By Itai Dzamara MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has yet again staved off another attempt at deposing him, with everything for and about it re...
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has yet again staved off another attempt at deposing him, with everything for and about it replete with similarities to the foiled attempt of 2005. Very consistent features and similarities from both episodes provide for quite intriguing and fascinating analysis, the same as they are illustrative.
In both instances, the MDC’s secretary general spearheaded the plot and formed a strong alliance with the treasurer’s office. Welshman Ncube pulled the trigger in 2005 and his successor as the party’s chief administrator, Tendai Biti has, in this episode, played hide and seek until eventually clawing out of his hole of confusion to stage a farce of a coup attempt.
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Why Tsvangirai has survived yet another coup
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In a more pronounced and deeper way for the Biti plot, there was scheming and plotting over long periods and through a cocktail of strategies towards the crunch time. Quite interesting to analyse, investigate and reflect how the plotters effectively took hold of, and manipulated the key areas of administration and finance with unbridled room to further their clandestine missions.
Questions beckon, on how in both instances, Tsvangirai would allow such catastrophic and warped set-ups to prevail and continue all the way. But, as shall emerge later, he probably knows where his strength lies and that he would stultify and counter the effects. It subsequently becomes a wonder or even mystery, how Tsvangirai could survive such powerful plots. I shall reveal how and why he did later on.
Before l do that, it is pertinent to articulate the real effects of the plotters’ control of the key arms and clandestine scheming.
First, by controlling finances, Tsvangirai’s rivals always enjoyed the bonus of manipulating the handling and management of same to ensure they furthered their interests and plans. In both episodes, stories would emerge of how funds had been used to buy over the backing of structures and members by the rebels.
The same stranglehold on the purse would enable the plotters to deliberately play the politics of starving or even sabotaging Tsvangirai and those known or suspected to be loyal to him. Effectively, that would help the rebels gain advantages over the silent wrestling for power.
Also, the plotters would take the adminstration and secretariat structures into their pockets and, essentially do what they want about processes and programmes. Obviously, that would present another firm platform to further the schemes towards toppling Tsvangirai.
This provides a very good case study on the subject of two centres of power, for that is what the MDC system amounts to – further accounting for the consistent trend of one side plotting to topple the other in pretty similar ways. The other centre of power is, of course, built around the clout or brand of Tsvangirai both as an individual and party leader.
It is that brand and personified centre of power that has seen, from Zanu PF and all the way to the MDC rebels, complicated, deeply entrenched missions failing to destroy. I observe a lot of attempts to deny the fact that it is all about Morgan Tsvangirai, but which are just dishonest acts of posturing and denialism.
I have no doubt, from Robert Mugabe, to Welshman Ncube and Tendai Biti, they know what they have been sweating to try and destroy – the Tsvangirai brand. Then, against all the odds and faced with the schemes of the rebels in the MDC, Tsvangirai has survived on both occasions on the strength of one huge advantage, in fact, two.
The first and most fundamental is that the Tsvangirai brand or clout is rooted in massive and popular grassroots support. The MDC leader has maintained his command of huge grassroots support that, l have no doubt, he beats any challenge by a wide margin, including Mugabe in a fair contest.
That stronghold has remained Tsvangirai’s foundation such that when his rivals would do everything else through control of funds and administration structures, that bedrock for the MDC leader remained intact. To that end, the major undoing for both Ncube and Biti, as well as forces behind them, has been failure to create and offer a tangible alternative or challenge to Tsvangirai’s stronghold.
Resultantly, the plotters would trick and dribble in the boardrooms, rock in the media and even entertain their audiences, but then find themselves without legs and steam to go and rock at the grassroots. Tsvangirai, as a trademark, would, upon realising danger, take onto the road, to ‘the people’ and, the rebels’ world start crumbling because, at the end, that is where the real game is played.
A very fatal weakness of both camps of Ncube and Biti has remained the fixation with their clandestine boardroom and elitist schemes, leaving Tsvangirai’s base unchallenged. One recalls the pathetic numbers at meetings of Biti’s camp in the grassroots recently, which must have dissuaded them from persisting with their charade and probably even attempting moving out to officially form their own party.
They are caught up in a dicey web of confusion and dithering about what exactly to do, move out to form another party or what else. Their posturing about still being in and claiming to have taken over is an act of self deception, which is already making them foolish before the people and shall haunt them all the way.
In sharp contrast, Tsvangirai, just at the slightest effort, rocks venues with huge crowds as if ahead of a major election. That is the platform for the final battle and, once again, the Biti camp has already been trounced.
Granted, just like Ncube’s time, the Biti camp shall, with the collaboration and manipulation of Zanu PF, buy more time by dragging the technical fights through legal and publicity dramas, but, unavoidably, the political war, in its essence, is already decidedly won by Tsvangirai.
The Biti camp, certainly, can’t really move away from the air conditioned buildings and hotel rooms to meaningfully go to ‘the people’ yet that is Tsvangirai’s daily bread. I have said before, that the more the coup plotters just exist in largely contrived and manipulated media reports, the more they get trounced in the public arena.
Like Ncube, the Biti camp shall certainly reap thorns when the time to go to the people comes. They will find Tsvangirai’s shadow eclipsing them and relegating them to a paper tiger.
Lastly, Tsvangirai seems to have mastered the art of a witty fox, which remains calm and waits for the rival to rant and rave, huff and puff into exhaustion, before grabbing the right opportunity to strike and destroy, decidedly.
That way, the Biti camp has been left to jump and dance, shout and cry, all the way to throwing a powerless punch. Then, Tsvangirai rises from his deceiving slumber to finish them off, and, in the arena of ‘the people’.
To compound matters for them, the Biti camp have been exposing themselves for a bandwagon of deception, posturing and even self delusion they are – what with their naked farce of Saturday’s meeting made up of imposters and blatant deception. The same applies for the gradual coming out of worms to cloud their mission, such as tacit approval and support by Mugabe and Zanu PF.
Time shall come, if not now, later on, when these factors and dynamics return to haunt the Biti camp where the real game of politics matters, within ‘the people’. And, these realities have simply helped Tsvangirai survive yet again, because, as Biti may be preparing to go with the money and other assets, his name and mission are strange things to ‘the people’ where the face of the struggle remains Tsvangirai.
Itai Dzamara is Editor-In-Chief of Trinity Media (Pvt) LTD , (Publishers of The News Leader and The News Leader on Sunday)
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