Zimbabwean coalition government for damage control

From the very start after the March 2008 elections when Mugabe decided to discard the true results of the March 2008 elections right from under our nose up until the end of the GNU negotiations Zimbabwe has been operating on unjust ground and trying to get back to fair ground proved to be so difficult despite support from all over the world. To make matters worse the economic situation in the country had become so bad that the country was operating on life-saving machines which had become worn out due to overuse and ran the risk of stopping functioning anytime. So you will agree with me that something had to be done and done very fast. True Tsvangirai made a mistake in signing the GPA agreement of September 2008 without first ironing out all those differences that he started mentioning after signing and it seems he signed without reading through the agreement. And SADC did make an unfair ruling when they ruled that the Home Affairs ministry be shared between the two political rival parties. But these are all mistakes that refused to be undone and so the only way forward was damage control and this coalition government provides a conduit through which damage control can be done. Working within government is Tsvangirai's chance of proving to Zimbabweans that even though he failed to clinch a fair deal in the GNU negotiations he is capable of reconstructing this country and making it not only investor friendly but also local citizen friendly. To Mugabe and Zanu PF this coalition government is a chance for them to build a better image for themselves and change the Zimbabwean voters' bad perception of them, an unattainnable goal I think considering the extend of the damage they caused to the nation during their reign but there is nothing wrong with trying. To Mutambara and his party this is a chance to show Zimbabweans their leadership qualities which so far had seemed to be invisible to the public eye as well as make it very clear what he and his party are all about. To ordinary Zimbabweans this coalition government is a chance for the renewal of their lease on life, a chance for the proper functioning of all the necessary amenities like the water system, the health sector, education, etc, to be restored, a chance to be able to live a comfortable life again.


Readers, my fellow bloggers and online media I am sure you all agree with me that saving the lives of Zimbabweans who are dying of hunger and cholera and the restoration of Zimbabwe's economy, health sector and education sector which is causing untold suffering to ordinary Zimbabweans, both young and old, is of paramount importance at this juncture in the history of this nation. It is for that simple reason that most Zimbabweans rejoiced albeit with scepticism at the decision by the MDC to form a coalition government with Mugabe although they would have prefered a totally new government without any traces of Mugabe or Zanu PF. What the MDC did is put the interests of ordinary Zimbabweans at heart and that is to be applauded. As part of government MDC will have the capabilities to change the plight of most Zimbabweans whose suffering had reached too high a level. Taking that into consideration my appeal to you fellow bloggers and online media is to support the coalition government and stop writing articles that predict doom and gloom for this coalition. Let bygones be bygones, forgive and forget, and let us all now concentrate on writing articles that promote the renewal of Zimbabwe, articles that encourage sustainable development and growth, articles that influence the rebuilding of the nation and not those that destroy the efforts that other Zimbabweans are putting towards the reconstruction of the country. Constructive criticism is what we need to write about now. Let us all give the three leaders the benefit of the doubt and be optimistic that they all have one goal in mind, namely the rescucitation of our nation from a near death experience and that they will all work in harmony torwards the attainment of that goal.

Personally, I believe in democracy and this coalition government I agree is an example of democracy nipped in the bud but I have chosen to support it because my concern for the suffering of Zimbabweans is higher on my priority list than the pursuit for democracy. The suffering of Zimbabweans and the decay in the country's institutions had become too much and this coalition government is the only immediate way out of that suffering. I will take this coalition government as a transitional government as we wait for proper democratic elections which I am told will be in 2012. By the time 2012 comes I want to believe that the coalition government would have covered a lot of ground in putting this country back on the world map as a country that investors can have confidence in. I also want to believe that by 2012 democracy would have been tried and tested through Tsvangirai and Mutambara's policies and accepted by staunch believers in communism like Mugabe and Mnangagwa as the best political ideology to follow in this country. This would mean that in 2012 elections will be non-violent, free and fair. This coalition government will give the three GNU leaders a platform to campaign for the next democratic elections through their performance in the coalition government. The contestants for the 2012 elections if God permits will probably be Tsvangirai representing MDC-T, Mutambara representing MDC, Mnangagwa representing Zanu PF, Dabengwa representing Zapu and Dr Simba Makoni, the intelligent man of integrity representing Mavambo. Zimbabweans will be watching all of them very closely between now and 2012 and any mis-step will be detrimental to their future in power.