Eye brows raised as VOTO’s Zimbabwe MDC leaders campaign to declare assets is ‘hijacked’?

Protest singer cum activist Viomak has indicated how she is convinced that her idea and efforts with Voices Of The Oppressed (VOTO) to have MDC GNU leaders declare their personal assets to monitor corruption has been hijacked by a Zimbabwean Silvanos Mudzvova who has not acknowledged that the idea and efforts are not his .  

Viomak confirmed that her convictions are most likely right as Silvanos who most likely saw Viomak’s campaign on facebook suddenly came from nowhere and confirmed that he was going to do a one man demonstration in Zimbabwe to have leaders declare their assets without acknowledging that he had taken the idea from Viomak’s long standing and well documented efforts to have Zimbabwe MDC government leaders declare their assets in line with their Transparency motto so as to monitor corruption.

The campaign which Viomak and VOTO spearheaded since May 2009 saw her communicating with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesman James Maridadi as she made efforts to pass on the request to the MDC President now Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister.As the campaign took form in 2009,the MDC released a statement that they had come up with a Code of Ethics and Values which among other issues required that  "all MDC public officials should by 13 January of each year deposit with a known legal law firm, a list of all immovable property, movable property and liabilities in and outside Zimbabwe.The MDC officials shall also perform their official duties and arrange their private affairs in a manner that allows closest public scrutiny, an obligation that is not fully discharged by simply acting within the law."

Viomak confirmed that since that time  in 2009 ,13 January 2010 has passed and no assets are known to have been declared.

Viomak resumed the campaign on Facebook on the 14th of November 2010 and on the 16th of November 2010 Silvanos Mudzvova publicised on his Facebook wall  a statement published below indicating that he was going to have a one man demonstration in Zimbabwe aiming that leaders declare their assets before taking office,shocking some Zimbabweans who felt Silvanos was up to feed on someone else’s efforts. What raised more suspicion is how Silvanos indicated that he will be demonstrating to have leaders declare personal assets before they get into office and yet in a different post published on his wall on 18 November he is said to have indicated that Minister Obert Gutu had agreed to declare his assets to him even though Minister Obert Gutu is already in office.

According to Viomak this gave her the impression that Silvanos had also borrowed a principle which has been put forward by the political party Zimbabwe Development Leaders ( ZIDELE) that she is forming,in which ZIDELE leaders will be required to declare their personal assets before taking up office.Viomak went on to explain how a few weeks ago she published the principle that attracted a lot of attention for discussion on Facebook.She further added that  Silvanos could have borrowed the idea from that post too until he decided to take it up on his own as Viomak and VOTO kept on  publicising the campaign including posting on facebook the video of the song ‘Chinja Maitiro’ that she released to help with the declare assets campaign.

It has also been confirmed that Silvanos and  Minister Obert Gutu immediately became facebook friends,so chances are Silvanos got wind of the fact that Viomak was pursuing the campaign and communicating with Minister Obert Gutu about the issue on her facebook wall after which Silvanos could have added the minister as a friend in order to pursue the campaign on his own.  

Silvanos Mudzvova’s actions come after Viomak resumed the campaign on Sunday 14 November after the Deputy Minister  of Justice and Legal Affairs Obert Gutu was quoted saying if corruption went on unchecked it would destroy the country and that the Deputy Minister was prepared to declare his assets anytime .The Deputy Minister’s usual sentiments since VOTO initiated the campaign in 2009 ,was repeated after the Herald newspaper published ZANUPF Minister Ignatius Chombo’s wealth that he amassed through dubious means as he is embroiled in a divorce battle with his wife. 

As Viomak resumed the campaign she also posted some comments on MDC Minister Obert Gutu’s wall reminding him how MDC had not kept their promise to declare personal assets even though they had promised to.Viomak explained how in one comment she  reminded the Deputy Minister of the petition  http://www.petitiononline.com/voto2009/petition.html  that Voices Of The Oppressed wrote in 2009 in an effort to have the leaders declare their assets.

Asking what Deputy Minister Obert Gutu  had done since 2009 apart from saying he is prepared to declare assets Viomak also reminded the Deputy Minister of the above mentioned song that she released to cement the campaign and how she had tagged MDC leaders the video on facebook .

After Silvanos’ intentions were brought to Viomak’s attention by a well wisher who is aware that VOTO and Viomak are spearheading  a Leaders Declare Assets campaign ,Viomak wrote Silvano a private message seeking clarification,

"Silvanos I salute your stance and courage and please in case you got the idea from VOTO and Viomak please get in touch so that we can put the pressure together otherwise thank you so much for standing up.Also google VOTO and Viomak to learn more about how far we have gone on this issue.Also check Obert Gutu’s wall to read his responses about declaring assets.God bless and I wish you the best." wrote Viomak. 

On November 17 Silvano is said to have responded thus,"thanks very much when I thought of it I was not aware of your initiatives but lets work together and see how best we can deal with the issue of assets"

Now your new statement (2) below that Hon Obert Gutu agreed to declare his assets to you convinces me that you hijacked our idea and you are working hard to make it appear as if you are the one who masterminded it.Makes me wonder if you are trying to make history,seeking publicity or you are really into it.If you are really into it I suggest you be HONEST enough and give credit where it is due,after which I expect you to contact me.It is possible to have the same idea at the same time but in this case I am convinced you have hijacked our idea and you want it to appear as if you are the ‘HERO’ who started it which I believe is very wrong.Let us learn to work together as a team.It is not about seeking publicity."

(2) Silvanos Mudzvova "I greatly appreciate the bold move by honorable Gutu of agreeing to come and declare all his assets during my demo thats the way cde minister I look forward to it"

Viomak confirmed that when she asked Deputy Minister Obert Gutu about declaring assets the Minister said Viomak should declare her assets first.However the protest singer cum activist said she will continue spearheading the campaign as rumours that Zimbabwe Minister of finance Tendai Biti is building a house in Botswana are spreading.

Published below is Silvanos’ statement about the demonstration

Silvanos Mudzvova November 16 at 9:34am

Dear cdes

Silvanos mudzvova

There was no further communication between Silvanos and Viomak until another facebook user told Viomak that Silvanos had posted a message on his facebook wall stating that Deputy Minister Obert Gutu had agreed to declare his assets to Silvanos.Viomak indicated that she had smelt a rat as she felt that Silvanos and Deputy Minister Obert Gutu could have organised a fake demonstration to silence Viomak who has been probably a nuisance to MDC leaders as she keeps on bothering them about declaring personal assets.No one was able to confirm how Silvanos and the Deputy Minister had come to agreement terms on declaring assets.

One source went on to confirm that someone who had commented on Silvanos’ thread on his newly found initiative had indicated to him that he could be eyeing donor funds,a habit that has become common among Zimbabweans.Silvanos has set the one man demonstration for the 24th of November with less than 10 days preparation time and he is also seeking help in the form of bronchures,fliers etc to distribute to people involved even though he is on record for saying it is a one man demonstration.No one knows who the other people are.

However he was also quoted saying that he was on his own after being asked by a fellow Zimbabwean what he was up to.His statement also raised eye brows on why he is so quick to embark on the demonstration without resources to aid him.

 Silvanos Mudzvova  " I’m on my own without anyone else support.actually I’m still looking for material to use if you can help I would appreciate it."

Suspecting that there could be some dubious plans going on considering Silvanos’ comment that Deputy Minister Obert Gutu had agreed to declare his assets to him in such an unprofessional manner Viomak publicly wrote an open letter below to Silvanos seeking further clarification.