Chamisa needs to recalibrate his tactics
SINCE 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic struck, and the World Health Organisation and some donors assisted financially to alleviate losses on the business front, particularly the informal sector, I have had a nagging question directed to the SMEs ministry.
It is common cause that traders in the sector were asked to forward their business details and particulars to the ministry, which they did through local authorities. When the applications got to the ministry, the officials there played dice with the applications.
In short, if you did not lie that you belonged to a favourable political organisation, you got nothing. If you were “phambili” , you got hard cash and if, for some unknown reasons or fact, you were an “in between” or “neither-here-nor-there” you were given a Net One line. Yes!
A cellphone line worth $1. Some traders sold their souls to get the miserly Real Time Gross Settlement dollars.
This is what poverty does, comrades. And this is the extent of corruption in Zimbabwe. We are being used to such an extent that we have been dehumanised, without knowing it. Sithembiso Nyoni has been minister of Gender, SMEs and Cooperative Development for donkey years now. Is she really the best in the country or is it about something else?
I am aware that whenever the SMEs sector reverted to its parent ministry (Industry and Trade), Nyoni has fought tooth and nail to get it back into her stable of sectors. Apparently, the opposition is dysfunctional, otherwise it should have tackled the issue such as the COVID-19 monetary donations.
Yes, the MDC Alliance may continue to call Nelson Chamisa president ad infinitum, but it will not get him into the State House. Yes, he may have been robbed of victory in the 2018 elections, and Zimbabwe is now past the halfway mark towards the 2023 elections, but I perceive there is no one else in opposition to talk about.
After all, the same opposition is still stomping the ground on the same spot. Coming from the woodwork on election eve is for failures.
The MDC Alliance lacks political skill. It generalises issues. There is no effective and directional voice from up top to inspire anyone. The voices we hear ad nauseum are those of its spokespersons.
The MDC Alliance does not seem to understand the fact that in politics, space annexation is key. We are talking about mileage. It does not work successfully to go to an election with tears rolling down the cheeks crying about being cheated five years ago.
The lawyers in the MDC Alliance are busy “practitioners” in their chambers and therefore have very little time to be political practitioners on the ground where it matters the most. The late Morgan Tsvangirai was effective as a politician, precisely because he was on the ground with the masses. Tsvangirai had no distraction nor was he compromised, except that he loved the fairer sex.
Of all the MDC Alliance spokespersons, Felix Magalela Mafa is the best of them all. He is mature, experienced and has been in the game long enough. He knows the ropes well enough.