They had no problem naming the multitude of warlords in Somalia, both dead and alive. What disturbed me most about them was their obvious belief that war would produce solutions to their problems.
I did not bother to ask them what had brought them to Sweden, but my conclusion was that they were victims of displacement owing to the decades-long wars and resultant economic crisis in Somalia. Here were two young men, demonstrably intelligent, articulate and with so much potential to contribute to the development of their country, but ensconced in a culture of violence. They represented the typical African tragedy – so much potential and untapped richness but mired in a vicious and perpetual war mode.
Last week, I began to sweat and remembered my brief encounter with these two young men when Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga revealed what President Robert Mugabe had said regarding our service chiefs at the recent SADC summit. He acknowledged that there was a problem with the securocrats dabbling in partisan politics, but feebly tried to justify their attitude by pointing out that their psyches were still stuck in war mode because they had participated in the 1970s struggle for independence.
I don’t have any reason to believe that Priscilla was bluffing. No-one has come out to rebut her claim, but then, I know how much Mugabe is also a victim of history. He still lives in the past and cannot shrug off the memories of the brutal war against colonialism.
His remarks regarding the service chiefs still living in the 1970s and squirming in the mosquito infested jungles is unsettling, to say the least. By saying this the Old Man admitted through his own breath that he has a problem. He is the one who commissioned the service chiefs and has kept them for such a long time. If he is genuinely aware of the problem their attitude has caused, why not replace them with security bosses who are not warmongers (for that is how he, perhaps inadvertently, described them)?
I am convinced that we have thousands of servicemen out there who are professional and progressive enough to take over from Constantine Chiwenga, Augustine Chihuri and Paradzai (Shona for “destroy”) Zimondi. Mugabe brought the ant-infested logs into the kitchen, and he should throw them out on his own if we are to take him seriously as a statesman.
I wonder if he is actually admitting that he can no longer call the shots, by keeping people who he knows are causing problems. What is so difficult about removing them – as he has the legal jurisdiction to do so?
I am not sure what model he thinks he is creating for Zimbabwe’s young men and women, including Chatunga, Robert Junior and Bona, his own children, by keeping people at the helm of our security sector whom he knows to be warmongers. How would he feel if Chatunga and Robert were to one day create militias of their own in Zvimba, while other children would do the same in their own areas as the culture of war is passed down to them? Is that the legacy he wants to leave for Zimbabwe? Is Mugabe comfortable with the possibility of turning the minds of our children into that of the two Somalis mentioned above?
In any case, it is extremely difficult for the chiefs to justify their war mood – almost two generations after the struggle ended. Zimbabwe is not the only country that attained independence after a protracted military campaign. In Africa and other parts of the world, including Germany and Britain, wars were fought to usher in a new political dispensation, but hardly do you hear of the war veterans in those respective countries still talking war.
That people like Chiwenga, Chihuri and Zimondi think they are still in the trenches is mindboggling. I don’t see anything about the mansions they live in and the comfort they have enjoyed for decades that remotely resembles Chimoio, Nyadzonia and Tembwe, some of the theatres of the armed struggle. So, what war exists in their minds, if not a war against their own people? They have diamonds on the soles of their shoes, and they walk on carpets. That is not what happens in a war. – For feedback, please write to majonitt@gmail.com
Post published in: Opinions & Analysis