MTHWAKAZI INDEPENDENT

By and through Gukurahundi, ZANU PF tried to bring us to our knees but we have stood up even stronger. However, internal political indiscipline, naivety, incompetency and strategy inconsistency are significant factors threatening to bring down the Mthwakazi resuscitation movement.

Self-governance has failed in Zimbabwe for lack of self-discipline, Mthwakazi empowerment will fail for the same reasons. Inconsistency is the only constant in our political space. The myriad of policy inconsistencies and indiscipline hinder political progress. If we are too busy for disciplined politics, we have pain of political regret awaiting.

We are a movement at the apex of a nervous breakdown trying for quick solutions for complex problems that by nature require patience, direction and discipline. The Mthwakazi movement needs a system that will enhance consistency and improve the quality of our politics. Quick solutions are not always the answer, we must build strong internal strength and resilience, and this means being self-reliant, self-motivated, creative and self-disciplined.

• Discipline within the Mthwakazi political space

Real power will be achieved when we start respecting our efforts and ourselves. There is a lot of political inconsistency within Mthwakazi that has led to a constantly unstable political movement that goes with the flow. Our strength will be measured by how prepared we are to swim against the tide when there is need to do so. We cannot afford to take too much interest in Zimbabwean politics when we want to build Mthwakazi.

We cannot allow our politics to be interrupted by Zimbabwe politics; let us cut off all but essential interactions with Zimbabwe politics. This means keeping the focus on all that is Mthwakazi and avoiding being drawn into Zimbabwean interests. It takes discipline not to be enticed by seemingly attractive superficial political changes in Zimbabwe. We cannot follow Dr Nkosana Moyo and build Mthwakazi at the same time, that is an illusion.

We will not be fooled by the Zimbabwean media’s calculated exaltation of the not so new kid on the block, Nkosana and his Alliance for People’s Agenda (APA). Nkosana and the recently formed coalition of Zimbabwean opposition parties will not form part of our solution but create further internal divisions in Mthwakazi. Our focus must never be solely the removal of ZANU PF and people’s last names but policies.

We look not at APA for solutions to our problems but another pothole on the way. As a proud Mthwakazi nation, we need not specialise on complaining but start to mobilise all our resources in a systemic and organised manner and work through our problems with a steely determination and discipline.

Given people’s political views change, Nkosana has a relationship with ZANU PF, the depth of it is only known to him. I respect his personal achievements and acknowledge his right to run for Zimbabwean presidency but I reject the unintended perception he is the saviour for Mthwakazi. The man needed at least two goes to clarify his position on the politically significant Gukurahundi issue, and then some Mthwakazi people want us to believe he is our saviour; he may be the saviour of Zimbabwean politics but he is no hope for Mthwakazi.

Nkosana is a typical Zimbabwean politician who has shown severe deficiencies in his emotional understanding of our concerns; he is pursuing Zimbabwean political goals, and the Zimbabwean political foundation is strategically positioned to manage and accommodate Mthwakazi and Mthwakazi politics yet what we need and want is self-reliance, and being genuinely included within the decision-making processes within the Zimbabwe politics is our condition to even consider staying within a unified Zimbabwe.

Unless he is another Donald Trump, Nkosana Moyo’s tepid response to the Gukurahundi issue in his inaugural interview perhaps gives us the best measure of where he and his team of advisers stand on the issue. I do not know if it was intended to be an objective response and do concede that emotions are too unstable to be relied upon for such political decisions but the evident emotional disconnect between APA’s political interpretation of the issue and the Mthwakazi constituency’s views is of concern.

I appreciate Nkosana’s disclosure that he was personally affected by Gukurahundi but he and his team see Gukurahundi as the past, a past that should not be allowed to interfere with the present and the future. On the contrary, most of us view Gukurahundi atrocities as a relevant part of politics now and well into the future; central to our politics is the belief that perpetrators should be held to account and victims compensated. If we pretend that crime did not happen, it surely will raise its ugly head again.

• The Gukurahundi deception cannot go unchallenged
• Ignorance linked to Gukurahundi non-action

No one, but lack of discipline, will stop us from achieving our goals. We need to be honest and disciplined in the way we operate; we will not move from our current political situation in a year. Effective leadership will see us get our priorities right while disciplined management will be key in bridging the gap between our dream of a politically efficient Mthwakazi and accomplishing it. Fortunately, we have the watch and we have the time; we will stand together and stand tall.