by Innocent Mujeri
Secretary-General of the Movement for Democratic Change Tsvangirai (MDC-T), Douglas Mwonzora has described the politics of the leader MDC-Alliance formation, Nelson Chamisa, “as not only retrogressive, but archaic and unproductive”.
Mwonzora said this after Chamisa had used the platform at the burial of his party’s member, Miriam Mushayi to speak evil against his political opponents in the MDC T.
Mushayi, who was the MP for Kuwadzana (MDC Alliance), died last Monday and was buried on Friday in Magunje.
“I learnt with dismay the unprovoked utterances against my person attributed to Advocate Chamisa at the recent funeral service of the late Miriam Mushayi. The unfortunate diatribe against my person, characterised by the unsavoury name calling was not only unfortunate, but regrettable given that this was coming from a man calling himself the people's president,” said Mwonzora.
Mwonzora further said that Chamisa is a man hurting inside and needs urgent help.
“The level of intolerance displayed by the president of the Alliance Party is not only shocking, but totally repugnant of modern dictates of common decency in leadership. It is an affront to the progressive democratic tenets of modern politics. That Advocate Chamisa chooses a funeral platform to spew such hate, was not only abusive of the grieving family, but testimony of a man hurting from inside and in need of help,” added Mwonzora.
The MDC-T Secretary-General also said the politics of hate speech and intolerance being advocated by Chamisa is not helpful to the Zimbabwean society.
“Zimbabwe yearn for a new political culture where rational disputation thrive and people can respectfully disagree without animosity against one another. The bitterness displayed by Advocate Chamisa does not promote the new society we envisage. It can only perpetuate acrimony and violence,” said Mwonzora.
Mwonzora further urged fellow political leaders to embrace politics that is productive and which does not focus on personalities.
“This politics (of Chamisa) is not only retrogressive, but archaic and unproductive. We must as political leaders free the new generation of Zimbabwe from this kind of politics. Zimbabwe deserve a better leadership which focusses on issues than personalities,” said Mwonzora.
At Mushayi’s funeral, Chamisa described Mwonzora as a sell-out for dumping Chamisa’s formation and warming up to the MDC-T.
Since March, this year, when the Supreme Court ruled that Chamisa was an illegitimate leader of the MDC, the infighting and name calling in that opposition outfit has escalated with some members openly dumping Chamisa to align themselves with the interim leader, Thokozani Khupe.
