The Year of the Crocodile
By Alex T. Magaisa
It is said that the crocodile is one of evolution’s greatest warriors, a battle-hardened survivor that has seen the highs and lows of the universe. With ancestry that is said to date back to the earliest of times, when big dinosaurs roamed the earth, the crocodile is a creature that provokes both fear and reverence.
There are many myths across societies, built around the legend of the crocodile. Back in the village, elders used to warn that the fact that a crocodile is baring its teeth does not mean that it is grinning. It was a figurative expression that warned of the misleading habits of cunning individuals. Then we read books and learned about the crocodile’s tears, all again suggesting the devious character of the source.
So intriguing and fascinating is the crocodile, that in some cultures it is worshiped. In ancient Egypt, Sobek, often represented by the figure of man with the head of a crocodile, was the crocodile god and the people worshipped him and the crocodiles of the Nile.
The crocodile is known to be a patient creature. It waits and waits, patiently and calmly, until its prey lapses in concentration and in that brief moment, the crocodile swiftly strikes and often, with pin-point accuracy.
And so it is, that in the murky political waters of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, the man they call Ngwena, the crocodile, has struck in characteristic fashion. A minister of government for 34 years, he has waited for a long time, and patiently for most of it, although on one occasion, in a rare show of uncharacteristic haughtiness and miscalculation, he threatened to strike but withdrew very swiftly, hands burnt and sore and there, he remained in wait, nursing his political wounds and plotting a return, to strike again at the most opportune moment.
It was in the summer of 2004, when his group sought to plan a final assault on the Vice Presidency, that had become vacant following the death of VP Muzenda. It was the episode that history would forever record as the Tsholotsho Declaration, after the district in which the conspirators were supposed to meet. It failed. And a purge followed. His lieutenants were cast away. But he was too important to be thrown into the political wilderness. Instead, he was driven and stationed in the political Siberia, in a small, meaningless albeit high-sounding ministry created especially for him. Mugabe called it the Ministry of Rural Housing and Social Amenities. It was a lowly posting for a man who harboured lofty ambitions.
In truth, it was a half-way house – the sort of place where the ailing patient might either recover to full health or from where he might be moved to where return is impossible. But the crocodile is a species that has survived the harshest of times. And so Mnangagwa recovered. When his boss Mugabe suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of his nemesis Morgan Tsvangirai in March 2008, it is said Mnangagwa took the steering wheel and master-minded a political comeback using all means necessary and available to retain power, without care as to the controversy that came with such means. What mattered was the end. That end was met. In the power-sharing deal that emerged, Mugabe and Zanu PF retained most of the power.
Thereafter, in reward, he was restored to a senior status befitting his stature. As Defence Minister, Mnangagwa energised and enhanced his relationship with the Generals, taking the flak and protecting them where necessary, especially from a former opposition coalition partner that was forever singing the tune of security sector reform. That would have reinforced the trust and respect of the Generals. And in 2013, he is credited with master-minding the plan that enabled Mugabe and Zanu PF not only to retain power but to do so in an earth-shattering manner that left many shocked and traumatised – a trauma that stills cripples the oppositional forces.
Even then, the signs of proximity were evident. On the eve of the election, on July 31, when Mugabe called a press conference which many thought was his valedictory pronouncement, it was Mnangagwa who sat quietly by his side. He did not speak but his presence announced his position – he was the favoured one, the trusted agent. Mugabe tried in jest, to explain away his presence but it was much too plain. He was with his trusted man, everything was in place and he would soon be rewarded. Mugabe was relaxed. Clearly, his man had reassured him. Vice President Mnangagwa? No, Mugabe was too cunning to do that. He sold Mujuru and her allies a dummy. Comfortable that they had it all, they lost their guard and at that moment, the crocodile launched a strike.
The final surge came in late 2014, as Congress drew closer. It came va the agency of the First Lady, Grace Mugabe who all but confirmed at one of her rallies in Mazowe, that Mnangagwa was the chosen one. “I respect that man”, she told her eager and excitable listeners. He had stood down in 2004, she said, in favour of the party’s wishes to have a woman Vice President, although he had the support of the provinces. She reminded her supportive audience that Mnangagwa deserved respect. At the same time, she was castigating and lambasting the then Vice President Joice Mujuru. It was plain then, plain indeed, that the crocodile was closer than before, very close to its prey.
And so it was that on December 10th 2014, the prize that had been so elusive a decade before, was finally won. And it was attained in dramatic, if brutal fashion. Students of politics and history will have much to analyse for many years.
