CONVERSATIONS WITH MAWERE
"Invest in the change you want to see"
- Mutumwa Mawere -
Zimbabwe 2008: A conversation with President Mugabe – Part II
Posted on May 25th 2008
On 6 February 1980, Lord Soames, the transitional British Governor of Rhodesia, in an interview observed that the election atmosphere was so polluted by intimidation and violence prompting him to introduce a new law empowering him to ban any party guilty of intimidation.In response, Mugabe challenged Lord Soames to decide whether he wanted war or peace meaning that any attempt to ban ZANU would be tantamount to declaring war and leaving the status quo of violence and intimidation as is would be a declaration of peace.
At the time, the Rhodesian forces, like their post colonial successors, had the means to successfully stage a coup-de-etat.
The Rhodesian forces were determined to keep the country under white control as may be the case today where the will of the people may be subordinate to the wishes of the Joint Military Command in the event that the run-off election does not take place. General Walls had to make the hard choice that it was not in the interests of the country to militarily intervene.The climate was not conducive for a free and fair election and yet the circumstances and national interest compelled everyone to see the process through.
It is significant that at the 73rd Ordinary Session of the Zanu-PF Central Committee, President Mugabe acutely aware of the confusion in his party following the electoral defeat justified the need for the run-off election at a time when even the most ardent advocates of democracy are calling for a government of national unity outside the framework of the legal system.At independence, the image of Mugabe as a bad man and a Marxist ideologue was pronounced, leading to many white Zimbabweans electing to emigrate. Mugabe finds himself 28 years later accused of the same violent and intimidatory approach to politics.
The choices at independence were clear and justifiably Zimbabweans in record numbers voted for change. In Mugabe, many believed that salvation would come and black hope would be realized. Notwithstanding the polluted electoral environment, people decided that the hour of change had arrived and the past could no longer be the basis on which nation building could be constructed. In as much as the Rhodesian forces were apprehensive about change, they too realized that the colonial state was no longer sustainable. There is no doubt that when President Mugabe loses the run-off election, the Joint Military Command will behave in a similar manner to how the Rhodesian forces reluctantly accepted change.
The intellectual basis of the arguments advanced so far for a government of national unity before the people have decided on who should be their first citizen is faulty. If General Walls could be persuaded to accept the ballot as the instrument of delivering change then surely General Chiwenga and his colleagues will have no choice but to abide by the will of the people.
President Mugabe could easily have used the environment prevailing in 1980 to stage a coup-de-etat but there is no doubt that his decisions were informed by the values and principles of the revolutionary struggle that the future of the country belonged to the people and not to those powerful enough to hold instruments of fear and intimidation.The transition of 1980 was far more complex and interest driven than the current transition. President Mugabe has already accepted that his party has been defeated and if the run-off produces the same outcome, there is no doubt that Tsvangirai will be the second President of the Republic.
Lord Soames knew what kind of a client Mugabe was and he was, therefore, able to skillfully manage the transition. What kind of person is Mugabe? What sustains and motivates him? We all need to understand the man and history is pregnant with lessons of how to manage Mugabe and get the best of him. The people of Zimbabwe in the post election environment displayed to a large extent the maturity that has helped to discourage Mugabe from going the Hugo Chavez, Castro, and etc way.
By choosing to remain calm in the face of provocation and extreme intimidation, the people of Zimbabwe may eventually get the change that they deserve. However, surprises should be expected given the slippery road ahead but it is important that people keep their eyes on the price comforted by the fact that half the job is already done.
It is instructive that President Mugabe has accepted that ZANU-PF has to bear the brunt of the blame for the electoral defeat. Accordingly, it is important that his words at the Central Committee continue to be interrogated in a quest to identify the best way of finishing the job.This is what President Mugabe said:
"Let us go back to work fully mindful of the fact that except for one province, most of our provinces failed to mobilize even half of their registered voters to go and vote. Most people stayed at home and that sleeping vote is what we must target and arouse. It is our vote. It is loyal to us and, in fact, stands already aroused by the sense of danger, which the party setback has shown. Let us galvanize it for an emphatic victory.
