In the 21st Century, having a president who keeps and defends warlords is a shame and an indictment upon all decent, civilized, and peace loving Zimbabweans. His shielding of unrepentant securocrats, whose actions are at best naive and at worst, totally grotesque, should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves.
Not only that, I find it mind boggling that there is such a pathetic level of anachronism exhibited by President Robert Mugabe, when he pointed out that his generals were still stuck in the 1970s war mentality. The question is, why then does he deploy most of them to head some of our ailing parastatals and key ministries? Is it a question of being senile or is it for political expediency? No wonder we have economic retardation and stunted growth.
Frankly speaking, we can’t make a leap into modernity, or achieve national transformation with anachronistic people at the helm.
As if that is not enough, is it not unfortunate that the President harbours people who subscribe to the politics of matchetes, spears and sledgehammers?
With regards to Africa, it’s a pity that the continent produces intellectuals or pseudo-intellectuals who glorify and sing the praise of warlords, like the Somali guys.
At the end of the day, the whole issue smacks of the Conradian view of Africa, as; “a vast expanse of unrelieved primitivity, perenially haunted by uncanny and malevolent presences” (Joseph Conrad in Heart of Darkness).
I think serious efforts should be made to try and differentiate real education from brainwashing and cheap propaganda, so we can liberate the continent from the tentacles of darkness. – Tich, by e-mail
Post published in: Letters to the Editor