Botswana leader Ian Khama
To have the head of state of an African country uttering such sentiments is a rare occurance. Nonetheless,the call was just an appeal made in public possibly reflecting the difficulty expected in engaging the target in private space.In any case,such attempts would have fallen to deaf ears.
Khama only raised a hush tag on Mugabe as is enshrined in freedom of speech ethics and how Zanu pf and Mugabe takes it is every mans guess. So far it has been sleepless nights for restless Zanu pf stalwarts who have been crafting supposed supersized and otherwise fallacious premised responses to simple advise from Khama on Zimbabwe’s way forward. As expected in their obvious logic, an attack on the person of Khama is already underway, which is far from factual well meant suggestions Khama has just raised, that is “someone needs rest and that it would help him and others!”.
In a normal situation,one would expect this call to come from Zanu pf members,given the state of the economy ,the advanced age of Mugabe and his prolonged stay in power. There would have been healthy competition amongst presidential aspirants wishing to succeed the old man such that events would naturally lead to a succesor. Had things been moving towards this direction,very few would have been concerned about Zimbabwes trajetory and stability. On the ground, however, it appears that the ruling party is seldom grandstanding the old man to pave way for the young vanguards, no succesion plan is in place and everything is ok,except,this is not true!
Behind the scenes,the same people that want to replace Mugabe will spend the whole week or even a month defending Mugabe from what was not meant to be an attack in the first place. This, they’ll do in hopes of returning favor with the oldman whilst at the same time reserving their proximity to the elitist centers of Zanu pf.
Only when they fall out of favor with Mugabe will they come out to criticize him .This has been true for many Zanu pf current and former members. Joice Mujuru, Jonathan Moyo, Dydimus Mutasa and Emmerson Munangagwa fall into this category. Nonetheless, it has been easy for Mugabe to defend himself against jilted outsted members and so he still controls the narrative within the party and outside.
Seeing stiff looking generals,officers and other bootlicking officials sweating in admiration of Mugabe adds more salt to the injury. How all these sane looking people fail to find one amongst themselves who is just as eloquent and appealing to lead them is still but a mystry. After all, Mugabe is just a man who has been deified and the moulders of the idol have since forgotten its their hands that crafted the image.
Defenses given by Zanu pf members seldom respond to the key issues raised by Khama,that is the link Zimbabwes ailing economy has to Mugabe and the effects accumulated regionally. If anything, Zanu pf ought to be gratefull for the burdens carried by other countries on its behalf.
Mugabe’s recent remarks at the UN serve to demonstrate this awkward, ungrateful childish Zanu PF attitude that if the world was to react to, Zimbabwe would suffer even more. The very survival of Zanu pf can be linked to the diaspora and that includes Botswana itself. Had Zimbabwe been located in certain economically unstable regions such as the northern parts of Africa, it would have crushed into a civil war because of hunger alone, but thanks to its organized neighbors and the diaspora in general, its citizens survived somehow.
This sort of drama where Mugabe fires insults at leaders of other nations continues to unfold in many places, and most recently at the United Nations general conference.
If anything is to be learnt from Zanu pf attitudes towards the United Nations, these are its toxic levels of intolerance and a deep sitted arrogance sugar coated in false pride. Having failed to prove their case on their own, they wish to drag other African nations in their rebellious charade. June saw Mugabe ushering racial comments on the white race at the AU summit. All this to smoke screen leadership failures at home. It is only countries like Botswana that Mugabe has failed to fool into his rhetoric, hence he charges personal insults.
It is important to note that Khamas call is for everyones sake, at one point or the other.He represents the cowardly successionists in Zanu PF who hold post Mugabe ambitions as well as any Zimbabwean regardless of political affiliation.
The same people throwing salvos at Khama do not enjoy the freedom to support a new leadership within the same party. The war veteran’s association’s fate is the latest example of this. One by one the revolution is devouring its children, and they,re too disoriented and disorganised to find themselves and take control of the party away from one oldman. Only when its too late shall the remaining Zanu pf members realize the sad part o; history they occupy.
How Zanu pf members have lost control of the party to Mugabe is not only astonishing, but horrific to such an extent that no voice can be heard from within calling on him to retire, even when odds point towards that direction
It is a well known Zanu pf culture that its dogs will bark as much as they can in an effort to be heard by their master, whom they ought to please. Their barking, faint as it, is aimless and gives no hint to what so ever as to areas the supposed intruder has trespassed. The barking just has to be enough to be heard by the master and the food crumps are secured.
That Zanu pf itself has lost its control of Mugabe is no secret. The same man that ought to be serving the party and the country has proven to be answerable to noone. He is not a civil servant in any sense,but as normally interpreted in his dictatorial system, is rather a master to be served. Not only has Zanu pf created a reign of terror on itself, but on the whole country and the region as well. Whole countries being held at ramson by one man is not a new phenomenon, Hitler did it to the whole world. Hitlers rise within the Nazi party can be equated to Mugabes rise within Zanu PF, where members lose control of the party leader and begin to whorship the usurper. Except this time around this is being done by a very old man.
I find it is shameful that a whole country famed for highly educated individuals and outstanding people has been outwitted, ransacked and led into desperation by a 92 year old man. How Zimbabwes’fate has come to be dominated by one man is still but a misery. One thing is for sure,history has no mercy, it will judge our generational failures of passive citizenship, at least on some more than others.
Post published in: Letters to the Editor