By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |
Sometime in April, in 2015, President Robert Mugabe went down to South Africa on an official visit.
That was the time when students at the University of Cape Town were demanding the removal of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes, the architect of Zimbabwe’s colonisation.
As a self-professed Pan-Africanist, Mugabe had something to say about it, and the likes of South African president, Jacob Zuma, laughed at his dry joke.
He told the South Africans to keep Rhodes’ statue; after all, Zimbabwe had his corpse, as his remains are buried at the Matopos near Bulawayo, the second capital.
“We in Zimbabwe had forgotten about Cecil Rhodes… We have his corpse, you can keep his statue,” he said.
He, obviously, relished the prospect of Rhodes’ statue being brought down, pointing out that the old imperialist was responsible for Zimbabwe’s colonial bondage.
Back home, thousands, if not millions, of Zimbabweans feel that Mugabe is holding them in bondage and some, among them blacks, have said they miss colonial Rhodesia because they had jobs and could feed their families, unlike now.
The economy is burning and Mugabe’s government seems clueless on how to fix it.
Since July, hundreds of Zimbabweans have angrily protested against the sitting government, calling on Mugabe to step down.
He has reacted angrily to the protests and the police have twice banned demonstrations while scores of protesters have been tortured and thrown into prison.
But the president has a weird sense of humour; amidst all this civil strife, he decided to have erected at State House a stone effigy of himself.
He proudly posed beneath the 3.8 metre sculpture with his wife, Grace who seemed to be more inclined towards grinning than smiling, and the world renowned sculptor, Domini Benhura.
As South Africa keeps the Rhodes statue, he decided to have his own done right on State property, and his corpse will follow.
Immediate feedback on the president’s effigy is not flattering because those that saw the picture were almost unanimous that it looks ugly.
Statues have been used in the past to create impressions of immortal and perfect personalities, mostly dead ones, but when the products are ugly, they lose their essence.
Mugabe is not the most handsome of all living statesman, particularly due to his advanced age, so it would always have been futile for Benhura to carve a product showing a dashing revolutionary.
Some have pointed out that everything about the sculpture, except for the suit, bear an uncanny resemblance to the president.
The sculptor tried to wiggle out of the dilemma he had created by carving the effigy, insisting he did not intend to reproduce the president but had used his signature style to do the carving.
“I think most people do not understand my art and they do not understand the difference in art styles.
“That sculpture was never meant to look exactly as the president’s image. I do not do exact figures. Some artists do exact figures, but I do something that makes my work different,” said Benhura.
He added about the work that took him six months to complete: “I used my plain style and that is why I did not put much detail. That is Benhura’s work. It has been like that over the years. It is my original work and art is about originality.”
Not many are convinced by his explanation, choosing still to see an ugly figure whose real person is running Zimbabwe in an ugly way.
A few have queried why the statue of a living mortal must be put up at State House which he can leave anytime.
They have been quick to draw parallels with the case of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi strongman who was deposed from power in 2003.
In April 2002, Saddam ordered the erection of a 12 metre statue in Firdo Square but, exactly a year after, angry protesters, with the help of US Marine officers, brought it down, marking an end to one of the most dramatic reigns in modern history.
Recent reports indicate several other attempts by Mugabe and his admirers to cast him as an undying legend through statues.
In 2014, it was reported that North Korea had carved two pieces for the Zimbabwean leader, all amounting to $5 million and meant to mark his 90th birthday.
Media reports claimed the statues would be displayed when he died, which he has not done yet.
The reports invoked anger, particularly because the economy was once again going on a free fall, companies were closing down and poverty was growing exponentially.
Last year, a Kuwadzana-based artist, Joshua Mboya, carved a 3 metre metal sculpture of the president, wishing that it be displayed in Victoria Falls to mark Mugabe’s 91st birthday.
Nothing has been heard of that piece of work by Mboya, a Mugabe admirer. Nehanda Radio
Discover more from Nehanda Radio
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
