In June 2008 there was a belief that Simba Makoni had a
chance of winning the Presidential election. People invested their votes in him.
He garnered 8.3% of the valid votes. It turned out that these votes were the difference
between Tsvangirai winning a majority in the first round and the country going
to a run off. There are clear parallels between the situation in 2008 and the
situation obtaining in 2013.
I am not suggesting that in 2008 Simba Makoni was a bad presidential
candidate but that he was not a viable candidate. He did not have a realistic
chance of winning the election. The coalition between Welshman Ncube and Dumiso
Dabengwa creates a situation similar to the 2008 scenario. It brings into the
election a presidential candidate with little or no chance of winning the 2013
election; a candidate whose share of the vote will be small but significant in
stopping the march to a new Zimbabwe. There are people who are planning on
investing their votes in Welshman Ncube as a presidential candidate. While
there is nothing to suggest that Ncube is a bad presidential candidate there is
clear evidence that he has no realistic chance of winning the July 31 election.
Whether we like it or not this election is a two horse race between Morgan
Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe. The other candidates are just spoilers. This has
nothing to do with abilities or inabilities of Welshman Ncube as a candidate
but reflects the realities on the ground.
Recent utterances by Dabengwa in Chikomba should concern all
those who are trying to vote for change. At a rally in Chikomba Dabengwa
claimed that he supported Makoni in 2008 in order to block the imminent win by
Tsvangirai. Dabengwa is reported to have said, “I think we achieved what we had set ourselves to achieve and that is to
make sure Morgan did not win that election…” One can read in this that Dabengwa
knew that Makoni was not going to win election but wanted to stop the march
towards a new Zimbabwe. Dabengwa has chosen to endorse and support Welshman
Ncube knowing very well that he has no chance of winning the presidential
election. Is this another attempt by Dabengwa to stop Tsvangirai from winning
the election? I believe it is.
I advise the people of Zimbabwe not to vote for Welshman Ncube
as a presidential candidate. Our target in this election is to stop ZANU PF
from winning power again. We should not help ZANU PF in rigging these elections
by voting for Welshman Ncube whose agenda is to stop Tsvangirai winning the
election. The selfishness
exhibited by Dabengwa in 2008 appears to be the same selfishness driving Ncube
in 2013. Dabengwa hoped to get into government through the back door by ensuring
that there was no overall winner of the 2008 presidential election. It would
appear Ncube is hoping for a similar outcome.
Voting for Welshman Ncube is voting for Robert Mugabe. While
the people who will vote for him are not directly voting for Robert Mugabe they
are definitely giving Robert Mugabe an advantage. I know that all people who
are planning to vote for Welshman Ncube want change; they want a new Zimbabwe.
The people voting for Welshman Ncube are patriotic Zimbabweans who are fed up
with ZANU PF rule. It is for these reasons that they should make the difficult
decision to support the only viable alternative to Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai
has enough nationwide support to defeat Mugabe. No other candidate in this
election has the national stature to win against Mugabe. Despite loud
pronouncements that Ncube is in this election to win it, we all know that he
can only come a distant third to Tsvangirai and Mugabe. Dr Simba Makoni has put
the nation before his ambition and has endorsed Morgan Tsvangirai. Makoni is
arguably the best President that Zimbabwe never had but he is not selfish. He
knows that the democratic struggle is about removing the thieving, corrupt and
murdering ZANU PF regime from power. He also knows that the man capable of
removing Robert Mugabe at this present time is Morgan Tsvangirai. He is the
most popular political party leader in Zimbabwe at this time. That is why Dr
Makoni has chosen to support Morgan Tsvangirai.
A friend once said ‘I absolutely hate Morgan Tsvangirai but I
am going to vote for him and the MDC in order to remove ZANU PF from power’.
This is the attitude that Zimbabweans need in this election. In order to make
our votes count against ZANU PF we must vote for Morgan Tsvangirai in the
forthcoming elections. All those who want to see change in Zimbabwe must cast
their vote for Morgan Tsvangirai. Make your vote count!
