In Zimbabwe, Mugabe’s age has not come with wisdom
By Fungayi Mukosera
Zimbabwe can easily hold the recognition for a clear scientific proof that wisdom does not always come with age. The Irish poet, Oscar Wilde would have felt vindicated if he had lived to see the state of Zimbabwe today after his bold claim that “with age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone”.
The mess that we have found ourselves in Zimbabwe is fresh evidence that sometimes age is nothing but just a number. For decades we have jubilantly exalted our president’s birthdays with the hope of a point of balance between his age and wisdom to usher in politics of public service. His life however has not been of leadership in isolation.
He has partnered with one of the oldest political institutions in Africa to wreck the lives of their own people. The Zanu Pf’s institutional age milestone has likewise amassed a bad capital of deplorable leadership and stand as evidence of the demented side of age.
Some people still cling on to Zanu PF’s dry bones in anticipation of a magic card maybe before Mugabe’s time is up. Well their ideological wand is pretty much bankrupt.
With age we have only witnessed more of wrinkles and less practical ways to provide the most anticipated jobs, invite Foreign Direct Investment and fight corruption. Even the loyal Far East friends know that betting on a spent force is as good as digging their own graves.
The Chinese are not foolish to not understand that even the combined age of Mugabe and Zanu PF is not going to bring wisdom on the negotiating table. The ‘mega deals’ have been and will always be fool’s gold to an old friend in desperate search for a headline.
The whole government as a true reflective of its leader who has failed to bring the genuine needs of ordinary Zimbabweans to the world. They have been busy nursing their frailty and health shopping in Singapore and have forgone national duty.
The National Transitional Authority (NTA) as proposed by the Concerned Citizens of Zimbabwe (CCOZ) seems a fitting solution now to usher in fresh blood to liberate the people. Liberation of the soil of Zimbabwe was a noble cause led by Mugabe but with age he has obsessed himself with it and forgot to liberate the people.
A transitional arrangement could also be our best option to craft a people centered Magna Carta that points to the future of respecting human dignity and freedoms.
