest- and consider the misery of the suffering Zimbabweans took priority. Eventually, the bold demands for responsibility with authority in the inclusive government by the MDC-T were overshadowed by the people-s calls for pity.

The Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai admitted that, 'the agreement we sign today is a product of painful compromise. It does not provide an instant cure for the ills that pervade our society and our country. The road ahead is long and will not be easy. Indeed, the partners in this new, inclusive government cannot alone provide the solutions to the problems facing the country. All we can do, and we will do, is to work together to establish the environment where every Zimbabwean has the opportunity to contribute to solving the problems we face.- This made one very cynical about this approach as a sustainable political arrangement. However, one chose to appreciate MDC-s courageous decision of choosing to tread in an unfamiliar territory, one that the ZANU PF knows quite well, and where chances of success were not guaranteed. These words from the prime minister were a strong call to action that sought to create and communicate a new meaning and consciousness to the attitudes and actions of every Zimbabwean of whatever political persuasion. One year on, some people have totally forgotten that this deal was signed because of the belief that it represents 'the best opportunity for us to build a peaceful, prosperous, democratic Zimbabwe- and call for its instant abandonment.

It is undeniable that the inclusive government has failed deliver on its mandate and the fact that ZANU PF is not willing to see democratic reforms taking shape in this country is only a part of the full story. The other unspoken and uncomfortable truth is that one individual or organization can achieve a successful but not meaningful democratization and transformation agenda. In that regard, the MDC is not the alpha and omega of the process of democratic transition. While it certainly deserves to be criticized for those actions that stand against the values and aspirations of the people, this must however be done in pursuance of our enlarged and permanent interests of Zimbabweans. Of note is the fact that those who seek to dismantle the stranglehold of dictatorship have chosen to focus on one individual or organization as a way of giving a face to our problem and that face is Mugabe and the institution, ZANU PF. In the same way, they have also given one individual, and organization as the sole face of the struggle - Tsvangirai and the MDC-T, which of course restricts our options and possibilities. Any meaningful political inclusion and social transformation must have many faces, multiple stakeholders and intentional interventions. Zimbabwe still stands on the democracy deficit partly because of some people have decided to use their talents to applaud or criticize those who do or do not do what they expect. Some even attribute their own inaction to ZANU PF 's brutality and one is sure ZANU PF loves every moment of it!

The focus on ZANU PF or MDC clouds one-s proper appreciation of the foundational attitudes, institutions, and systems that commissioned and continue to sustain the dictatorship. The question is, are concerned citizens building sufficient social capital with a supportive collective consciousness to leverage good decisions or salvage bad decisions made by the MDC-T to engage or disengage? It is that easy to be critical and cynical without taking responsibility at all? The best service for Zimbabwe may not only be about focusing on making sense of who is wrong or right. People need to invade the public and political forums, policy arenas and courts (including that of public opinion) with the objective of establishing new norms and principles upon which we legitimize or de-legitimize certain individuals and organizations, as representatives of the popular will. Community organizing must begin to recreate the yesteryear victims of the status quo to be the champions of our emancipation. The HIV positive men and women, ordinary people from the same communities emerged as leaders to organize diverse individuals to fight against the pandemic. Helping people to discover their power is the solution. The attitude and belief that it is impossible to remove Mugabe and that he will have to die so that we can move on must be abandoned in the same way that the belief that HIV positive men and women discarded the belief that being HIV positive means death. Caution must be taken against waiting for Mugabe-s death because this is an admission that the future is not a product of the people-s toils. When one resigns to fate, they automatically resign their life and the lives of their children-s children to any outcome, even a tragic one. The same regrettable deeds that were visited on the current generation befall the next generations, rendering the current generation a generation of cowards worse than the current dictators. Notice how a despotic colonial regime was easily replaced by one after its kind in the form of ZANU PF. At that moment, the nation, deeply engulfed in the independence euphoria, failed to strategically locate and define rights and responsibilities of a citizen in a new Zimbabwe. While blaming ZANU PF for illegally holding on to power and trampling upon the very sacred act of democracy, and while lambasting the MDC for holding on to the 'unworkable- power sharing deal and for 'behaving like an estranged wife', or for signing the deal in the first place, people must ask themselves if they have done enough or their best to stop or perpetuate the current state of affairs. Are there any efforts to create a reality that forces ZANU PF or even any other party (MDC included) to make a choice of either sharing power or losing it? In what ways are citizens actively participating and co-creating a new dispensation where ZANU PF, MDC-T or any other political party must be made to choose a shared power world or no world at all?

The painful existence in times life and times of Zimbabweans under Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF-s reign of terror should have taught people to 'never again- allow those who access executive authority and legislative power to do so without an understanding of how to use it to empower the citizens? Monitoring how leaders and political leadership conduct their own internal politics to build in their organizations institutions of democracy and cooperation, not violence could be a useful assessment. Hardworking and patriotic Zimbabweans must reflect on the fact that part of their suffering results from having spent the greater part of their 'independent years- as excellent tax-payers to the very reckless tax-users, ZANU PF government. It is no a wonder that the further the country moved away from our terrible colonial past, the worse the people-s material condition became. The time has come for more leaders to emerge from within communities, leaders that will communicate the message of the future not the past. By the way, the people are very clear about where they come from and no one wants to go back there. So rather than keeping people in the fear of the past that may catch up with them, leaders who are dealers in hope must emerge to make people focus on creating that future they desire.

One finds the debate on whether the policy of disengagement by the MDC is good or bad a bit off the mark. The debate should be about how to use this development to reorganize and regroup the fragmented but progressive civic movement. How to organize the community to action and re-ignite the political consciousness in the kombis, buses, streets, homes, churches, schools and beer halls to create an adequate vernacular understanding of democracy from every citizen. It must aim to connect the meaning of democracy to the people-s basic toils and needs, to re-awakening the communities to defy subtle the political campaign to reduce them to a 'Zombie nation-. This is the task of every progressive Zimbabwean and citizen of the world, especially those of who claim to be enlightened. They must facilitate conversations that create an understanding that in building and sustaining democracy, voting alone is not sufficient, especially in our beloved Zimbabwe, where voting has been defiled to a point that it is no longer a sacred act of democracy. True democracy should be developed along the values of an inclusion that comes through effective participation and an enlightened understanding of both the processes people are working on and the aspirations they espouse. When citizens begin to do that, then they will deal with the challenge of having a weak but authoritarian regime claiming popularity and legitimacy from the rural constituencies and the pan-African community using misinformation, lies and propaganda. In that light, MDC-s disengagement must be seen as a signal that the time has come to begin moving towards a future Zimbabweans deserve!

*Thabani Nyoni writes from the University of Minnesota in USA where he is doing an International Fellowship Program in Leadership, Public Policy and Program Evaluation. Until his departure for the studies, he was working as a community organizer for social and political change in Zimbabwe.

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