The Sunday News (26/04/2015) and the Daily News of the same day reported that Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko was in Bulawayo drumming up support for Zanu PF candidates who are vying for positions left vacant by the recalled MDC Renewal Team MPs.
Mphoko was quoted as having blamed the marginalisation of Bulawayo in particular, on the province’s continued support of the opposition.
Over the years, the issue of marginalisation of Matabeleland has taken centre stage.
Some people have denied the existence of marginalisation, while others have blamed it on the region’s politicians who religiously subscribe to table manners, “that one does not speak while eating”.
This saying is meant to advise that once catapulted into corridors of cosmetic power, one can only bite the hand feeding him or her at own risk.
Some school of thought views Mphoko as a man who talks in opposites, meaning, what he tells people not to do is actually what he wants done.
This may not be surprising given his secret service and diplomatic background. He alludes to the fact that Bulawayo is angry to the extent of wielding spears — but why?
To the VP, it is only opposition that has people from outside Bulawayo or Matabeleland that is bent on destabilising the region.
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The same is not true with the ruling party, in his view. He went on to accuse Bulawayans of voting for any candidate as long as the candidate did not belong to Zanu PF.
The VP would do well to find out why Bulawayo has shunned Zanu PF over the years.
We have become a laughing stock, Mphoko charged. Indeed so, the trek to South Africa is unstoppable as the few available jobs are only accessed by the chosen ones.
Equal opportunities are non-existent, Mpilo and its sister hospitals are experiencing a serious shortage of staff, machinery and medicines, and no single bank is owned by a southerner.
Mthuli Ncube’s Barbican Bank was the target when Gideon Gono pretended to close non-compliant banks. When Mphoko speaks, read between the lines for substance.
Mphoko recently said vending was for the disabled. Of late he is alleged to have said the party cannot be represented by vendors and lodgers as MPs.
Some years back, the President was asked why there were very few ministers from Matabeleland and his candid answer was that MPs from the region lacked academic qualifications. So Mphoko may be right.
Coming to the most intriguing aspect: Is the government only responsible for constituencies where they enjoy support? If so, the government should not tax constituencies that don’t support it.
The illiterate Red Indians knew it years back — their slogan “No Representation No Taxation” was their battle cry.
It is, therefore, a dangerous statement for Mphoko to suggest that Bulawayo is backward because it has not voted for Zanu PF over the years.
Why then tax the said constituents?
There is need to draw a line between a political party and a party in the government.
Once mandated to govern, the government is charged with responsibility to govern equitably, regardless of party’s geographical support.
The same applies with transforming from being a liberation movement to being a government.
Remaining stuck in the trenches when the pressing need is to govern spells disaster.
This realisation led one author to suggest that graders are for making the roads and not plying the roads. Once the road is complete, the grader’s rightful place is the workshop.
If one places Mphoko on the opposites narrative, take heed of the man’s advice, but if he were to be taken literally, then the man got it all wrong.
A given constituency cannot be blackmailed as a strategy to frog-march it into supporting a given party.
Instead, good laws and policies will endear any government to the constituents.
In a democracy, individuals are at liberty to choose a political party of their choice without fear of being called names.
Is it sin to think differently? Imagine if the whole body was an eye, how would it deal with other organ’s functions.
Dignity in diversity is the spice of life.
