Has Mugabe's war bluster won it?

Has Mugabe's war bluster won it?

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By Mutumwa D. Mawere
(www.mmawere.com)

AFTER 28 years in power, I think President Robert Mugabe would agree that Zimbabwe is not where any rational leader would want it to be.

With less than a week left before the runoff elections, it is time to stop, think and evaluate if it is conceivable that in the event that President Mugabe is re-elected he will be able to see Zimbabwe beyond its colonial past.

President Mugabe has already conveniently framed the issues on which citizens are to decide on who should be their President as more than a choice between the past and the future.

He is campaigning on the basis that voting for Tsvangirai, whom he alleges to be a front for British neo-colonial interests, is tantamount to citizens condemning the country back to colonialism. He has characterised a vote for change as a declaration of another war that he is willing to lead after losing an election to purportedly liberate the country from the imagined or real shackles of colonisation for the second time.

The tone and language used in the campaign by President Mugabe as an incumbent and also a founding father of post colonial Zimbabwe suggests that deep in his veins he may not fully subscribe to the principles and values of the national democratic revolution.

He is now making the argument that since lives were lost for the liberation of Zimbabwe, a vote for Tsvangirai would threaten its independence and sovereignty hence the call for citizens to decide if it is war or peace they want.

It is important that we pause to reflect on where Zimbabwe is now. Anyone who is interested in the future of Zimbabwe must be acutely aware that the system is broken and requires urgent fixing. The economy is dysfunctional as is the political system and even President Mugabe would accept that the status quo cannot and should not be maintained.

It is instructive that President Mugabe is now campaigning with little regard to the real causes of the crisis but on a new kind of electoral terrorism that has no precedent in the world.

There is nothing Zimbabweans can do to change the past but there is a lot that can be done to write a new chapter for the country by condemning in the strongest terms the opportunistic violence that is daily poisoning the electoral atmosphere.

One would have hoped that President Mugabe would have learned from the results of the 29th March elections that Zimbabweans are ready for change and that such change ought to begin in the statehouse to be credible.

Instead of giving hope for a new kind of politics underpinned by the transformation of politicians into genuine public servants, President Mugabe has now determined that Zimbabweans are not mature to know what is good for them and the statehouse will substitute citizens in deciding what is good for them.

The world now knows that President Mugabe has no intention of submitting to the will of the people for he knows better.

By making the point that since the country’s liberation was brought about by the barrel of the gun it cannot be reversed by a pen, he is effectively saying that the voice of the people in 2008 should and must not be respected if it conflicts with what the State House thinks is good for the country. Such kind of arrogance and contempt for democratic processes can only be tolerated in an autocratic state.

If President Mugabe is of the opinion that Zimbabweans are not capable and competent to make their own rational choices, then why would he bother subjecting them to a process in which only a predetermined outcome is deemed acceptable?

The only rational answer is that Mugabe like any devilish and crafty politician has chosen to scare voters into believing that their votes would not advance their interests and in so doing discourage advocates for change to vote.

It is clear that Mugabe will have no choice but to accept the outcome of the elections, but would rather intimidate voters as a strategy for changing the predictable outcome.

If Mugabe had anything new to offer, he has been given enough opportunity to do so but appears to have accepted that his record offers no incentive for anyone who loves the country to support through a voluntary vote.

An investment in President Mugabe’s style of politics has definite implications for the future of the country. It cannot be said that if he were to win the elections, everyone in the country and in the world would believe that Zimbabwe’s future will be brighter.

The country’s heritage is at stake and it is only a vote that can help in registering peacefully that the country’s destiny cannot and should not be left in tired hands.

The 27th June offers an opportunity for the ballpoint to defeat the so-called gun.

Mugabe and his supporters would like everyone to believe that the small white population that prospered under his watch is a threat to national security and stability.

An argument has been advanced that if Tsvangirai were to be elected, he will appoint white Zimbabweans as Ministers in his cabinet. However, no mention is made by proponents of this childish argument that it was no other than President Mugabe who had to turn to white Zimbabweans to be part of his administration in the interests of what was believed to be nation building. What has happened to make Mugabe want to revisit his own record?

A critical examination of his record will allow Zimbabweans to make an informed decision on whether any national interest will be advanced if he were to be re-elected.

It may well be the case that Mugabe has been sufficiently cushioned from the pain and suffering endured by ordinary citizens to know the mood and political temperature of the day.

The hour is fast approaching and there can be no better time than using the remaining days to reflect on what kind of change the country deserves. It is important for all concerned to stop and think carefully whether there is any hope for a better future if Mugabe’s shrewd attempt to steal the future through political manipulation succeeds.

Anyone who cares about Zimbabwe and is informed by the fact that Mugabe will have no choice but to accept the peoples’ verdict must do all in their power to encourage those who are eligible to vote to do so.

This election is too important to even think about any self serving initiatives of subverting the sovereignty of the people like proposals for a government of national unity as a substitute for elections.

Mutumwa Mawere's weekly column is published on New Zimbabwe.com every Monday. You can contact him at: mmawere@global.co.za
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