This morning, this blog got great news; aboard it is a new contributor; a real intellectual—Denzil. He was convinced into joining this blog by Saffiyah (and I must say congrats) and he immediately went for my post on Tsvangirai’s political future, which I said was as good as wrapped up. He, like Socrates, had drunk from the poisoned chalice, I reasoned. But below, Denzil argued:
Well put article on Zimbabwe. But can I challenge you a bit? Does the faith of Zimbabwe lie in one man? Yes certainly, this was the one man that arose to take the podium, seize the moment and accept the challenge. However, sad to say that the challenge overwhelmed him. But even if he did become the next president will he have been effective? Why is our R. Mugabe so effective in his control? It definitely is not him…he does not yield the power without the people. Who sustains his dictatorship regime, it’s his subordinates. Africa is yet to learn from great leaders, even from one like Ghandi – resistance is uniting the masses. That’s where the strength lies. A rather controversial statement was made by the President of the ANC Youth league a few days ago…he said that they would be prepared to ‘kill’ to prevent the ANC President ZUMA from going to court…yes that may have been a bad statement but what the media forgot to stress was his next comment that if ZUMA is the next president of the country and does not meet the demands of free education etc for the young people, than they will remove him! For me that was the climax. The power lies in the hands of the people. To make or break an existing government.
Indeed, I want to take on the above assertion: “The power lies in the hands of the people”! I don’t know how much Denzil believes in this statement. As a matter of belief, it is great. We would all love to see the people in charge. We would love to see African democracies operate like it is in the West. Where, unimpressed by their president’s shirt, dog or even spouse, the people (and I mean real people) can decide to throw their president out of office.
But in Africa the tale is different—very different. The phrase “the people” once used in Africa is a decoy. A cover-up to advance some selfish motive by a selfish politician. When President Museveni wanted the constitution changed so that the clause limiting term limits for the presidency was scrapped, he claimed the “people” were agitating for that. What he did not say was that he had to bribe the MPs with sh5million to get the constitution amended. Yes—that is the ‘call of the people.”
But let’s go to our subject. Denzil says Mugabe is thriving because the “people” back him. Yes, people back Mugabe—but which people? Common Zimbabweans or the military chiefs? In the first round of voting, Mugabe gathered about 43% of the votes cast, as opposed to Tsvangirai’s 48%. Now, anyone with a firm footing in Africa will tell you that an opposition party does not pull that feat easily. You don’t trounce the government in power just like that. With a biased electoral commission, security forces against you that means a great mass of backers were in for Tsvangirai.
But of course we can not rule out that Mugabe has some supporters, everyone does. It is obvious that the people keeping Mugabe in power now are the military chiefs. The people, who command the Police to block MDC rallies. The fellows who mobilize unguided youth to wreak havoc on the streets of Harare. The thugs, like the Police chief, who this morning told Tsvangirai to leave the Dutch Embassy and “go home to sleep”. The “sleep” which could mean anything, literal or figurative.
Those are the ‘people’ backing Mugabe. There is no way a person who can’t afford sugar, salt or fuel back the man responsible for his misery. There is no way a citizen, whose family is broken up because some of them have had to emigrate in order to survive can back the person responsible for this social fragmentation. And those are the majority Zimbabweans!!!
But the hope again lies in what Denzil mentioned—in reference to Ghandi. “The power of the people shall prevail.” That is why I faulted Tsvangirai for pulling out; the people, however intimidated, I believed were going to humiliate Mugabe.
But in Africa the tale is different—very different. The phrase “the people” once used in Africa is a decoy. A cover-up to advance some selfish motive by a selfish politician. When President Museveni wanted the constitution changed so that the clause limiting term limits for the presidency was scrapped, he claimed the “people” were agitating for that. What he did not say was that he had to bribe the MPs with sh5million to get the constitution amended. Yes—that is the ‘call of the people.”
But let’s go to our subject. Denzil says Mugabe is thriving because the “people” back him. Yes, people back Mugabe—but which people? Common Zimbabweans or the military chiefs? In the first round of voting, Mugabe gathered about 43% of the votes cast, as opposed to Tsvangirai’s 48%. Now, anyone with a firm footing in Africa will tell you that an opposition party does not pull that feat easily. You don’t trounce the government in power just like that. With a biased electoral commission, security forces against you that means a great mass of backers were in for Tsvangirai.
But of course we can not rule out that Mugabe has some supporters, everyone does. It is obvious that the people keeping Mugabe in power now are the military chiefs. The people, who command the Police to block MDC rallies. The fellows who mobilize unguided youth to wreak havoc on the streets of Harare. The thugs, like the Police chief, who this morning told Tsvangirai to leave the Dutch Embassy and “go home to sleep”. The “sleep” which could mean anything, literal or figurative.
Those are the ‘people’ backing Mugabe. There is no way a person who can’t afford sugar, salt or fuel back the man responsible for his misery. There is no way a citizen, whose family is broken up because some of them have had to emigrate in order to survive can back the person responsible for this social fragmentation. And those are the majority Zimbabweans!!!
But the hope again lies in what Denzil mentioned—in reference to Ghandi. “The power of the people shall prevail.” That is why I faulted Tsvangirai for pulling out; the people, however intimidated, I believed were going to humiliate Mugabe.
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