The crocodile is an intriguing creature. And so is Mnangagwa. He has the reputation of a hard-man, a hardliner, as this political species is often called in the lexicon of Zimbabwean politics. This fearsome reputation is built on many legends. His allies will say they are myths constructed by adversaries. He himself is not oblivious of this stern reputation. “I’m as soft as wool”, is his famous retort, responding to the legends that suggest that he is of a hard-line orientation.
He has also famously stood up against the death penalty, declaring recently as Justice Minister, that no death-row inmate would be executed under his watch, even if it meant violating the Constitution. In the end, the High Court made it easy for him, declaring, correctly in my opinion, that the death penalty could not be carried out because the current law was not compliant with the Constitution. This stance against the death penalty is not merely some self-serving political gimmick, no. He himself survived the gallows during the war in the 1960s, on account of his then youthful age. Otherwise, he would have been executed. It is an experience that he never forgot. Since then, he has been an active opponent of the death penalty, a point that has my favour.
So there he is, presenting himself as a man who would not kill. And yet accused also of having a hand in some of the most sordid episodes of the country’s history. He was security minister in the 1980s, in charge of intelligence services during the infamous Gukurahundi era, which Mugabe has referred to as “a moment of madness”. It is a stain that has been far more difficult to erase, indeed, a stain that haunts him still. It is one that will still require some hard work. The sore points will not go away easily.
Others will argue that the fact that he is a hard man is not of itself a bad thing. They will point to the political and economic degeneration, evidenced by a widespread culture of corruption and nepotism at all levels of society. It has become a plague that requires eradication. For all his loud political rhetoric, Mugabe has been soft on corruption over the years. He has promised much but delivered precious little in fighting corruption. It is probably because he has a soft spot for his comrades. He has deferred to the politics of patronage and allowed corruption to fester, to the extent that his own ministers think it is the right thing to siphon money from a state-owned company towards ruling party activities, which money is then misappropriated.
Zimbabwe needs a new and different approach and if Mnangagwa can use is hard-man reputation to clamp down on it, then that would be a positive. Yet others will argue that it is expecting far too much from him given the blemishes that attend upon his own reputation in that regard. The allegations of murky deals in the DRC are another stain that he will need to work on because they do haunt him, too. He is, no doubt, a wealthy man and others will say while Mujuru has been accused of corruption, her accusers do not have clean hands, too. It is a problem that he must ultimately confront.
Yet, when all is said and done, the people of Zimbabwe are in need of basic things – a good, responsible government that delivers basic social and economic services; a government that facilitates business and enterprise and a government that respects its citizens and their rights. People want to eat and live well. They want running water, electricity, good roads and transport services, and decent jobs. Zimbabweans want markets to sell their goods. They want industries to be revived, to provide employment and goods and services for their day to day needs. They want their children to go to school and to receive a good education. These are the things that the crocodile must attend to. If the people get what they want, they are more likely to forgive, even if they do not forget.
It is almost obvious now that with Mugabe in the twilight of his life and political career, a new horizon beckons and the greatest likelihood is that Mnangagwa will be the President of Zimbabwe after him. He has been by Mugabe’s side, as his Special Assistant in the later years of the war, although it is said their relationship dates back to the sixties, when he was a mere boy. They are close and Mugabe probably trusts him with his family. There is a co-Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko, but, with respect, he is almost a footnote in this whole drama; the proverbial bridesmaid at the glorious wedding. The man in the driving seat is the man they call Ngwena, the crocodile.
It is the wisdom of our ancestors to say that when you see a crocodile pulling the blanket and leaving the man, it is because it has a secret but grand plan. Mnangagwa was thrown into the backwaters of power after 2004, but he waited and waited, playing smaller roles, he waited calmly and patiently, and then when it mattered most, he went for the prize in the most spectacular fashion, as crocodiles do. But then again, it is important to not to forget that not all prey that has fallen into the crocodile’s snare has met its end. On those rare occasions, the crocodile has missed dinner, just when it thought it had it all.
As I conclude, I am reminded of the words ascribed to Lobengula, King of the Ndebele Kingdom, describing his predicament upon his encounter with the British settlers at the end of the 19th Century.
“Did you ever see a chameleon catch a fly?” he said, “The chameleon gets behind the fly and remains motionless for some time, then he advances very slowly and gently, first putting forward one leg and then the other. At last, when well within reach, he darts his tongue and the fly disappears. England is the chameleon and I am that fly.”
Not quite the crocodile’s way. But close. Very close.
Dr Alex Magaisa can be reached wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk. You can visit his blog: http://newzimbabweconstitution.wordpress.com/
