ZIMBABWE - HARARE - Robert Mugabe, ZANU(PF) and the State-controlled media in Zimbabwe have never made a secret of their rabid, delusional and paranoid hatred and contempt for the leader of the largest and most popular political party in Zimbabwe at the moment, Morgan Richard Tsvangirai.
Imperical evidence and indeed; even a random survey in Zimbabwe today will confirm that the Movement for Democratic Change, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, is the most popular political party.
Tsvangirai's detractors are largely motivated by primitive hatred coupled with a debilitating misunderstanding of what exactly drives Morgan Tsvangirai to be Zimbabwe's most popular political leader presently.
Day in, day out Zimbabweans are subjected to crude and course anti-Tsvangirai propaganda by the State-controlled Zimpapers and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings.
Acres of space are devoted to demonising Tsvangirai in both The Herald and The Chronicle newspapers daily.
Radio and television news bulletins on the State-controlled ZBH are incomplete without mentioning some disparaging remarks about Morgan Tsvangirai in particular and the MDC in general.
The news bulletins are super-charged with hate language levelled against Tsvangirai and the MDC. All the suffering being endured by the people of Zimbabwe is caused by Tsvangirai and his '' masters'' i.e. Britain, the USA and other Western countries!
Even the scourge of cholera that is ravaging the nation has been brought about by the biological warfare being waged against Zimbabwe by Gordon Brown!
What errant nonsense! Of course, only an intellectually challenged person will believe the crude and amateurish propaganda churned out incessantly against Morgan Tsvangirai by Mugabe and his cronies.
Zimbabwe is in its present desperate socio-economic and political state largely because of Mugabe's unparalleled system of misgorvenance, patronage, rampant and unmitigated corruption and general disrespect and contempt for the observance of basic human rights.
But Mugabe and his cronies will tell you that Zimbabwe has virtually collapsed because of Western -imposed sanctions instigated by Tsvangirai and the MDC. They will not tell you why Zimbabwe is still a net exporter of food; ten years after the advent of the land reform program.
They will not tell you why they are crying out for balance of payment support from Western -sponsored financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund when they seem to hate '' imperialists'' so much.
Mugabe and his delusional propagandists will not tell you why they have dismally failed to come up with viable and sustainable import substitution policies as was done by the racist regime of Ian Smith during UDI. They will not tell you why the so-called Look East policy has been such a resounding failure.
The State-controlled media has desperately sought to portray Morgan Tsvangirai as the main architect of the people's suffering. They routinely refer to him as a Western puppet and the nemesis of patriotism. What a shame! To the contrary, Morgan Tsvangirai is a true and consistent patriot of Zimbabwe.
He symbolises the humiliating suffering of the ordinary Zimbabwean people. A suffering brought about by the excesses of a kleptocratic, corrupt, brutal and insensitive regime run by Robert Mugabe and his cronies.
The Tsvangirai brand has proved to be almost invincible. The more Mugabe and his crude propagandists such as George Charamba, Tafataona Mahoso, Maxwell Hove, Judith Makwanya, Caesar Zvayi, Reuben Barwe etc desperately try to denigrate the Morgan Tsvangirai brand the more popular and loved Tsvangirai becomes! In a very ironic sense, Mugabe's propagandists have inadvertently played a part in building and moulding the Tsvangirai brand.
Put it simply, a patriot is a person who loves his/her country and zealously guards its welfare. With this definition in mind, who, between Tsvangirai and Mugabe, is a true patriot? Mugabe's policies of using brute and primitive force to suppress the activities of opposition political parties and human rights defenders has led to Zimbabwe being the pariah and failed State that it is today.
Surely, a nation in which at least half of the population is in need of food aid, ten years after embarking upon a land reform program; is a failed state. A nation with an unemployment rate of over 80% is a failed state.
A nation that virtually survives on hand outs from such '' small'' nations like Namibia and Botswana is a failed state. And all this has nothing to do with Morgan Tsvangirai.
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Tsvangirai is a selfless, dedicated and brave leader who has had the guts to stand up to Mugabe and to tell him that enough is enough!
Tsvangirai's vision for Zimbabwe easily resonates with the toiling masses of Zimbabwe. He is their beacon of hope in a situation of virtual hopelessness.
Tsvangirai thus becomes the popular and much loved leader that he is today in Zimbabwe. Mugabe's propaganda against Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC has galvanised the MDC into becoming a very formidable political party in Zimbabwe.
Under the leadership of Robert Mugabe, ZANU (PF) has mutated into becoming a violent and reactionary political party; a party that has dismally failed to periodically renew its leadership; a party that is still locked up in history.
A party that has failed to engage the future. A party that is now a pathetic shadow of the former revolutionary force that it used to be.
On the other hand, Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC represent the present and the future of Zimbabwean politics. Tsvangirai is not and has never been a puppet and a sell-out.
The people know the truth about this Zimbabwean hero. The people spoke on March 29, 2008 and they will continue to speak on each and every given opportunity. Morgan is the ONE!
Senator Obert Gutu is a trained lawyer, member of the MDC National Legal Committee as well as the MDC National Information Committee. He is also the MDC Chief Whip in the Senate. He can be contacted on gutulaw@mweb.co.zw
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