I read excerpts of President Mugabe’s interviews with ZTV’s Tarzan Mandizvidza and The Sunday Mail’s Nomasa Nkala with great interest. I also listened to Mugabe’s speech in Mutare as he and his party faithfuls (or is it faithfools!) were feasting on cake and steak to celebrate 88 years of life. For many Zimbabweans both interviews and the speech sounded all too familiar. This was vintage Mugabe blaming everyone but himself for everything. Never to admit failure even for his party’s poor showing in the 2008 elections, Mugabe blamed the West, blamed other African countries, blamed the MDC, blamed the factions in his own party, blamed Simba Makoni and Dumiso Dabengwa.
I hear that the festivities are continuing this weekend as the ZANU (PF) youth brigade has invaded the small town of Chipinge to celebrate Gushungo’s birthday with song and dance. Altogether 40 Zimbabwean artists will be entertaining the party faithfools. But why Chipinge, of all places? A friend at my local watering hole made an interesting observation as we watched the 8 o’clock news bulletin on ZTV a few days ago. ‘But nhai Charlie, hakusi kudenha here kewamunoita uku? Makaramba kuvigaNdabaningi Sithole paHeroes, ikozvino maakuda kutevera kuChipinge kunotamba paguva pake muchiridza madhindindi. Mapolitician makamboita sei? I had to remind my colleague that I was just a mere political columnist and not a politician, to which he retorted, ‘what’s the difference?
Surely there is whole world of a difference. As my mentor Masipula Sithole would say, ‘Mwanangu, isu chedu kuanalyser vamwe vachitonga”. Our duty is to observe and commend while the politicians govern. But my colleague would hear none of it as he continued with tirade. ‘Politicians are very arrogant and insensitive. Just the other day you were trying to get the North Korean football team to prepare for the 2010 World Cup in Bulawayo of all places! Now you want to go and insult Musharukwa in Chipinge where we thought he was finally resting from the persecution you exposed him to when he was still breathing. What insensitivity! Ndosaka maida kuisa statue yaNkomo muBulawayo musina kuudza hama dzake’. I had to calm him down as he was getting agitated.
I thought the observation on Chipinge was incisive. Manicaland has always been a problematic province for ZANU (PF) and Mugabe. Chipinge in particular. When ZANU and ZAPU merged in 1987 to establish a de facto one party state, Chipinge resisted as ZANU (Ndonga) ‘jealously guarded its zones of autonomy’. Certainly ZANU (PF) has lost some sleep over Manicaland Province. Out of the 26 constituencies in that province, the MDC grabbed 20 of them in the 2008 General Election. Could this explain the choice of venues for Mugabe’s festivities? And will it work?
But coming back to Mugabe’s interviews and birthday speech. I thought I managed to decode some instructive messages that need further analysis in the national interest as some of them are key to moving this country forward. One of the key messages I deciphered from Mugabe’s interviews is that he cannot fathom a Zimbabwean nation without him as its leader. He told the party faithfools in Mutare that he was still strong enough to lead. In one of the interviews he was asked if he thought he should groom a successor. His answer was that no, this would divide the party. But Gushungo, the party is already divided. Factionalism has been a permanent feature of ZANU (PF) internal politics since time immemorial. As Tendai Biti would argue, there were factions in ZANU (PF) on the day it was formed at Enos Nkala’s house in Highfiled 1963.
The message that has come out clearly as Mugabe celebrates his 88th birthday is that he wants to die in office and to him anyone who entertains hopes of taking over from him is a dreamer. Being the Machiavellian schemer that he is Mugabe has constantly played on the issue of divisions in his own party to muzzle debate on his succession. What is clear is that he wants to lead ZANU (PF) and the nation of Zimbabwe until his death. And that is the reality we have to wotrk with.
My sense is that Mugabe does not trust anyone to guarantee him safety and security in retirement. He probably fears that whoever takes over from him will hand him over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to be tried for crimes against humanity. He is acutely aware that fingers have been pointed at him and that he might be having an indictment hanging over his head for his role in the Gukurahundi massacres. At his advanced age he has given in to paranoid delusions and he does not trust even his own lieutenants, let alone an MDC government, to guarantee him immunity from prosecution either domestically or internationally.
As I reflected on this I thought perhaps it is time we had a paradigm shift in our national discourse if we are to move forward as a country. Let me remind Zimbabweans that it is a fact of life that we are stuck with Mugabe as a country and as Prime Minister Tsvangirai has said before, the man is the problem but also forms part of the solution to our national crisis. In that sense I think it is imperative that as a nation we put aside our collective moral indignation against Mugabe and start dealing with his fears in a manner that will see us moving forward.
I argue that all processes that are aimed at resolving the Zimbabwean crisis, including SADC’s mediation, should move a gear up and focus on convincing President Mugabe to retire and allow Zimbabwe to move forward. But in order to do so Mugabe’s fears and insecurities need to be allayed. His political opponents including the MDC need to start offering him a political deal that not only guarantees him immunity from prosecution but also guarantees that he is protected from retribution and asset forfeiture. I posit this argument on the premise that Zimbabwe needs to move forward as a country. Without a doubt, more than three decades of Mugabe’s rule have brought pain and suffering to millions of Zimbabweans. The past ten years have been particularly debilitating as they have held us back as a country.
A few weeks ago Zimbabwean business executives were talking about building a $100 billion economy by 2030. This will not be achievable if Mugabe continues to hold the whole country to ransom because of his personal insecurities. It is time we addressed these insecurities so we can move forward as a country. I know that the securocrats hold real power and that they also have their collective fears of retribution and loss of ill-gotten wealth. I argue that we should cut them a deal too. Zimbabwe is bigger than a dozen or so individuals that are holding the whole country to ransom. Zimbabweans are ready to start the difficult job of rebuilding this beautiful country and in order to do so we need to get Mugabe and his henchmen out of the way.
