Some found a student, in Mutambara, who like an
impoverished village drunkard could easily be ill-advised into taking a stand.
Unfortunately, given his naturally forward and excessively fast behaviour
(mawara) he has just jumped. Remember, ZANU PF wants an early election and they
are desperate for a reason to force one. It must also be acknowledged that for
ZANU PF these elections will be the most defining given the fact of President
Mugabe’s age, growing senility and incapacitation. They are desperate for an
excuse that will help them manage their succession crisis. And so the imagined
squable in the MDC-N has been a godsend.
Further, it must be stated that Mutambara's
celebration of the notion of being a 'Principal' was as stupid as the one who
pronounces it. Everyone knows the term 'principal' was a compromise for
“presidents” of political parties after the negotiating teams realized they
were poles apart and were treading on volatile ground. It has no legal standing
at all. For a person of Mutambara’s education not to know this smacks of
gullibility, if it is not from spending too much time with Mugabe that he has
lost all his bearings, if ever he had them.
I need not belabour the point that the so called
'Principals' who were in the GPA were deployed party cadres. A Deputy Prime
Minister, just like any minister or deputy minister could and should have been
recalled by their party if it so wishes. What was even more comical about the
whole show was that Mutambara accepted his defeat, thereby indirectly
relinquishing the position of DPM, or at least leaving it at the behest of his
party to decide whether he should remain in that office. Moreover, if he had
any objection, why did Mutambara officially open the MDC congress and preside
over the procedures that resulted in Ncube’s elevation? Not only did he openly
congratulate Ncube and hand over the keys, as it were: he never issued any statement
condemning the whole exercise.
We are reminded here of the furore that accompanied
this qualification process with the likes of Lovemore Madhuku claiming that the
process was quite exclusive. That being the case, it means Mutambara had a
tough task ahead of him. It meant he had to lure those MPs to his side, after
which he could stand and proclaim at the top of every mountain that he is,
indeed, the leader, of course, notwithstanding the fact that we can clearly
understand his double dipping and political infidelity following the handing
over of the mantle of leadership to Professor Ncube.
It must also be acknowledged that Professor Jonathan
Moyo once warned on this issue by acknowledging how invidious Arthur
Mutambara’s position is. I recall that Moyo's advice was that the best route
for Mutambara would be to relinquish the position, retire completely, thereby
leaving room for a good political come-back in which he will still stand on
solid ground, punctuated by morality and respect from most circles.
As wisdom has
it that, “…if the throat can grant passage to a knife, the anus should not
wonder how to expel it…” Mutambara should have known that in the same way he
entered both the MDC and ultimately the GPA, the exit door remained open for
him to be flushed out. Now a lot of people think he is just a clown, of course,
those who had long said so have their positions fortified, but those who had
given him the benefit of the doubt now have an egg on their faces.
Also we must not forget that a number of people in
Harare who are supporting Mutambara now are doing so either to spite Ncube or
to indirectly settle their scores with both Ncube and Mutambara. But one thing
for sure is that they never liked Mutambara, especially his meteoritic rise to
power at the behest of Ncube. However, Professor Ncube's moment of vindication
is imminent. But it will depend on how he scores to gain political capital from
this clear penalty scenario Arthur has given him on a silver platter. Mutambara
is like a player who has handled in the box. Now it calls for a skilful penalty
taker. But the benefiting team must know that if not properly executed it can
go either way.
But Professor Ncube stands to benefit in a big way
from this, especially if his strategists go ballistically defiant and are able
to harness the moment for their good. It must be understood also that MDC in this
case stands to benefit even if the GPA collapses with them being at the core of
its collapse. A lot of people still do not understand it anyway, so on the
envelope of defiance and other pragmatic strategies Ncube and his MDC will be
the victors. Lastly, we are all reminded that our wise ones had seen it all
when they said, “...if you want the monkey to expose its buttocks you should
encourage it to climb further up the tree...” Arthur Mutambara being the man we
had all gotten to know – excessively forward, the situation permitted him to
expose his buttocks. As a result, what the MDC has done was almost inevitable
and should not be a surprise. His (Mutambara) handling of the situation was
quite clumsy. Ever heard of the wisdom that says, “…it requires a lot of
carefulness to kill the fly that perches on the scrotum”? Arthur should have known
this.
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