Mugabe is a very old man

The distinction was very clear during the power sharing signing ceremony. Tsvangirai looked fit and focussed on the future, Mutambara was equally vibrant, with a lot of movement. Come Grandpa Mugabe; he looked tired, distant and wasted, almost to a point of embarrassment. He put all his weight on the podium, thank God it was strong enough and Mugabe himself is a small man. His speech was incoherent and void of any useful substance. He reminded me of my dear departed grandpa (may God bless his soul), who around Mugabe’s age, easily forgot a lot of things. Some readers may say I am being nasty here, but if you watched the speech most of the world did, you will remember.

Typical of a very old man who easily forgets what he says, he went on to talk to those same African leaders in Shona. And did you hear how many times he repeated the same name or words? Did you also see how he singularly targeted Ian Khama of Botswana? I tell you, the old man hates the younger, more vibrant leaders that are sprouting all over the region.

Except for Kamuzu Banda, there is no other leader in Southern Africa, who has stayed in power longer than Mugabe. Look at what great grandpa Banda left in Malawi after 43 years in power…..a devastated economy which has not recovered since. What we see happening in Zimbabwe is a man with strong ties to Malawi, who obviously sees himself ruling the country until he is 98 years old. At least Banda had the conscience to accept the outcome of the first ever multi-party elections in Malawi.

The following table summaries what has been happening around in terms of leadership changes in Central and Southern Africa?

Country	Name	From-To	Years in Power	Retirement Age
Tanzania	Julius Nyerere	1964-1985	21	63
	A H Mwinyi	1985-1995	10	70
	Benj Mukapa	1995-2005	10	67
	Kikwete	current
Zambia	K. Kaunda	1964-1991	27	67
	F. Chiluba	1991-2002	11	59
	L Mwanawasa	2002-2008	6 (deceased)	60
Mozambique	Samora Machel	1975-1986	11 (deceased)	53
	J. Chisano	1986-2005	19	66
	A. Guebuza	2005-
Kenya	Daniel a Moi	1978-2002	24	78
	Mwai Kibaki	2002-	6	77
	R Odinga	2008-		63
Botswana	Seretse Khama	1966-1980	16 (deceased)	59
	Qett K Masire	1980-1998	18	73
	Festas Mogae	1998-2008	10	69
	Ian Khama	2008-		55
South Africa	M Viljoen	1979-1984	5	69
	P W Botha	1984-1989	5	73
	FW de Klerk	1989-1994	5	58
	Nelson Mandela	1994-1999	5	81
	Thabo Mbeki	1999-2008	9	66
	K. Motlanthe	2008-
Namibia	Sam Nujoma	1990-2005	15	76
	H Pohamba	2005-

 

Each of the highlighted countries has seen an average of 3 presidential changes, since Mugabe came to power. His class of liberation presidents such as Nyerere, Kaunda, Machel/Chisano, Mandela, Nujoma and Seretse Khama have gone. Most of these elder statesmen are well respected in their countries, region and the world, especially the likes of Nelson Mandela and Chissano.

When Mugabe came to power, Margaret Thatcher was the British Prime Minister in Britain and Jimmy Carter was the president of the USA. Since then, Britain has seen four changes in leadership (Major, Blair and now Brown). Across the Atlantic, the US has seen 5 presidential changes (Carter, Reagan, Bush (senior), Clinton, and Bush (jr) and is less than one month from a 6th president. Even the mighty walls of Berlin have since tumbled down (1989). Mugabe is a very old man It’s a long time and that shows in the erratic behaviour of Robert Mugabe. He has been around for too long and as such it is rather naïve for the world and in particular Zimbabweans to pin their hopes on a signed deal by such an old man.

Although the above data is non-scientific, it does indicate that the longer a leader stays in power, the worse the economy. People tend to become more erratic in judgement as they grow old. They lack the energy and zeal to confront the issues, which
results in imminent economic collapse. Look at Kenya’s Moi, Zambia’s Kaunda and Tanzania’s Nyerere. However, Tanzania and Zambia can be forgiven as they were heavily burdened by the liberation wars of Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa. Mugabe has no excuse.

The most outstanding thing here is the age. Even Nelson Mandela was younger than Mugabe when he retired at age 81. José Eduardo dos Santos, who has been in power since 1979 (7 months longer than Mugabe) has turned the economy of Angola into
a marvel. Why is that? I suggest that it’s because the man is 18 years younger than Mugabe. What he could not do during the long civil war, he has been doing since the surrender of UNITA.

By Gus Manatsa