Tendai Ruben Mbofana
When Zimbabwe’s information secretary, Nick Mangwana, took to X to dismiss former Botswana President Ian Khama’s critique, his response was highly predictable.
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Describing Khama as a “washed up has-been seeking relevancy as a remedy to self-inflicted loneliness,” capped with a defiant “Musatidenha,” Mangwana attempted to deflect a serious regional critique with personal insults.
However, this petty dismissal completely misses the mark.
Contrary to Mangwana’s assertions, Khama possesses the absolute moral authority to call out any attempts by regional heads of state to hold onto power by manipulating their countries’ constitutions.
Moral authority is not given by official decrees.
It is earned through consistent actions.
Consider a simple analogy.
A person who has never stolen a single cent in their life has every right to rebuke a thief caught red-handed.
Their clean record gives their words weight, conviction, and legitimacy.
Ian Khama stands on precisely that kind of unassailable high ground.
When his two five-year terms as president of Botswana came to an end, he did not seek to twist the law.
He did not manufacture a crisis or bribe lawmakers to stay.
He did not market intentions to “finish his projects,” nor did he peddle the lie that skipping elections was good for stability and national development.
Instead, he packed his bags, respected the supreme law of his land, and stepped down.
Because he adhered strictly to Botswana’s constitutional limits, he has earned the right to call it as he sees it when neighboring leaders treat their own constitutions like mere drafts.
If Mangwana is genuinely looking for “washed-up leaders seeking relevance,” he would do well to look much closer to home.
What are we to say when leaders who have walked the echelons of power since independence, 46 years ago, still refuse to let go?
The irony is stark.
We are talking about a leadership that repeatedly garners fewer votes than its own parliamentary candidates at elections.
It relies on questionable means to “win” its mandates.
These flawed methods were openly flagged and discredited even by the regional body SADC’s election observer mission.
To make matters worse, the ruling elites tout this same leader as uniquely popular.
They claim he deserves more time in office beyond the agreed limits.
Yet, they completely ignore the fact that over 3 million Zimbabweans voted overwhelmingly in 2013 for a new constitution that established strict term limits.
Those 3 million voters represent over 700,000 more votes than the president officially attained in the entire 2023 presidential election.
Khama has now firmly joined the growing chorus against these constitutional amendments.
He has explicitly called out the reality of a power-hungry leadership attempting to alter the supreme law through rigging and cash inducements just to extend a term of office.
The harsh reality is that the Zimbabwean government has lost all moral authority in the entire Southern African region to lecture anyone on constitutionalism and democracy.
The supreme law of Zimbabwe is now treated as a minor inconvenience.
It is viewed as a personal instrument to be bent and twisted the moment a leader faces the prospect of leaving office.
This blatant disregard for democratic norms hasn’t just alarmed regional statesmen like Khama.
Even South Africa’s former president, Thabo Mbeki, has voiced sharp criticism regarding these continuous attempts to amend the constitution for personal political longevity.
When your own neighbors and respected regional peers are openly dismayed by your democratic backsliding, you cannot stand on the global stage and expect to be taken seriously.
Ian Khama, as a respected statesman alongside other surviving former heads of state from Botswana and South Africa, has shown the decency to uphold, protect, and defend his country’s supreme law.
He has every right to speak out.
No amount of defensive vitriol on social media can diminish his moral clarity.
- Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. To directly receive his articles please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08