The Reason for Coalition Failures

There is a great danger that the so-called grand coalition of opposition parties is not going to happen anytime soon. The coalition time is running out. The reason for the failure of the coalition are many but I have decided to highlights a few.




The Dummy Parties and Coalition

There are parties that form the opposition that are are dummies. These are parties that are like shelf companies or briefcase companies. They come into the light once an election is announced. They are set up specifically for donor money and donor sympathy.

A dummy party can only survive where there is money it does not need supporters. It might not even need a leader. Its lifespan begins when elections are announced and ends on polling day. These are parties like Mawambo or the very recently formed APA Zimbabwe created by Dr Nkosana Moyo.

We will be seeing a lot of these dummy parties in the following months.These parties add no value to the opposition cause even if they join a coalition.

The White Supremacists Money and the Coalition

The Rhodesians are still around, remember that they said, Rhodesia is forever. You will not see them directly in our elections, but their money will be in play.It was Rhodesian money that set up the original MDC in 1999. It is the Rhodesian white supremacist monies that have brought back the likes of Biti and Ncube back to the original MDC.

When the like of Joice Mujuru went to London, it was to beg for money from the white supremacists.She promised on  BBC to give them back the land, that is if she wins. She visited Chatham House to brief the white supremacists.

Here the white supremacists are confused as on whom to fund. The white supremacists usual bet Morgan Tsvangirai is sick and dying but is holding on to the MDC leadership. Joice Mujuru because of her revolutionary background, her former role in government and her character does not make her the former white settlers favourite to bet their monies on. She makes the white supremacists nervous and very uncomfortable.

The white Rhodesian supremacists' money for the coalition is definitely not coming easily this time

The Coalition of Joice Mujuru and the MDCs

This coalition of Joice Mujuru and the MDC was bound to suffer a stillbirth. The coalition is like mixing oil and water.

 The difference lies in the history of founders and foundation of the two parties. MDC was formed as a direct reaction by white supremacists settlers to Mugabe's land reform programme. Joice Mujuru's party was formed when she was expelled from the Zimbabwe People First, not ZANU pf, as some would say.

The differences go further.Joice Mujuru is a Chimurenga war veteran, while Tsvangirayi was imposed on MDC by the Rhodesians to cross-dress as a labour leader and a champion of the Rhodesian anti-land reform programme.

We will not have Tsvangirai and Mujuru sleeping in the same bed, not in this election!



The Brand name Parties and Coalition

Brand politics leads to brand tied parties.Let us start with a party called MDC-T. This a party that Morgan Tsvangirayi lead is going to die as soon as Tsvangirayi leaves it. It can not have a life after its leader quits politics.

These parties like dummy parties have very few but loyal supporters. Parties that are led by the likes of Hosea Chipanga, Egypty Munhenzva and others, can not form a coalition because they are afraid to be associated with ideologies that differ from theirs.

These parties are also afraid of being diluted and disempowered in a coalition. It is a fear that makes almost every opposition party hate to be members of a coalition.

Do we as Zimbabweans really need a coalition if we have credible opposition parties?