A political leadership mired in selfishness

Joram Nyathi
Zimbabwe Independent

Zimbabwe’s political opposition has sorely let down the nation, said Joram Nyathi in the Harare Zimbabwe Independent. The two main factions of the opposition were expected to join together and offer a single candidate to oppose President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe oppressively for more than 25 years, with increasingly disastrous results. At this point, with the economy in tatters and inflation running at some 8,000 percent, most of us see Mugabe as “such a loathsome ogre” that we would vote for any candidate who stood up against him in next month’s presidential vote. Yet the opposition leaders put “their personal interests ahead of the nation,” each one insisting on being the presidential candidate. It’s now likely that at least two opposition figures will run, splitting the vote. Fortunately, a reformer from Mugabe’s own party has also joined the race. Simba Makoni, a former finance minister, is hoping to woo voters who recognize that the opposition’s “sense of entitlement” alone does not amount to a program. That Mugabe’s party promptly kicked Makoni out as soon as he declared his candidacy can only help him. Most Zimbabweans want to vote against Mugabe. Now, thank goodness, they can vote against the opposition, too.