Zimbabweans vote by tribe: Coltart

New Zimbabwean
19 August 2009

MOST Zimbabweans will “gravitate towards” voting a leader from their tribe, Education Minister David Coltart says.

Re-igniting the debate over Zimbabwean voters’ ability to see beyond tribe at the ballot box, Coltart said it was “a political reality of the country” that minorities stood less chance of becoming President compared to the majority Shona tribe.

It is also “too soon after the end of colonialism” for Zimbabwe to contemplate having a white leader, the Khumalo Senator said.

In an interview broadcast on the London-based SW Radio Africa, Coltart was asked for his thoughts on how Arthur Mutambara came back from exile to lead one of the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations following an October 2005 split.

Interviewer Violet Gonda put it to Coltart that “some reports say he was invited because (secretary general) Welshman Ncube and others had accepted that no Ndebele person could ever lead Zimbabwe”.
Coltart did not attend the February 2006 congress that catapulted Mutambara to the helm of the party as he was still agonising over which side top join following the split.

He said: “I wasn’t part of any of the discussions that brought Arthur Mutambara in so I don’t know whether that is true or not, but let me say this, that once again we need to be rooted in the political reality of the country and there sadly are a few realities.

“… one of the realities is that it would be entirely inappropriate to have a white person, so soon after independence, run for the presidency of this country.

“Whilst that may seem a racist statement, it is still too soon after the end of colonialism for this country to contemplate having a white ruler. That is just a political reality.

“And sadly, whilst it is not as strong a political reality as for example having a white leader, it remains a reality that the vast majority of Zimbabweans do not have Ndebele as their mother tongue and will gravitate towards a Shona-speaking leader.

“That is a political reality that we simply cannot ignore and if that was the calculation, well it was a reasonable calculation …”

Coltart, however, rejected suggestions Mutambara’s only qualification for leadership had been tribe.
He said the former NASA rocket scientist had a “long history of commitment to human rights and of courage”, and had been “elected at a congress that was duly called.”

He added: “People had the right to nominate others, but he was elected by acclaim as part of a democratic, transparent process within that political party.”

Coltart said people criticising Mutambara had “very selective memories”.

“People conveniently forget that Mutambara, for example, was detained before Morgan Tsvangirai was detained way back in 1988 and in fact Tsvangirai was first detained when he protested about Mutambara’s detention.

“The fact that he went out of the country to further his education should not be held against him. In fact what is remarkable about Mutambara is that unlike so many people who have left the country, he was prepared to come back, face the music and put his shoulder to the wheel in terms of resuscitating Zimbabwe … I reject those people who say that Mutambara was parachuted into Zimbabwe, that he’s a political nonentity — people are simply disregarding history in that regard.”