Zimbabweans – Are we Fools?

By Shingai Mugochi | Opinion |

As the nation sits up to and pays due attention to politics due largely to shock at the antics of Robert Mugabe, his wife and his two senior rear-lickers who think they are entitled to rule the country by virtue of how loyal they are to him….one is left wondering which Zimbo does not deserve to be called a fool.

Mnangagwa and Mujuru

The two are meant to be gladiators for the Presidency when their mentor steps down. It appears the king has already made clear his choice – or has he? I say he is just playing one fool against another.

Both of them owe their rise to him. He in all manner groomed them for the roles they hold today. He has a firm well rooted hold on them as they joined the liberation war as teenagers.

There are parallels in the kind of relationship we see between Mugabe and his 2 potential successors. It can be seen in the popular miracle laden prosperity churches sweeping across Africa today. All of them claim to have a spiritual father in West Africa. Between the spiritual father and the child are secrets, a lot of them dark.

The often controversial wonders that they perform all support this. Between Joyce, Emmerson and their political father Robert are very dark secrets. Seriously dark, like a thousand nights put together.

There are miracle deaths of opponents, miracle disappearance of state funds and miraculous movie-type performances in the narrative of war exploits among many others. As they say, Zanu ndeye ropa….Pamberi!

Listening to and reading what both factions have been saying it is clear that they each seek their soon expiring father’s endorsement. They are like siblings squabbling over his attentions and affections. In a normal democracy we would know what their policies are. They would be selling us their vision of the country.

Instead what we are getting is counter-accusation. Each implicating the other in corruption, when they have both been part of the same rotten government for 34 years. Are Zimbabweans that lame or our leaders think we are lame?

Clearly none of them has balls to grab the succession issue by the neck. They are a case of two lap dogs whose only legacy in government is how well they have served their master.

In his absence we will see them overtake Grace, Chatunga and inner family as senior wailers at his funeral. The spate between Mugabe’s wife and Mujuru has illustrated a common case of a grown-up daughter struggling to accommodate the arrival of her father’s young wife. Who is Mainini Gire to usurp me the daughter from daddy’s lap?

Opposition Parties

While Zanu-pf chaps have their sharp knives pointed at each other, is it not be the best time to be showcasing their merit as an alternative government? Is this not the best opportunity to infiltrate the ruling party and ensure that the infighting results in a permanent split? So where are our esteemed opposition leaders?

The most prominent one is busy Zanufying his party by concentrating powers to its president. All of them are just being well behaved spectators as the gladiators in Zanu-pf wrestle. Among the opposition are more factions than the grains in sand castles I built with my daughter in the dry Mutirikwi river bed in winter.

We have got the leaders we deserve. The inclusive government era exposed the shortcomings of opposition leaders. How after such a dismal performance that saw them fail to implement a single reform we still tolerate them walking among us as credible politicians is baffling.

How on earth does a football match start without counting the number of players on the field? That is the analogy that answers how foolish these opponents are…going into an election when they had no access to the voters’ roll!!! Yes you guessed it, the opposition are serious fools.

Robert Mugabe

This young chap seems to be the only benefactor of the hypnotised citizens of his country. He is on his way out – having lived his dream. His priority right now is to pass his legacy to his family. Unfortunately his dreams are clashing with the desires and aspirations of the nation.

His impotent chosen successors are clearly not fully cooked. It appears Mnangagwa has moved swiftly to assure him of a place for his family when he takes over. There ends his qualifications for the job!

The president’s wife has been given the stage to sell herself to the people but did well doing the opposite – with fake PhD-in-tow! It is hard to imagine how conversations between a mature man of Mugabe’s calibre go with his very immature less schooled wife. Investigation in Paedophilia in Zimbabwe would catch its first victim in the state house.

Grace Mugabe has a mental age of 11 and the writer will not incriminate himself by labelling her a fool like most fellow adults caught in her husband’s spell. We shall therefore nicely call her a retard, a very technical description of a judgement of her person in her ‘meet-the-people’ antics.

Zimbabwean Citizens

As I exercise my privilege for laptop activism I will not excuse myself from the label that all Zimbos should collectively share. We are indeed fools. We silently watch Zanu-pf factions fight over the cake that our country is while it crumbles before our eyes. Their fight has no selling points about how they plan to put it together again.

The economy is not doing well. Government business has literally stopped over the past few months approaching their congress. We do not know if we are going west or we are sticking with the east.

It does not matter which party one belongs to, the fight in Zanu-pf risks civil war. Both Mnangagwa and Mujuru have nothing to offer us in the event that either takes charge. They have been part of the rot that has been going on as recently confirmed by that dubious PhD holder resident in State House.

She clearly told all that the VP has been riding on her hubby’s coat-tails – not really doing any work. Other than being proficient at singing slogans at rallies what significant policies can be attributed to Mujuru or Mnangagwa? Looting Looting Looting!!! Yes they are great lootists, and they want a mandate to take charge of plundering.

Way Forward

This writer rarely agrees with Shrek but he has a point in calling for demonstrations. Infact he falls short of what he should be calling for. We need a revolution! The Burkinabes showed us how to do it a fortnight ago. Why are we watching this Zanu-pf charades silently when it is clear that it is going to cost many lives in future?

There are brilliant sons of Zimbabwe inside Zanu-PF with a loving vision and work ethic devoted to the country, people like Walter Mzembi – should we just watch clueless Mugabe’s eldest ‘daughter’ and ‘son’ fighting with the risk that they may kick out people like him if he is not in their faction? Can we afford the distabilisation that will follow the purging?

Recently one brave journalist (glad not to be wishing him to R.I.P after he was pounded by thugs masquerading as police for demonstrating in Harare) bravely came out and called for ‘Occupy’, a peaceful method of protest that has worked in many parts of the world.

Despite generating a lot of publicity, instead of people joining him they were standing in groups, as spectators. Soon when the Zanu-PF fights spill over onto our streets and houses we will realise that this is only just about the last opportunity we have of influencing real change in Zimbabwe. We will rue not joining Itai Dzamara.

Sadly, we will at some point be forced to accept that those who take power on the back of a gun can only be removed that way. We have out-voted Zanu-pf in the past but that did not count. So what choices do we have? They are slimming out. Let us not be spectators to our own car crash when we can apply brakes.

The Zanu-PF conflicts are coming to our doors soon. We can prevent it happening by giving Zanu-pf a ‘Burkina Faso’ kick….literally….kick them on the Burkina Faso, the Burkinabe way!

Shingai Mugochi, a lay concerned Zimbabwean