Mugabe wants to die in office

HARARE – President Robert Mugabe made it clear he intends to continue ruling Zimbabwe for the next five years, extending his stranglehold on Zimbabwe to 32 years. The wily politician has rallied his ruling Zanu (PF) party around his leadership and cowed party critics who wanted to loosen his control.

Addressing the first day of the party’s extraordinary congress in Harare, Mugabe made it plain that he will crush potential challengers, and promised to accelerate the transfer of economic resources to blacks.

He was greeted with rapturous welcome at the City Sports Centre – and expectations faded that the three-day conference would see a challenge to his candidacy.

Mugabe implied that the Mujuru faction was disloyal, and accused it of bad-mouthing him and the party.

“Not everyone aspiring for a position will win,” he said. “Avo vacharuza musarudzo dzemuparty ngavasazorovera bhora mudondo. (Those who lose primary polls, should not kick the ball out of the pitch).”   

Promising to continue his populist indigenisation policies, including the grab of mines and foreign-owned companies, he expressed hope for his “revolution” and said an over-arching empowerment charter was needed to give a bigger stake to black Zimbabweans.

“National independence and freedom would be meaningless until it carries with it the right to resources,” he said.  

Mugabe claimed he was being demonised for fighting for the rights of his people.  

“Their welfare is my welfare, their suffering my suffering. They own Zimbabwe. Mr. Blair, Mr. Brown, Mr. Bush, you don’t belong, you are not one of them. So keep out, keep out, keep out.”

This claim is obscenely hollow give that under his rule the majority of Zimbabweans are poorer than they have ever been and life expectancy is the lowest in the world – an average of 36 years. His policies have destroyed the country’s once thriving agricultural base, together with education, health and the economy – vastly enriching only a handful of his cronies and himself.  

He repeated his mantra that the opposition was the creation of the British and that it would never rule “my Zimbabwe” and later appealed for a violence-free poll. Analysts pointed out that this was yet another example of his double-speak as state-sponsored political violence continues to escalate.

Political analyst Ibbo Mandaza, who is also Executive Director of the Sapes Trust think-tank said: “I think the main thing that motivates him is that he wants to die in office. The monarchist thread in nationalist politics is quite strong.” – Chief Reporter