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Mugabe: A hero of nationalism, an idealist
Clyde B. Chakupeta
September 01, 2008

The Zimbabwe government is corrupt. There really is no other way of looking at things. The Herald of 26 August 2008 refers to Mr. Mugabe diabolizing some ministers in his Cabinet employing passionate language, and no action all these years he has been mismanaging the affairs of Zimbabwe. The Herald quotes him, "This Cabinet that I had was the worst in history. They look at themselves. They are unreliable, but not all of them," he said. It would be genocidal to dismiss the words as an exercise in service flattery without critiquing the orator.

However, I am disgusted by the inability of Zimbabwean government ministers since independence; they have lacked the art of constructive criticism. This day, Mugabe rebukes the present ministers, drawing applause from the same troop being attacked. No one has ever in the years past dared inform Mugabe not to take the people for granted. He has taken the country for a ride, including his own ministers, today he continues to appease them in mere rhetoric.
It has always been a known fact that Mugabe-s cabinet the years over is made of deadwood, men and women wrapped in the veil of personal love. A bold admission that some of his ministers have been selfish and unreliable calls for nothing else but resignation. If Mugabe admits that, we question what he has done this far to tame this legion of corrupt and unreliable government. If Mugabe were to be taken seriously with his call for a transparent government, he would as well begin by admitting his own shortfalls.

This comes out of true introspection, modeled along the lines of one who respects the nation. He should not wait to make such an admission before the jury. It is most remarkable to borrow a leaf from the former Prime Minister of Barbados, Owen Authur, who had ruled the island for thirteen years until the beginning of this year. He said in chamber, "I want without equivocation or without any reservation to accept full and utter responsibility for everything that was done by any officer, by any member of the Cabinet, by any official, during the three terms that I was leader of this country. I accept utter responsibility . . . "Such is a pearl of wisdom and if Mugabe could not only make a circus of his irresponsible and corrupt ministers, he needs to admit he is equally responsible for their failures. He has definitely failed to uphold ministerial accountability. He needs rather to accept political responsibility and accountability to the people even if he, as president, pro tempore, did not actually know of some wrong doing. Mugabe has admitted that he is but just an orator who prides in making statements but has done very little to tame his ministers since independence.

Unless Mr Mugabe translates thoughts and words into concrete steps for action, they are pointless. In life, success is not measured by the voluminous words we speak but by the actions we take. In politics, as in business, we do not bank philosophies. Mugabe needs to be reminded that to claim that his recent cabinet has not been effective is just proof of his failures. Apparently, he renegades on the power-sharing talks with Mr Tsvangirai as he wants to retain the executive powers and give to Mr Tsvangirai a circus prime minister-s post that would make the prime minister report to the president. Mugabe wants to retain control of the military and give to Tsvangirai the finance ministry, knowing fully well that the leader of the opposition would resuscitate the economy through support from the international community.

Admitting that his ministers haven't lived to expectation should not just be a political icing of the cake, but should be followed by action. How many such ministers have been named, or sacked to date? I bet we have none, so what effect does his word have other than insultthe people even more. Mugabe should ceremoniously resign and let people driven governance lead the country.

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