Coalition only way to dislodge Zanu PF: Ncube

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MDC leader Welshman Ncube on Saturday issued the strongest call for opposition forces in the country to unite and remove President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF from power so that the work of rebuilding the country could resume.

MDC leader Welshman Ncube on Saturday issued the strongest call for opposition forces in the country to unite and remove President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF from power so that the work of rebuilding the country could resume.

By KHANYILE MLOTSHWA

Ncube said the coalition should be beyond personal differences and should be “at all cost”.

Addressing about 400 party supporters at Stanley Hall on Saturday, Ncube sounded conciliatory towards his opponents within his MDC party, saying these were treacherous times.

welshman ncube 11 MDC leader Welshman Ncube [/Caption]

“Congress times are tough times because we end up looking at positions rather than the work at hand,” he said. “Don’t forget we are not here for positions, but for work. Because one wants a position, they start telling us so and so is in People First (PF). If we connect people to PF and Tendai Biti to Morgan Tsvangirai, who shall we remain with? We should not donate each other to other parties. In a thick forest people get lost. Whoever is lost, let us go out and look for them. The forest is dark. People get lost.”

The MDC has of late been rocked by infighting which led to the expulsion of secretary-general, Moses Mzila Ndlovu and other senior politicians from the party.

Ncube said the task at hand for opposition forces in the country today was Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin’s question on what is to be done.

“Everything in this country is dead, the railways, the electricity (infrastructure), factories; it’s all dead,” he said.

“The question is what should be done. How do we remove Zanu PF? Those who were there in the convention (that formed the MDC) in 1999 will know that we waited for 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2013 and today we are waiting for 2018, but Mugabe is still there. What should we do so that he goes out? What is to be done. All communists here will remember Lenin’s question to fellow communists and workers: What is to be done?”

Ncube said the “bad” situation in the country today and the need to get Zimbabwe working again was what should unite opposition forces.

“How will we remove Mugabe if we are not united?” he asked.

“We can’t as long as we contest the elections as the green movement on our own, Tsvangirai’s red movement on its own, Biti’s orange movement on its own, and Zimbabwe people First on its own. Who will have the last laugh in such a situation? “Obviously, it’s Mugabe who will say look at my fools taking votes from each other.”

Signalling the dire need for a coalition, Ncube said even though opposition leaders may not like each other, they will have to be tolerant.

“Even if they say a monitor lizard cannot be domesticated, if we come to a point where we have to keep it in a kraal and look after it, we will do that. That is the point: What is to be done?”