Morgan's Mistake

When I decided to start blogging, like most African leaders I had very lofty dreams of doing something positive to create a radical change. I wanted to be a political blogger and use my blog to prick the conscience of our leaders to cause a positive political change in Nigeria and Africa. Alas, what happened? I did a couple of posts on my blogsville brothers and sisters, mostly sisters, people like them and I got carried away. I abandoned my original mission. Then I heard a voice from heaven. Okay, maybe it wasn’t from heaven and this was what the voice said,

“Naijaleta, you have been distracted by all those fine, fine gals in blogsville and forgotten your original mission. You must return to your original duties of political blogging.”

And I said, “yessir, but what will I write about? I have forgotten how to write political blogs.”

The voice said, “I will show you.”

Then I switched on my T.V, okay it wasn’t mine I was watching T.V at my cousin’s place and I saw the most despicable thing, Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change, shaking hands with Robert Mugabe!

Okay, before you all start saying,

“haba Naijaleta! They are finally drawing up a power-sharing deal and you’re complaining”, shut or minimize you browser, then shut your eyes for a minute and imagine yourself in the position of a young widow whose husband has just been brutally murdered by suspected Zanu-PF supporters because of his membership of the MDC, leaving you with five children and his aged mother to take care of. Now tell me that you will be happy seeing the man, whose party your husband was supporting shaking hands with the man whose thugs murdered your husband while his body is still very fresh in the make-shift, unmarked grave it was thrown into. Or worse still, while his body is still in the morgue because you’re still sorting out the funeral expenses. To make matters worse, both of them were wearing very expensive suits bought with enough money to feed your family for a whole year.

I will not bore you with details of the power-sharing agreement but I can bet you that for the average Zimbabwean, nothing changes because the man who offered them a glimmer of hope has already sold out on them. Oh, things will change for Morgan and his silly buddies quite all right but not for the average man in Zimbabwe.

What people like Morgan Tsvangirai do not realise is that Mugabe has a lot of money and can afford to retain the best Public Relations companies in the world. The hand-shake in the presence of the whole world was nothing but a Public Relations coup. Yet another political success for Mugabe and a humiliating defeat for Tsvangirai, who should have insisted to Thabo Mbeki and the other organisers of the meeting that he would attend the talks but would not sit beside Mugabe or shake hands with him in order not to insult the memory of the hundreds or so MDC supporters who died in the hands of suspected ZANU-PF thugs. That is how a true leader distinguishes himself from a greedy politician.

Unfortunately, he’s sold out, he’s probably going to get a senior ministerial role, a budgetary allocation, all the usual perks of a government job and it becomes business as usual again for the Mugabe government.

The people of Zimbabwe will continue to wallow in poverty and the statement that politicians cannot be trusted will once again prove to be correct.

What a shame!