Enter Simba

The name Simba is associated with the sacchariny Lion King. Simba is the young lion cub, crown-prince, who leaves his kingdom in shame after his father dies at the paws of the evil uncle Scar . Uncle Scar is evil and is ruining the kingdom and he has allowed the hyenas to come and live with the lions...it's awful and then Simba comes back to save the day...Yay... "the circle of life" etcetera and so forth.



Well according to the news Friday, Zimbabwe is about to experience our own version of the Lion King as Simba Makoni has decided to stand for the presidential election and finally prove to me that he really is a big deal. Apparently the anti-Mugabe faction in Zanu has decided to launch a party.........Maiwe zvangu! Directing this new movie is Dr. Ibbo Mandaza.....oh joy...this man is one of those whom many forgive because "he has no choice but to enjoy the spoils of Zanu affiliation"...huh? Any way if I can use the Lion King analogy again, Ibbo would be Rafiki.



Look I don't much about Simba Makoni when he was Finance Minister I think I was at that age when snogging my Falcon College boyfriend was the most important thing. But I know that among the educated, sophisticated and advanced Zimbos he is really respected. There was outrage among the aforementioned group when the Western nations blocked Makoni's bid to head the ADB at the World Bank because of his former Zanu ties. All I ever hear is "Simba is a good guy". He is not a revolutionary he is a technocrat...kinda like Mbeki. The general consensus among middle-class Zimbabweans (oxymoron,i know) is that Makoni can make us the new South Africa......ah who care about the new South Africa, people just want to eat.



So now those who have been hoping for a Makoni Presidential bid can celebrate because apparently next week we may see the formation of a third or fourth political party in Zimbabwe. Which signals to me ( and I admit I am not informed enough to make thsi prediction, but f u! this is my blog) the end of MDC - Tsvangirai and MDC-Mutambara even if they are claiming unity for the March.



As far as I am concerned the MDC lost their privilege to represent the Zimbabwean people in government when they shamelessly aired their dirty laundry in public. When the leadership in the MDC exposed themeselves to be no better than ZANU, I lost faith. Our problem in Zim and Global South in general is the we give our leaders messianic status and we can no longer imagine anyone else leading us. (Look at the mess in Pakistan with Benazir Bhutto's (R.I.P) replacing her - WTF?) For all their shennanigans I for one am shocked that the MDC is still a viable party in Zimbabwe.



In my opinion they are ungrateful and they do not have the welfare of the Zimbabwean people at heart. Right now they are in secret talks with Thabo Mbeki and ZANU Pf and no one, not even civil society knows what they are doing or agreeing to. Once in a while we learn that they are in actuality giving in to ZANU. Then came the mess with the Women's Assembly and yet we still think that MDC is our answer. Can they really be trusted not to match or even top Robbie? At least with Robbie we know what to expect zvino ava who are newbies and foaming at the mouth for power are even more dangerous.



The person who take over after Robbie is going to have to have a cool head. This individual is going to have to know how deal with the anger that will be misdirected at the new government by the people who have been oppressed for 27 years. The new government will have to know how to respond to the demands of the people and how to quell the anger without bringing the army. Chaos doesn't even begin to describe what could possibly happen in Zimbabwe if ZANU loses and relinquishes power in March. Can MDC handle it? Especially now when they don't even get along and they have already had violent clashes among themselves? May be Simba is really who we need.....more so because he is pals with the guy who controls the army.



But like I said earlier what do I know about Simba Makoni...not much but anyone who is accused of "embracing the neo-liberal agenda of western countries" by Zanu probably has a way to dig us out of this economic Dante's Inferno. Now let me clear I am not promoting World Bank and IMF economic liberalism models for African democracy I think we can all agree that doesn't work. But what I am arguing is that here we have a guy who understands that without a solid political system there can never be a successful economy in Zimbabwe. Now what ideology informs that economy is another debate for another times.



In conclusion I would advise the MDC to follow their own advice to ZANU and they should "chinja maitiro".