Charles Motsi
As the old saying goes; if you see an elephant on top of a tree, it does not matter when, how or why it got up there, what is obvious and clear is that it will come crashing down very soon. Such is the story of Nelson Chamisa as his crushing down moment is now inevitable.
This week was Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) founding leader, Morgan Tsvangirai’s, birthday but the late opposition stalwart must surely be turning in his grave as his legacy has been dragged through the mud by his egotistic and overzealous self-appointed successor, Chamisa.
Chamisa has been a failure at every turn since he grabbed power in 2017. Those of the superstitious disposition would strongly argue that Chamisa’s woes stem from the disrespect that he exhibited when he rushed to grab the crown before his mentor had even been buried. That lust for power drove the youthful leader to discard all traditional and cultural protocols for the burial of Tsvangirai. So it was only a matter of time for misfortune to come knocking at his door and it has been with him ever since.
In the run up to the 2018 elections President Emmerson Mnangagwa gave the opposition carte blanche and anyone was free to move around as they wished and campaign. Chamisa failed to take advantage of the President’s democratic gesture as he lied to the electorate and made childish populist utterances that did not increase his popularity ahead of the elections.
Amongst some of his mistakes was the “patakasangana na Trump” remark. This was a bald faced lie that was dismissed by the American embassy itself and was a source of embarrassment during a BBC interview. On top of the lying was the juvenile fizzing he made on the campaign trail like his promise to give President Mnangagwa his sister as a wife if he beat him in the election.
The Trump remark isolated him from the international donors who could now see that the opposition leader had nothing to offer but lies. Offering his sister as a prize exposed him for the misogynistic hypocrite that he is and this isolated the women’s vote for him. Chamisa failed to take advantage of the post Mugabe era that had been opened up by President Mnangagwa only to resort to violence and tarnishing the country’s image after it had become obvious that he had lost the election, kudira jecha as he called it.
Acting on bad advice from the host of lawyers that surround him like Alex Magaisa and Thabani Mpofu, Chamisa launched court application after court application to try and challenge the electoral result and maintain his position in the MDC Alliance. The failure streak just continued as he lost court case after court case. Instead of noting his mistakes and rectifying them Chamisa’s only defence was just to blame the ruling ZANU PF for his own failures.
The failed court crusades did not just cost Chamisa the election but also the use of the MDC-T name which was won by Thokozani Khupe’s camp; he further lost the use of the traditional MDC headquarters, the Morgan Tsvangirai House and he also lost access to political parties financing which is now in the hands of MDC-T not his MDC-A. So the man has lost his party name, home and financing one would think that he cannot possibly fail any further, well one would be wrong because Chamisa’s failures do not end there.
His greatest failure in all this has been his failure to be a leader and statesman. Unlike Chamisa, President Mnangagwa managed to unite his party and steer the ship forward after the G40 faction had tried to disintegrate the party. That is a mark of a matured statesman and a true leader. Chamisa has failed to mature and grow in this regard as he remains a student activist full of talk with no real substance.
This lack of leadership has seen the party become disorganised and without unity and has led to an exodus in recent days. The masses are not fools and they have noted how Chamisa had failed to act not corrupt councillors who have ran service delivery into the ground in most if not all local authorities controlled by his MDC. When there is no leadership at the top people tend to do as they wish and in MDC-A’s case that has meant squandering public funds at the expense of public wellbeing.
Failures in life are meant to be learning points and opportunities for personal growth. If one is able to learn from one’s failures then people might be able to give that person a second chance to rectify his mistakes. But in the case of Chamisa he has been given chance after chance and the stench of his failures has now reached breaking point as the ‘young man’ refused to learn and grow. That is why some are now running away from the party and some are calling for a change in leadership. Chamisa’s days are numbered and it is a demise that has been a long time coming and of his own doing.
