D.Tinashe Hofisi: Reflections

Former President Robert Mugabe and Former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirayi   This article analyzes the removal of Robert Mugabe in the context of the strength of the opposition, suggesting a correlation between a severely weakened opposition and the removal of the nonagenarian dictator. It builds on previous writings which assert that Robert Mugabe’s incumbency aided the opposition’s messaging and recruitment. This article argues the converse; that a strong opposition was central to Robert Mugabe’s claim for perpetual legitimacy as the vanguard of the struggle against neo-colonialism and imperialism. Without a vibrant personification of the abstracts he purported to defend his party and country against, the stage was set for creation of the critical consensus necessary for his ouster.   In this analysis, strength of the opposition is measured on three bases: its representation in arms of the state (political representation), its internal cohesion (operation a...

Former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirayi and Former President Robert Mugabe  Robert Mugabe’s resignation as President of Zimbabwe on 21 November 2017 signaled the end of more than just his own era in politics. It cast a grave shadow and ominous portent for the viability of opposition politics in general, and that of the MDC-T and its leader in particular. Robbed of the main subject of its critique and model for antithesis, the MDC-T finds itself trapped by the decades’ long portrayal of their leader as the only viable alternative to Robert Mugabe.  From its formation, the MDC has been the putative anti-Mugabe political outfit; setting itself apart as the institution with the capacity to translate the national anti-Mugabe sentiment into significant electoral outcomes. Two slogans anchored its anti-establishment rhetoric; the official ‘ chinja maitiro/guqula izenzo’  or ‘ change your ways/behaviour’  as well as the unofficial but catchier ‘ M...