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Mugabe's 2010 plan may backfire
By
Crisford
Chogugudza
IT IS with a profound sense of sadness and despair to note that the
embattled Zimbabwean octogenarian leader, Robert Mugabe still wants
to continue at the helm of the country’s top job until 2010 against
the wishes of the people including those of his own party.
Although President Mugabe has not personally officially confirmed his perceived intentions to hold on to power, it is abundantly clear that the man desperately wants power.
As usual he uses the alibi of the people allegedly having asked him to stay on, which people l do not know.
However, it appears from the recent utterances by his senior charges that he wants the legislature to rubber stamp his desire to extend his power and no-one is going to stop him from getting it.
It appears as things stand now, only political changes of seismic proportions can stop the man from completing his mission. It is not surprising that those around the beleaguered president do not have the proper moral judgement, clear vision or sense of responsibility to the people of Zimbabwe.
They cannot stop him. If anything, some of them including Didymus Mutasa are actually encouraging the idea of ‘life presidency’. Their allegiance is to Mugabe hence their willingness to maintain the Personality Cult that has characterised Mugabe’s leadership over the years. As for these hero worshippers, it is widely known that their political survival hinges on Mugabe’s continued hold on power. If Mugabe drops dead today they will not survive the current political environment and hence their unquestionable support, Juchi style.
Unfortunately, for those in Zanu PF who hold any hopes of rising to power have either been sidelined or silenced, Emerson Mnangagwa and Simba Makoni included. Zanu PF will always use every opportunity to thwart any hopes or chances of those harbouring presidential ambitions albeit it being their constitutional right to do so. Mugabe’s reluctance to support the pursuance of comprehensive constitutional reforms is testimony of a man who wants to rule forever.
Mugabe and his seniors charges in Zanu PF think that theirs is a God given right to misrule Zimbabwe forever, and in their mind frame, nobody is allowed to challenge them. The virtues of tolerance and respect for divergence of opinion are not permissible in Zanu PF politics. It is either you are with them or against them.
The entire Zanu PF constituency is clearly powerless to stop Mugabe madness judging by their absolute loyalty and sacrifice to keep the old man on the job even when it is clear that he is a monstrous liability in Zimbabwe. It is surprising that Mugabe’s advisers, some of whom are highly educated and learned, cannot read what has happened in other countries such as Nigeria, Zambia and Malawi where the leaders tried to extend their terms of office by constitutional means but their efforts were categorically rejected by the electorate.
Whilst the rest
of Africa is moving forward, introducing sweeping democratic reforms
and electing new leadership, Zimbabwe is still stuck in old style politics
where democracy is being replaced by Constitutional dictatorship. I
am sure the fate of Saddam Hussein is clear testimony that no single
leader or political figure is bigger that people power.
Only recently, veteran politician Edgar Tekere added weight to the voice
of reason by criticising Mugabe’s handiende syndrome
during the recently ended party conference at Goromonzi. The fate of
Tekere is unknown, he could be booted out of Zanu PF again for criticising
Mugabe’s eternal leadership ambitions. Mugabe is no messiah to
our current problems and if anything, he is part of the many problems
and must not be allowed to impose his will on the people of Zimbabwe
for two more painful years.
Mugabe is now officially the oldest sitting president not only in Africa but in the whole world. Even frail looking Fidel Castro is younger than Mugabe. Some have questioned what it is that Mugabe wants to achieve that he has not achieved in 26 years of his rule.
On the positive side: Education is still in top in Africa at number three after Tunisia and Kenya, Literacy rate is the highest in Africa at 91% and his government gave people land although not many of them can produce effectively for the country let alone for their own subsistence.
On the negative side: Life expectancy is lowest in Africa at below 30 years, unemployment is at its record highest, the economy at -2% is the most shrinking in the world outside war zones, the inflation rate the is highest in the world, the country has one of the worst investment climates in the world and corruption levels rank us in the top 15 in Africa.
Over two million people are facing starvation in Zimbabwe and another three million people live outside Zimbabwe. The country has some of the unhappiest citizens in the world, according to a recent study and one of the worst human rights records in the world. The above reasons have very little or nothing to do with imperialism, Tony Blair’s Britain or George Bush’s America as Zanu PF wants people to believe.
The country is fast drifting towards a tyrannical nightmare which may be difficult to reverse if the Zanu PF ultra loyalists choose to grant Mugabe the ‘life presidency’ he desperately desires.
The Zanu PF leader says he wants to leave power when his party is not in shambles. However, in the words of MDC legislator David Coltart the party is already in shambles because of his reluctance to leave office in 2008 among other critical issues. If Mugabe refuses to go in 2008 and seeks another ‘mandate’ to run again in 2010 at the age of 86, it would spell serious disaster for Zimbabwe.
Interestingly, a few years back Margaret Dongo, then President of ZUD once called Mugabe’s close lieutenants his wives (vakadzi vaMugabe) because they never raise a finger when things are terribly going wrong in the country. I guess the veteran politician and freedom fighter Dongo was right. This is so because ever since she uttered her widely popular statement in Parliament nothing significant has happened to try and stop the President from amassing more power and extending his controversial tenancy at State House. Margaret Dongo will be remembered for her bravery in the annals of Zimbabwean history for saying the ‘unsayable’.
It seems all the Zanu PF bigwigs think about is money, political Influence and diplomatic passports for the lucky few. Most of these bigwigs use their influence to solicit unorthodox loans from emerging black owned financial institutions. The bulk of these borrowed finances is never repaid, it just vanishes thereby exposing these financial institutions to operational difficulties or even insolvency in some cases.
Any attempts by Zanu PF to emend the constitution to extend Mugabe’s presidential term to 2010 would be calamitous for Zimbabwe. The worst scenario is that these overtures to gain power without people’s blessing may backfire in future. In essence, the harmonisation of presidential and parliamentary elections could still be done in 2008 and l am sure the sitting parliamentarians across the political divide would welcome the idea. It would be better for Parliament to vote for a new President for two years from 2008 to 2010 than to have Mugabe at the helm till 2010. The other alternative would be to consolidate the polls in 2010 as long as Mugabe is not a candidate.
The call for the early departure of Mugabe is partly the answer to our current problems. The international community will never support Mugabe even if he tries to implement the best economic turnaround policies in the world. Even Ben Bernanke, USA Governor of the Federal Reserve or Mervin King, Bank of England Supremo will never turn around the Zimbabwean economy if there is no major transformation in the politics of Zimbabwe. Whilst it is appreciated that Mugabe brought us independence and other social benefits during the honeymoon days of our freedom, the same cannot be said of his recent legacy. The earlier Mugabe and his advisors recognise that their continued hold on power is a monstrous liability to the country, the better. The writing is already on the wall.
Crisford Chogugudza is a political commentator based in England
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