Lessons from the Vatican: Will Mugabe retire?

By Moses Chamboko

Pope Benedict shocked the world with his retirement announcement which showed that even those closest to him may not have been privy to this incredible development.

Timing of the papal resignation was of utmost significance especially to Catholics as they had just entered the holy season of Lent, a special season for fasting, prayer and arms giving which begins on Ash Wednesday in preparation for Easter.

With 1.2 billion Catholics around the globe, one would hope that it is probably more challenging to relinquish the papacy than it is to retire from the presidency of a poor but potentially rich nation of merely 13 million people.

For nearly two weeks, the world’s biggest denomination went without a leader after the Pope officially stepped down. Nevertheless, this did not affect day to day activities of the church, at least in a visible way. Elsewhere, somebody thinks if he were to retire, citizens might run out of oxygen or the country might be buried by some kind of a tsunami. What a farce!

Sir Seretse Khama’s son is now Botswana’s fourth president. Uhuru Kenyata is relocating to State House, the fourth president for Kenya. Are these developments not so obvious to President Robert Gabriel Mugabe?

In primary school, bullies were often referred to as “jongwe guru muzvitiyo” (meaning a big cockerel amongst chicks). How long will it take President Mugabe to realise that he is now the odd one out? The Pope cited lack of strength of body and mind as reasons for stepping down.

While he might still have the strength of both, does Mugabe really have the strength of new ideas? When he retired from active politics, Nathan Shamuyarira said he wanted to focus on writing memoirs.

Given the lack of progress in this regard, it would appear that his project has been derailed by those who would have been key actors in the memoirs but have remained stubbornly entrenched in the present when in actual fact they should long have been part of the past.

“I will not go until land has been given back to the people” then it became “I will not go when the party is so divided” then it was “I will not go until we have a new people-driven constitution”.

Land has been given to the people and a new constitution has now been written. With regards party division, it is the same as saying “I will be here forever” because as long as the tormenting ghost of succession remains alive, then ZANU PF shall never heal nor unite.

They will only put on a brave face in public but behind closed doors everybody knows it is a deeply divided party whose day of reckoning is just but a matter of when.

One would hope that Mugabe would wisely use his trip to Rome to consult Pope Benedict on how to retire peacefully and gracefully without rocking the boat. The transition in the Vatican was one of the smoothest the world has ever experienced primarily because it has always been known that when a Pope dies, retires or resigns, one of the cardinals will be anointed to take the church forward.

The Catholic Church does not rely on individuals for continuity, but on processes and systems that have been embedded over the years. A presidential retirement announcement by independence is all that Zimbabweans are wishing for now. Zvekuti kana ndisipo ini hapana anodandaura ngoma zvinofanira kupfuura!!! The world has moved on and so must Zimbabwe.

Lastly, now that the referendum has come and gone, what will be Jonathan Moyo’s new occupation given that he spent the last four years as a self-appointed critic of COPAC who was determined to see the constitutional process fail in the same way he failed in 2000? He also told us on copious occasions that the election would proceed in March with or without a new constitution. Which March did you mean comrade Jona?

On the other hand, The Herald has started dreaming that the huge turn-out of voters in ZANU PF “strongholds” during the referendum will translate into a resounding victory for ZANU PF during the harmonised lections. The Herald should know by now that voter apathy obtains where there is no serious competition. Nevertheless, for The Herald, it will soon be time for humble pie.

Moses Chamboko writes in his personal capacity. He is reachable at [email protected]