By John Sigauke in Namibia
Indications of economic stabilisation currently being witnessed in the country have distressed the MDC, which for a long time has been using the challenges as their trump card, a Namibian based economist has said.
“Imagine this, when the Biblical Lazarus died, his clothes were distributed amongst his surviving relatives. How did those beneficiaries feel when they heard that a man called Jesus had resurrected Lazarus? Obvious they were not very pleased as some of them were already charming ladies with Lazarus’ wardrobe,” says Dr Drian Kashkongo at a side-line interview with this publication.
He said Jesus was even blamed for resurrecting Lazarus. He added that those who are resurrecting the Zimbabwean economy are subjected to the same blame.
Dr Kashkongo, a lecturer at a local university, said these remarks while presenting a paper on “Political profit from calamities” at a one-day symposium hosted by a Namibian bank.
He said the MDC and many other opposition parties had no solution for the economic challenges in their countries, adding that the situation will not change much if they were to get into power today.
“There are signs of economic stabilisation in Zimbabwe for instance and obviously this is not good news for the opposition there which would prefer the economic status quo to remain so that they have something to blame the ruling government,” he said.
He added that the opposition in Zimbabwe was a clueless party that only wanted to get into power through the back door. He castigated the MDC and the opposition parties in Africa for what he called “Machiavellian modus operandi” of getting into power.
“You cannot get into power through the suffrage of the ordinary masses. You call for sanctions which ordinarily do not directly affect your targeted political foes. The sanctions hurt the ordinary person in the streets and I wonder if the sanctions advocates want to rule over dead bodies,” he said.
He encouraged African politicians to sell their economic blue prints to the electorate instead of inviting sanctions on them. He said he was not very impressed by many of the economic blue prints crafted by the opposition in Africa, occasionally citing the MDC’s Road to Economic Recovery, Legitimacy, Openness And Democracy (RELOAD) which he said he recently read.
The MDC has been blaming the ruling Zanu PF for the economic challenges bedevilling Zimbabwe. However, analysts have also blamed the MDC for being an armchair critic which does not proffer alternative solutions as a government in waiting.
That party’s leadership has been lobbying for punitive measures to be imposed on Zimbabwe with a view to forcing the ruling party to a negotiating table that will lead to an inclusive government.