Our fist is against white imperialism; it is a fist for the people of Zimbabwe, never a fist against them.
Support comes from persuasion, not from pugilism. Let us build genuine support for the party and such support cannot come through coercion or violence."
President Mugabe genuinely believes that the masses do not know what time it is. It evident from the above that he is of the opinion that the people who chose not to vote support his continued stay in office and hence the call to the party to mobilize the electorate. It is important for the people who did not vote to respond to the President and express their opinion on whether the status quo ante should remain.
President Mugabe has not accepted that he may be the problem to nation building and progress choosing to characterize the voter apathy as a consequence of naivety on the part of the citizens. It is clear that President Mugabe is definitely not living in the same world as the suffering masses.
President Mugabe says the fist of the party is against white imperialism when it should be against black poverty, Gonomics, dysfunctional constitutional order, unemployment, hyperinflation, dysfunctional political system, hopelessness, violence, and economic disorder.
President Mugabe has not accepted and probably will never accept any responsibility for leading the country into despair and undermining the Zimbabwean promise. His mind has been directed at pursuing self serving political ends with disastrous social and economic consequences.
President Mugabe must be reminded that he has been in office for the past 28 years and he still has a few weeks to justify to the Zimbabwean people why they should trust him. Any residual trust that people may still have in President Mugabe must surely be measured by the tone of his post election language.
If President Mugabe still believes that imperialism and not his record is the issue in Zimbabwe today, then surely if there was any stimulus required to energize people to vote this surely ought to be one such incentive.
President Mugabe is wrong to suggest that his support should come from persuasion and not from his record of achievements. In the absence of any positive message about the party's achievements, violence appears to be the only viable instrument for the party. President Mugabe may not be fully aware of what many of his colleagues are already aware of that the people are tired of the rhetoric and just want to turn a new leaf and move forward with the nation building agenda.
It is now clear that President Mugabe is like a naked Emperor who is no longer living in this world but chooses to believe what his handlers tell him even after people have spoken. The only message for such an Emperor is not to risk one's life by telling him that he is naked but for him to discover after the votes have been counted that his time is up.
It is not too late to tell President Mugabe that genuine support for any political party must come from delivery and not persuasion or violence. The only language that President Mugabe respects is one that comes from the ballot box and citizens have no choice but to deliver this message eloquently on 27th June.
President Mugabe does not respect any other language and Zimbabwe is just too important to be wasted arguing with a person who may no longer know the difference between the truth and lies.
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one Soul Zimbabwe, you are right in your submission but what you seem not understand is that Zimbabwe needs new leadership, that has the audacity to devise and implement an economic recovery raodmap that embraces the view of the nation, the region and the international community for the prosperity of our country. We can not let one man destroy the whole country in the name of his party or his ideology! We are ready to rebuild our country not to support an individual who is out of touch with reality and our aspirations. We are buffled why he wants to excessively hold onto power after 28 years and at the age of 84! Its ridiculous, Zimbabwe does not have him as a leader alone! He scares us and gives us nightmares. Your reservations about Tsvangirai may be genuine, but look, "here is a true Zimbabwe who has stood all the tests of times in the hands of Mugabe, a man who has brought understanding of our rights against dictatorship, a man who has brought checks and balance to the governement, a man who has preached democracy and promised hope for a change from the yokes of ZANU PF! Zimbabwe has a place in the global world, not as a failed nation but as a progressive, peace loving nation and a team player. We cannot continue to be isolated and reduced to destitutes. We want a new leaf to rebuild our nation. Never be worried about Biti's of Chamisa's choice of words, has it ever occured to you that Mugabe aggressively fights a horrendous war of words? Whatever is your opinion, we need new leadership and we can't let ZANU PF drag the country to doldrums, they must sort out their leadership crises and put their house in order without holding the whole country to ransom. How can such men and women who have successfully ushered the country to independence develop cold feet to tell the old man to rest? This is not another Malawi with another Kamuzu Banda, there is no retirement option in his job description?
