Tatizo langu ni maneno uliyoyatumia-ni mazito sana kuyatumia kwa chama cha siasa. Neno opportunist (someone who tries to get power or an advantage in every situation) ni neno hasi, lenye kumaanisha mtu mchoyo choyo na mbinafsi anayeangalia maslahi yake na ambaye hajali wenzake. Lipo karibu sana na neno 'narcissist'.
Sasa ndio najiuliza CHADEMA wamefanya kosa gani hadi wapewe label ya namna hii. Kazi za chama cha upinzani duniani kote zinajulikana, nazo ni: i) kuonyesha udhaifu wa serikali iliyopo madarakani katika kujijengea uhalali wa kuchaguliwa unapofika wakati wa uchaguzi. ii) kutoa falsafa na sera mbadala za katika kutatua matatizo yaliyopo na dira ya kuipaisha zaidi nchi kimaendeleo. iii) Kuonyesha kwa vitendo kupitia wawakilishi wao kwamba wao ni bora zaidi kuliko wale waliopo madarakani.
CHADEMA wameyafanya yote hayo kwa kiwango kikubwa na cha kuridhisha. Tatizo ninaloliona ni kwamba watu wanaoikosoa CHADEMA katika mbinu zake, akiwemo Rais wetu, ni watu ambao hawajui kazi ya vyama vya upinzani kwa sababu hawajawahi kufikiria kuwa chama cha upinzani. Ndio maana vyama vyote vikongwe viliposhindwa kwenye uchaguzi vilijifia kwa sababu nguzo yao pekee ilikuwa ni dola na sio watu. Ndivyo ilivyotokea kwa KANU, UNIP, Malawi Congress Party na ndivyo itakavyotokea kwa CCM. Siku CCM ikishindwa uchaguzi itakufa ndani ya miezi kwa sababu kinashikiliwa na dola pekee.
Don't misunderstand us. Hakuna mtu anayesema kwamba CHADEMA ni perfect. We are not and that is why we are working very hard to be. For example, one area that we will need to improve soon is the question of balancing militarism and activism vs idealism. At the moment, understandably, there seems to be too much militarism and activism and too little or empty idealism. This is dangerous because militarism and activism have a tendency to fade way so easily because they tend to be associated with personality cults, which they are not sustainable. But then who wants to listen to idealism under the current circumstances in this country? Idealism works optimally only where basic life conditions exist. It cannot exist where people cannot even afford a day's meal, where basic services that make people think and intellectualize are almost non existent. In these circumstances, CHADEMA have to be pragmatic and the route they have chosen to pursue is understandably befitting our current social-political-economic circumstances. It is therefore utterly wrong and ill-thought to label them 'opportunists'.