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Mugabe and retirement in 2008?
Andrew Manyevere
July 24, 2007

When a man proposes love to a girl he promises everything, even the unattainable, all for the sake of winning the girl-s love to him. He however does make promises to be good always in good faith, because he means it that he loves the girl, even if he exaggerates for quick victory. The big limitation, as with everything, is the failure to be precise on the future and fate he cannot read.

Politics is done by and works for people. If people shift goal posts then it is always with intentions for self worthy than for national interest, even though the effort to mix the two is always made hard to distinguish for the sake of the average literate, in the case of Africa.

The promise to retire should be to the constituency and not to selected elite, be it military or otherwise. Reports from Zimbabwe indicate that Mugabe only opted for a doctored wish for retirement to solicit support of his venerated supporters, the army chiefs. When considered in the context of courting a girl I used as illustration above, the conclusion is almost obvious. Is the retirement mention voluntary and sincere?

President Robert Mugabe cannot pretend to be smart any longer and shift goal posts from his central committee or politburo, whatever the name, to the chosen few military men who he has selected to serve him than serve the country. Given that for the last twenty years and plus, Robert Mugabe has fought tooth and neck to remain in power, the good heart at the last hour is suspicious. Suspicious because he is not familiar to the language of retiring and does not believe in it. The hand of the silent but meaningful pressure from the SADC shows its simmering face but remotely able to completely change the picture, for retire now Robert Mugabe.

Why tie retirement to winning? Suppose Mugabe party does not win, can state of emergency be ruled out to retain Zanu-pf in power? It is political unkindness to refuse to endorse the fact that Zanu-Pf is a transformed wing of the military army employed during the liberation struggle. Little democracy attains during a war in soldiers at the forefront, so is Zimbabwe for the last twenty years of her life; Zanu-Pf is at war with the people and any upcoming political opposition party.

In itself the statement that Mugabe retires after victory in 2008 elections, is suggestive that Mugabe is the only person in Zanu-Pf who has the clout and strategy to fight Tsvangirai. This feature promotes Morgan Tsvangirai personally, because Robert Mugabe feels insulted that history will be written that he was defeated by the former leader of a workers- movement, when MDC wins elections in 2008: If the world weighs in for a transparently free and fair elections.

To call the March 2008 election a die or live battle, shows a trend of thinking in dictator mentality, and suggests anger over opposition, looking at the twenty seven years, of cheating by Zanu-Pf, gone by. Understanding that those twenty seven years never attracted international attention as is and will be the March 2008 elections, should also reveal reason for Mugabe-s anxiety and extreme panic. The age factor is a greater militating element coupled with the fear factor of his historical mistakes in politics to abuse human beings.

Reading the Robert Mugabe report and his smart attendance to military personnel instead of to the electorate, clearly indicates that Mugabe has no faith in the electorate if the electorate is left to their fair judgment without undue influence of fear from the military and its auxiliary appendages. It is important to notice that for all the past years Robert Mugabe and his army has played their cards on who should win and where, much to the blind belief of the world through the eyes of African Union (AU) and her sub-regional institutions, like the SADC.

But to also acknowledge that there has been resuscitation, from the archives of the same institutions, of smart analysts who have insisted on revisiting certain areas of concern like the Human and people rights; is critical now that change appears imminent long term. Zimbabwe scored a negative picture on the files of Africa in 2003, confirmed this year-2007 when the human and people right AU Commission met in Ghana.

While it is true that, on face value, the SADC appear to have won the confidence of AU to stay criticizing Zimbabwe pending the Mbeki-SADC initiative on mediation, regards should be given to the talks in the corridors of power on the suffering of many Zimbabweans who no country can continue to keep everlasting. The rising political representation by Zimbabwe Diaspora should be making more marked inroad into quizzing powers that be at the UN, the AU, Commonwealth and the UK of the solution to the Zimbabwe dilemma than leaving it to the may-be-biased SADC leadership.

That SADC leadership cannot talk straight to Robert Mugabe on the suffering of many common people in Zimbabwe, as a result of his poor governance, is obviously indicative of their stand even on the very poor people who elect them to power in their countries. Above all they also fear to show lack of faith in Zanu-Pf as a political institution to take Zimbabwe beyond what she has damaged so far, if they ask their colleague Robert Mugabe to retire. This ordinarily should be common language but unfortunately not for and with African leaders as yet.

Intelligent deduction will show that Mugabe is playing his Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) second fiddle to the army for obvious strategic reason of survival. He knows that people no longer like him and that his firm of hero has won out from sheer brutality including mismanagement of the economy which is reducing life to animal man eat man level fast without control from nobody.

The honest admission that all is not well and that Zanu-pf has failed would be the best way to qualify Mugabe-s hope that retirement after victory brought by him to Zanu-Pf in the 2008 elections. For that reason were Zanu-pf a seasoned political organization with men of Eddison Zvogbo stature, Mugabe would have been at risk today than ever to being shamed and humbled by his own.

May be the most important message in Robert Mugabe-s fears resulting in retirement offers should save to alert the MDC to hit to the finish a beleaguered political party that has survived on force and violence. Zanu-Pf government should be surrounded with war of words against everything that they have done wrong in the past in order for the AU, UN, Commonwealth to play their role now, since the establishment of democracy is the only way to curb terrorism that appears to grow in lips and bonds in western worlds than it is in Africa.

Mugabe-s offer for retirement tied on victory coming in 2008 is a paradox just like the Ian Smith adage of never in a thousand years could black rule Zimbabwe. However comparing the past and the twenty seven years the experience of self rule has been painful, shameful, sorrowful, vindictive, and wasteful and full of avarice than good faith and good governance.

Only free and fair atmosphere, created by the presence of a world body monitoring team in Zimbabwe, which will take guaranteed presence of peace keeping to cut back on the encroaching from Mugabe-s militia, will people relate to voting peacefully in their mind and body. The militia is paid to visit people when alone, issue permanent death sentence without court appearance, if one does not support Mugabe in the next elections, goes on now even as I write this article. No wonder why Mugabe looks up to victory then and faked hopeful to retire, which is nonsense to hoodwink money greedy soldiers.

THE WORLD SHOULD HELP US STOP ZANU-PF FROM ABUSING THE ZIMBABWE STATE MACHINARY AND STEAL THIS ELECTION IN 2008.

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