The Good President 21-06-07

e State media in a country where independent thought and opinion is banned.
The play, authored by controversial playwright Cont Mhlanga unveiled fresh allegations of official corruption, executive-sanctioned terror and presidential misconduct. The president has retaliated with a ban on the play and a libel suit.
The play was banned from premiering in Bulawayo last week after thought police stormed the Bulawayo Arts Theatre minutes before it was staged, ostensibly because the play was political. Inspector Mhaka from the Bulawayo Law and Order section scuttled the play.
Mhlanga, who also owns Amakhosi Theatre, now says he will settle for nothing less than the removal of the government.
While that seems unlikely, the exchange illustrates how dramatically Mugabe’s political fortunes have ebbed since his rigged 2002 election victory.
The feud has been heading for a showdown as Mhlanga has vowed to assemble hundreds of protesters to demand the premier of the play in the second capital.
A senior Catholic cleric in Bulawayo, Archbishop Pius Ncube, has publicly chided Mugabe for refusing to listen to criticism.
Mugabe’s most potent charge is that clerics such as Ncube and critics like Mhlanga do not show proper respect of his presidency. Mugabe has said they will be treated like political opponents if they continued behaving in this manner.
Nonetheless, the saga has proved embarrassing for Mugabe, and not simply because of the rebuke. Despite the government’s energetic denials, Mhlanga through his play claims that the March 11 beatings of opposition leaders were sanctioned by Mugabe himself. The play further alleges that the economic meltdown in Zimbabwe was the direct result of Mugabe’s misrule.
Although rumours of a foiled coup and another impending one are vigorously circulating in Zimbabwe, there is little sign of discontent among the elite in the army or police. Mugabe after all, has been careful to promote friends and relatives to the top ranks.
But it this concentration of power in Mugabe’s hands that has galvanized opposition among middle-class Harare residents.
Mhlanga’s audiences, at any rate, seem excited just to hear someone stand up to the 83-year-old autocratic ruler.