… ZimFirst will not fight MDC-T or Tsvangirai
The last thing ZimFirst Party wants to do is to gain political mileage through peddling falsehoods. It is both self-defeating and foolish to do so. But it is also disastrous to avoid telling people the truth for fear of offending someone for the lame reason that he is purported to command the biggest opposition support in the country.
Makaza Makovere ZimFirst Campaign Chief Executive Officer & Presidential Spokesperson
A local newspaper, NewsDay, on Tuesday carried a story titled “Mujuru, Tsvangirai Clash Over Party Name” , in which ZimFirst President, Maxwell Zeb Shumba, was quoted extensively talking about the origin of the Zimbabwe First concept, a concept which he said had culminated in the formation of ZimFirst Party. The story revoked anger on MDC-T family, considering an angry attack directed at NewsDay by Luke Tamborinyoka, Presidential Spokesperson and Director of Communications for MDC-T.
While ZimFirst Party cannot take responsibility for the title given the news article by NewsDay, ZimFirst wishes to reiterate that everything attributed to Dr Shumba in the article is true and accurate. In fact ZimFirst is in possession of material evidence to support everything said by Dr Shumba in the NewsDay story. The same evidence material has been forwarded to NewsDay.
The information we have is that MDC-T, through MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, has complained to NewsDay about what it says is a “well-orchestrated media crusade” to ruin the MDC-T leader politically, using what Tamborinyoka says are falsehoods from Dr Shumba. Although we doubt the truthfulness of the allegation that NewsDay is on a mission to ruin Tsvangirai, we cannot deny the fact that the information availed by Shumba to NewsDay concerning Tsvangirai’s handling of the Zimbabwe First National Convergence Initiative does, indeed, paint him in bad light. We also see no reason for a respectable publication like the NewsDay to peddle falsehoods about a political party they have always reported favourably about before.
It is, however, not the job of ZimFirst to protect Tsvangirai’s reputation or that of his party. Furthermore, ZimFirst was not formed to create integrity for rival politicians where none exists, but to bring a viable alternative to the prevailing chaos which has become the trademark of politics in Zimbabwe.
NewsDay requested Shumba to share with them how the concept of Zimbabwe First came about and how the concept morphed into a political party and he obliged accordingly. They also wanted their readers to distinguish between former Vice President Joice Mujuru’s People First and Shumba’s ZimFirst Party. The fact that the article exposed Tsvangirai as an egocentric and power hungry leader with a very limited scope of Zimbabwe’s political landscape could only be avoided if Shumba chose to lie to NewsDay, which he could not. He, as expected of any leader with integrity, walked his talk about the need for politicians to be honest and accountable, by giving a detailed chronology of the events that brought about ZimFirst party. What he told NewsDay is supported with physical evidence.
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ZimFirst Party does, however, understand why some MDC-T party functionaries would call Shumba a liar. It comes from the inherent trait and a shameful propensity in most Zimbabwean politicians to cover up their mistakes while canvassing for support from the electorate. This is a trait foreign to ZimFirst Party. As a matter of fact, one of the founding principles of ZimFirst is honesty. We believe Zimbabwe’s biggest problem is the lack of honest leaders and, sadly, their supporters have also followed suit. A typical example of supporters following the bad example of their leaders is the great tragedy where supporters refuse to acknowledge that their suffering is being caused by greed and the short sightedness of the very leaders they support, even when there is ample evidence for all to see.
Like their leaders who choose to blame others for their failures, their supporters would rather blame Shumba for the formation of a third option. This trait is also evident among Zanu PF supporters who cannot connect their suffering with President Robert Mugabe and his failed Zanu PF policies. Of course, desperation for change on the part of the electorate could be a contributing factor in why people end up supporting the very people who are the source of their suffering, but at ZimFirst we believe the rot starts with leaders who have a phobia for truth. We also believe Tsvangirai has this phobia, among other numerous shortcomings.
Shumba is also accused of “rambling the fiction of an imagined dispute with people who are still to form their own party”. This is in reference to Mujuru’s PF pipe-dream. This accusation is quite interesting coming from Tsvangirai’s spokesman. By their own admission the MDC-T party is acknowledging that Mujuru’s PF dream is not yet even a political party, yet Tsvangirai was in the news, elsewhere in the same edition of NewsDay, telling his supporters that he would work with Mujuru and her party given the opportunity. Our interpretation of, and reaction to this accusation against Shumba is one of complete bewilderment on our part, in view of what they’re doing and how it differs from what they’re saying. Our secondary interpretation is that when you see a purportedly more popular opposition leader praising a disgraced leader from a rival party just so he can gain power through a coalition, then you know that that leader is beleaguered. And when he then goes on to accuse political rivals of causing his beleaguerment it then translates into a very serious tragedy.
For the record, neither Shumba nor ZimFirst harbor any ill feelings towards Tsvangirai or his appropriately named MDC-T Party. Shumba has absolutely nothing against Tsvangirai. In fact Shumba has worked well with Tsvangirai before. That phase ended when Shumba resigned from being Tsvangirai’s Chief Strategist after seeing the futility of continuously propping up Tsvangirai, whom he thinks needs too much hand-holding to get things done. Now Shumba is with ZimFirst and he will not waste his time attacking the person of Tsvangirai except to say the truth whenever asked about what he knows.
Furthermore, ZimFirst has no use for supporters who conveniently choose to ignore the obvious.
As a party we prides in calling a spade by its proper name even if it looks like a shovel. We also have no sacred cows in our fold. In ZimFirst every leader is subject to scrutiny no matter how popular they may be with the electorate and we expect the same from leaders of other political outfits. We also have no time to waste on petty arguments and semantics with people who are clearly seriously grappling with holding on to their party positions. All our time is dedicated to get Zimbabwe working again. This is our biggest priority and preoccupation now.
