FORMER Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai wants to hoodwink Zimbabweans into re-joining Zanu PF through the back door by forming a grand coalition with axed Vice-President Joice Mujuru, opposition activist Shakespeare Maya has said.
BY RICHARD CHIDZA
Maya, who is now heading the African Bureau of Strategic Studies, told NewsDay that the pronouncements by Tsvangirai were a dangerous signal to opposition supporters.
“Tsvangirai’s announcement that he is ready to work with Mujuru is a dangerous and confusing signal he is passing on to the electorate,” Maya said.
“He is simply saying Zanu PF is not that bad after all, we can now go back to Zanu PF via the Mujuru group.
“And this is the same Zanu PF he has led the electorate against for the past 15 years in very difficult circumstances, leading to personal suffering by people and sanctions against the country.”
Maya said Mujuru was tainted by her long association with the ruling party and its “stone-age political tactics” that she could not be described as a moderate.
“The flimsy argument that Mujuru has suddenly become a moderate or a better person because she has been kicked out of Zanu PF is superficial,” he said.
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“A murderer cannot avoid the gallows because they have changed their name, neither will a thief avoid jail because they have suddenly picked a fight with their partner in crime.
“Zanu PF is not capable of producing moderates and Mujuru has been part of the autocracy that has ruled this country for 30 years.
“She cannot suddenly change into a moderate just because she has changed to fronting a project known as People First or because she is seen as fighting Zanu PF”.
Former Presidential Affairs minister Didymus Mutasa revealed he had held talks with Tsvangirai, while the MDC-T leader at the weekend said he was ready to form a coalition to dislodge President Robert Mugabe from power.
Maya argued that Tsvangirai was also myopic when he agreed to the formation of the inclusive government and he “came out with nothing to show for it, not even the reforms he had sought”.
He claimed Tsvangirai was clinging onto the leadership of the opposition MDC-T for financial gain.
“The likes of Tsvangirai must admit that they have failed, but the reason they stick around is because they are in business,” the unrestrained Maya added.
“There is money to be made and this has perpetuated the tendency to cling on to power.”
But Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said his boss did not mention any names when he spoke of a grand coalition.
“Ascribing names to president Tsvangirai’s pronouncements is an act of journalistic mischief,” he said.
“He said as a matter of principle, he is ready to work with anyone and political parties of different shades and colour provided they have the same goal of democratising Zimbabwe.”
