MDC-T violence has been against those opposed to their regime change agenda especially ZANU PF supporters, security officials and Zimbabweans in general.BULAWAYO24
By Mukachana Hanyani
It is no longer a secret that the MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai and his party are synonymous with violence. Whenever he opens up his mouth there is nothing constructive that comes out, expect senseless statements borne out of a clueless mind.
Tsvangirai as a national leader must know that preaching peace in the country exalts his person but on the contrary he is on a self-destructive path destroying himself by uttering hate speeches that has left every peace-loving Zimbabwean in a puzzle.
Tsvangirai recently made a baffling statement when he was addressing his supporters in Chegutu where he was quoted saying, “his party would emulate protests that toppled governments in North Africa if it deemed it necessary”.
The statement alone is a reflection of the violent nature of his party, as the good book says from the heart the mouth speaks.
Since its formation in September 1999, MDC-T has been the incarnation of unruly and thuggery behaviour which has attracted the riff raff of the people of Zimbabwe especially the unemployed youths.
In 2000, while addressing workers on May Day Workers Celebrations at Rufaro Stadium, Morgan Tsvangirai, the then newly appointed leader of an opposition political party and former Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union, stunned the nation when he said, “What I want to tell Mugabe today is that go peacefully or we will remove you violently”.
Little did people know that this statement was going to be the bedrock of this opposition party whose ideology became “regime change should come by whatever means necessary ” even if it was to the detriment of the people of Zimbabwe”.
Close analysis of what has been taking place since 2000 when Tsvangirai publicly said that violence would be used against leaders of the government to ensure political change, and his reiteration of the same statement ten years later reveals that Tsvangirai and his goons still believe that their twisted reasoning that violence could beget regime change could actually work.
Before the formation of the MDC in 1999, there were various political parties that existed peacefully with the ZANU PF government and violence was foreign to the socio-political landscape of the day.
Since independence in 1980, ZANU PF has been ruling the country peacefully and allowing other political parties to express their views without fear or intimidation. All opposition political parties were allowed to contest elections in the country.
In 1985, ZANU PF allowed political parties like PF ZAPU, Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe, (a former Republican Front party for whites), Independent Zimbabwe Group, another whites only party, and Zanu Ndonga to contest elections without any violence.
The above-mentioned political parties accepted ZANU PF victory in which it got sixty-four (64) seats with the remainder of the seats being shared among the losers with special mention for PF ZAPU and Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe each getting fifteen (15) seats.
In all these instances, there was no intimidation or violence from the opposition political parties and the country was run peacefully by ZANU PF.
To prove that ZANU PF was never a violent party but only MDC-T is well oiled in spearheading violent tactics against those who oppose their ideology, in 1990, ZANU PF allowed their former comrade in arms in the armed struggle the late Cde Edgar Tekere to form his party, which was called Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM).
On 23 March 1990, parliamentary elections were held in Zimbabwe simultaneously with the presidential elections. Those were the first elections held under the amended constitution of 1987, which ushered in an established executive presidency and abolished the senate, which was later reintroduced in 2005.
A number of opposition political parties including the then newly formed ZUM led by the late Edgar Tekere contested for supremacy. Despite having a number of such political parties which included those which contested in 1985 minus PF ZAPU which then joined ZANU PF in an historic Unity accord of 22 December1987, the elections were held in a peaceful atmosphere with no evidence of violence.
In 1996, presidential elections were also held but no evidence of violence was witnessed.
This serene environment became a thing of the past when Morgan Tsvangirai decided to form his party using the popularity he got during his time as Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union.
During the 2000 parliamentary elections, the country witnessed unprecedented violence that was to mark future occurrence as the newly formed MDC unleashed violence on the doorsteps of ZANU PF supporters and Zimbabweans in general.
MDC-T violence has been against those opposed to their regime change agenda especially ZANU PF supporters, security officials and Zimbabweans in general.
To show that MDC-T is a violent party which is not even afraid to target security officers, on 02 May 2011, four MDC-T supporters murdered Kingstone Mangwenya a member of Zimbabwe National Army based at KGIV barracks in Harare at Unit L Shops in Chitungwiza.
On a related note, in May 2011, the MDC-T members teamed up and fatally beat Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Deputy Officer- In-Charge of Borrowable Police Station, Inspector Petros Mutedza to death at Glen View 3 Shopping Centre as he and his colleague were trying to disperse an unsanctioned meeting held by the group.
In January 2011, about 200 MDC-T members assaulted and seriously injured ZRP, Assistant Inspector Shadreck Mudzimba in Budiriro 5,while he was attending a meeting at Rambai Makashinga Housing Cooperative.
Civilians are not spared from MDC-T violence especially those from ZANU PF membership.
In February 2011, Jimu Kunaka a ZANU PF Harare Provincial Youth Chairman was assaulted and seriously injured by four MDC-T youths at Bakers Inn corner Robert Mugabe and Rezende streetin Harare.Rezende streetin Harare.
MDC-T`s violence has of late been witnessed even among themselves as factional fighting pitying supporters of Morgan Tsvangirai and Tendai Biti, MDC-T Secretary General, took centre stage.
In March 2011, Sekai Holland, the MDC-T National Secretary for Policy and Research ran for dear life in Chipinge when the disgruntled MDC-T supporters wanted to mete instant justice on her and other senior MDC-T officials who were conducting the restructuring of Chipinge Central District Assembly at Gaza stadium.
In Midlands, the MDC-T violence reared its ugly head again when the factional feuding sides pitying the pro-Tsvangirai and pro Biti exchanged blows at the Zvishavane-Ngezi District restructuring exercise held at the end of March 2011. The elections, which were presided over by the Glen View Legislator, Paul Madzore, needed the swift intervention of the police which helped to calm down the situation.
The exchange of blows between the feuding factional sides that day resulted in the injury of two MDC-T activists Nomsa Gumbo and Melody Wandoreva forcing Paul Madzore to call off the elections,
In April 2011, an MDC-T Makokoba District Congress, held at Stanley Hall in Bulawayo took a nasty turn when some members were beaten up under the instigation of the MDC-T Vice President Thokozani Khupe. Khupe is alleged to have urged her supporters to beat those who were against her position as Makokoba legislator.
Chaotic scenes were also witnessed in Mutare in April 2011, as MDC-T chief whip, Innocent Gonese ran for dear life after some MDC-T youths loyal to one faction in the Manicaland Provincial Assembly Executive election sought to beat him up as they were against what he was doing.
So the MDC-T is a party, which always thrives on violence as it seeks its political supremacy.
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