Ostensibly exasperated by the oscillatory nature of power in the naïve Britain of his time, British politician and classical scholar, John Powell saw political terrain as a vast wilderness of inconclusive masterpiece. “All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture,” Powell warns in a moment of deep gloom, “end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs.”
Nothing really evidences this more than the political life of Robert Mugabe which was ended rather ignomiously last Tuesday in Zimbabwe by the furious lava of the political volcano that had erupted a few days earlier in the poor Southern African country.
Mugabe’s political odyssey reached a point of no return when he, in a flagrant and arrogant display of abject political naivety, sacked the country’s Vice President, Emmerson Mnangagwa in an Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU-PF) intra-party rift that the Army watched with keen interest.
Mnangagwa’s sack, clearly in breach of Zimbabwe’s constitution, was inelegantly contrived to prime his wife, Grace, 62, known to her critics as ‘Gucci Grace’ for her obsession with luxury dropping, for the presidency in the event of his death. Small wonder then that the military, in reviewing the unwholesome political development, confined Mugabe to his Blue Proof mansion to restore order.
Even at that, Mugabe clung on to power for a week after the military putsch, despite entreaties from his ZANU-PF to quit office. However, Mugabe threw in the towel just as the Zimbabwean parliament began an impeachment process as a last resort to force the 93-year old, frail looking despot out of office.
Mugabe, before his disgraceful end, bestrode Zimbabwe’s political landscape like a magnificent colossus for almost four decades during which he foisted his beliefs and a reign of terror on his beleaguered people with mercurial audacity.
He had since April 18, 1980 led Zimbabwe after a guerilla struggle which had cost him his freedom but ended the lan Smith-led apartheid regime in the then Southern Rhodesia.
The self-styled Grand Old Man of African Politics was initially admired by many for his egalitarian and anti-imperialistic rhetoric which gave hope of a purposeful and visionary leadership to an unwary populace just emerging from the stranglehold of racist and colonial interlopers. In fact, he had, at independence, extended an olive branch to the former white supremacists for a new order: “Forget our grimy past, forgive others and forget.”
At another occasion, Mugabe had stated rhetorically: “I am still the Hitler of the time. This Hitler has only one objective, justice for his own people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people, and their right to their resources… If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold. Ten times, that is what we stand for.”
With all that pledge, he was considered a hero as aids and foreign direct investments from Europe and other countries flowed in. Zimbabwe’s economy got a boost just as it recorded the highest literacy level in Africa. But his naturalisation of white-owned farms drove away the few white farmers who escaped murder away was his Achilles Heel. Thus, began food shortages and the journey of the once-rich country to economic ruin.
With a crumbling economy, his popularity plummeted as opposition to his rule grew in the late 1990s. And like his co-travellers in that self-destructive adventure in power, Mugabe kept his grip on power through repression of opponents, boasting to remain in power until he clocks 100. He amended the constitution at will and made himself eligible, even at 93, to contest the country’s August 2018 presidential poll.
Zimbabwe’s exit from the Commonwealth in 2003, following an European Union (EU) travel ban on him, has only served as a tribute to his abysmal democratic records which he was not ready to improve until his resignation last Tuesday.
With hyperinflation and the country’s unemployment rate hitting 95 per cent, amongst other cheerless economic indices that have forced its nationals to seek better living in South Africa and other countries, the jubilation that greeted Mugabe’s exit and the pomp, pageantry and manifold emotion that hallmarked Mnangagwa’s inauguration last Friday were expected. Albeit, to many political observers, an era may have ended.
While The Tide congratulates Zimbabweans for their steadfastness, the Mugabe era can only be truly seen as having ended when the new leader who was a critical part of that inglorious era strictly adheres to the 2018 presidential election time table and keeps the military at bay. So, it is not yet uhuru!
As The Tide wishes Mnangagwa a successful tenure in office, the Zimbabwean military deserves no less a commendation for exhibiting a high level of maturity and patriotism in handling the country’s political crisis and in ensuring a smooth transition.
Similarly, we urge the military high command in other African countries to borrow a leaf from the Zimbabwean military which, though, had the opportunity to stay on to power, but rather chose to respect constitutional authority.
Mugabe started as a hero and ended a villain. No thanks to power drunkenness. Herein lies the lessons from Harare which must be imbibed by all African leaders who are wont to cling to power for life.
All that is needed now is support for the new leader to stabilise the polity and chart a new path to Zimbabwe’s development and progress.