IS IT JUST ME OR EVERYONE ELSE WHO SEES, a similar pattern developing between how the despot Mugabe and MDC share certain chilling common views about diaspora based Zimbabweans?

Mugabe with his look east policy says the diaspora is full of Zimbabweans who fled the country, who have no right to attack Zanu pf for failures. Likewise the MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu says Zimbabweans in the diaspora who are in the habit of attacking his party for failing to remove Zanu-PF from power and fled the country instead of staying put to resolve the crisis have no right to make noise about MDC-T failures.

Lest you forget, Morgan Tsvangirai is originally a Zanu pf member and Zanu pf to date say he has never resigned from Zanu pf. Mugabe flies to Singapore everytime he needs his blood pressure chacked and Tsvangirai flies to South Africa every time he needs medical attention, remember its Mugabe who funded his first cancer treatment in South Africa.

Mugabe is a tactical leader in that he continuously blocks the diaspora Zimbabweans from voting in elections by not allowing voting at embassies, and of late, making the new voter registration exercise difficult and costly for diaspora Zimbabweans. He has also continuously used the argument that holders of dual nationality cannot vote and must surrender their second citizenship,..an offer he knows, no one is prepared to take as 99% holders of dual citizenship are in that situation because they were forced into exile and are in defiance to oppressive authority by Mugabe, Zim1 family, Zanu pf stalwarts and securocrats.

It is obvious that an average of almost 5 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora if given the right to freely vote, would shift the balance of power by bringing in the much needed numbers against him and therefore he continues to put them down and block their right to vote.

MDC T needs the diaspora numbers in order to unseat Mugabe and must therefore not be found speaking negatively about the diaspora because the majority of diaspora Zimbabweans have the right to be where they are and are equally fighting to give the oppressed people of Zimbabwe the same freedoms.

Read between the lines, MDC T is the largest opposition who get according to the Zimbabwean constitution, a massive fund from the government budget and their leader , Morgan Tsvangirai has a State Mansion, State transport, security and other benefits. It is fair to say, whether Zanu pf is defeated or stays in power, Tsvangirai would be safe and comfortable and so would key figures funded by the same budget. lets work together, not fight each other because the same diaspora is powerful enough to shift public opinion, particularly international support in terms of support.

It is the same diaspora who are actualy keeping the Zimbabwean economy afloat a,d looking after their families in Zimbabwe, the same people from whom MDC T expect votes from. If I were a parent, I’d ask, why insult my child who looks after me from the diaspora, yet you expect my vote, when you are clearly demonstrating you place no value upon the diaspora people,..just like Mugabe and his Zanu pf,..wake up Zimbabwe,..infact wake up MDC T leadership!

The millions of diaspora Zimbabweans are not there just solely because they are anti Mugabe, Zim 1 family, Zanu pf stalwarts and seurocrats, neither are they pro MDC T. People are entitled to freedom of expression as enshrined in the Zimbabwean constitution and if for some it means they are anti MDC T, ..well its a free world,..let them speak! You need the diaspora, you need their vote, voice and support to get anywhere,..treat them with respect!

This Obert Gutu istatement is worse off than Mugabe’s statement. Lets not forget that when Tsvangirai starts his MDC T visits to the diaspora, he will need the diaspora support. Any protests by the diaspora then and now against such damaging statements will be magnified by the international world, funders, and interested parties and even tickle Zanu pf. He has to take the lead in uniting supporters not dividing them by being so disrespectful. I wonder how it feels for those who lost friends, neighbours, relatives and partners etc in the 2008 election violence for supporting MDC T yet today MDC T is saying they have no right to talk,..really?

Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC T) leader Morgan Tsvangirai who was recently air lifted to the very diaspora where he was attended to by nurses probably including Zimbabwean nurses in the diaspora, has been released and will be coming back home soon after a two week hospital stay. Here we are, yet the MDC T spokesperson Obert Gutu, confidently denigrates the same diaspora Zimbabweans,…how detrimental to MDC T support, unity and public image.

This Mugabe Zanu pf mentality should die with Mugabe, and we should have a party and leadership that has respect for the people and not looks down upon the people as spewed by Obert Gutu. There is no excuse for such cheap divisive talk from a leader in an opposition party, one whose very future depends upon the very people he is openly denigrating.

This is dangerous talk because to the discerning eye, the question is, if the party who seek your votes, seek to silence freedom of choice and speech and openly denigrate a powerful voice in their behalf (diaspora Zimbabweans), then what does it mean having such people in power. Today it is just what he is saying then tomorrow, they will chopping and changing the constitution to silence the voice of the voiceless as they criminalise anything said against them and thei r party,..thi s is simply what he is foolishly saying to anyone who cares to listen and take him seriously.

Zimbabweans, your voice matters, you the people have the power to bring change but don’t just give your vote with nothing in return. If MDC T want diaspora votes, they should have greater respect for diasporans who have kept the country afloat all these years through the billions they channel into the economy through transfers to families, friends and relatives, who in turn spend the money in the local economy in supermarkets, council rents, toll points, fines to police, electricity and water bills.

We cannot be expected to simply use our votes on a party and leadership who have no respects for the pain, suffering and losses brought about by the enforced exile many diaspora Zimbabweans find themselves in. If he is not careful he could very well be sounding the MDC T death knell to the whole world by his foolish utterances. DISCUSS! By Sibusiso Ngwenya

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