Mutumwa Dziva Mawere (born January 11, 1960 in Bindura, Zimbabwe), is an African business executive, pioneer, financier, banker and entrepreneur best known as the founder and Chairman of Africa Resources Limited ("ARL"). He is known for having built one of the most powerful and influential corporations in Zimbabwe's history
I have no doubt that if Makoni was to compete with any other Zanu PF candidate he would have won nomination for the presidential job within the party. Mugabe and Makoni were presidential candidates and Mugabe beat Makoni by almost 35% of the voters making Mugabe the best candidate for ZANU PF as of now. It is very crucial that both Mugabe and Tsvangirai aim at the 50%+ that did not vote initially. Economic anger may see Tsvangirai winning without fully campaigning nor presenting any acceptable economic blueprint. An election needs campaigning and campaigning is persuasion, maybe if I ask you to look at Clinton, Obama and McCain what we observe are hard persuasions. Mugabe’s intent to arouse the sleeping voice is wise for he can not convert MDC supporters now and also it gives him mileage, i.e. if his government chooses to doctor the results. If the voter turn out hits 80% now from a meager under 50% during the first round it will then be difficult to prove whether the new wave of participation is Zanu PF or MDC. We can not count Mugabe out of this race; given Tsvangirai’s weakness, the west’s pranks on Zimbabwe and Mugabe’s political wisdom. What worries me is to read that some of us Africans want to instill thinking that imperialism is a thing of the past yet it is in the now, here and is tomorrow’s phantom. The black African political economy is negatively skewed to its western white counterpart for mere reasons of political interference, access to international finance, lack of control of natural resources, inheritance of black poverty from colonialism, multicorporatism and weaker national rules of combating corruption. Given the onslaught on Zimbabwe by the insatiable west’s interests in the past ten years then Mugabe becomes a decorated African Political Chess Grandmaster. No African or even any country with minimal resources as those of Zimbabwe can sustain peace in such all encompassing political and economic hostilities as experienced by Mugabe government while he exude the relative democracy to the national structures. In a way Mugabe and the combatant military have been hardened by British interference. It is very evident that 2008 elections are in good turn of the opposition and our main man, Tsvangirai, lacks the methodology to grab Number 1 Borrowdale Road and Zim 1 Merc. Firstly Mugabe is a politician whose cards are based on numbers while the military is the force behind a politician given the manner of our attainment of independence. We must not lose focus that once Mugabe was for different ideas during the struggle he was then sidelined by the military, Mugabe then later was to be admitted to lead the party after having accepted the dictates and desires of militant freedom fighters who irrefutably regard themselves as true liberators of the nation. Today’s government departments, Parastatals and strategic business are under the captaincy of military personnel or those who salute military reasoning. Biti shoots his party on the foot by babyishly and deceptively electing to intimidate the likes of army commanders, police commissioners and new militant farmers. Chamisa selects reckless wording against the presidium that catapults him aloof from being a genuine negotiator of an internal settlement. Tsvangirai basks on the glory of western achievement that of removing a liberation government which is gloating mockery to all of Africa’s freedom fighters. The final lap is more tedious for the leadership than the electorate; we are yet to witness casualties. Zimbabwe today needs an economic roadmap for prosperity not individuals and individualism hence the quest for a GNU. Zimbabweans And international good will ambassadors better placed today to salvage the change that we want to see are not only politicians, but also clerics, business people, artists, traditional leaders and more. What we see today is a community of self-serving individuals in business, law, traditional faith leaders, international governments, arts and more. It is just but the next dawn when we will look them in the eye and pour them all the blame for the non-attempt to rescue our country is more iniquitous than failing to accomplish preferred results. If you can not assist stop polarizing our tragedy by choosing to slaughter one segment of the same problem.