Ever Wonder How Mugabe Became What He Is?
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Man or monster?
By William Ndung’u
President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the Zimbabwean anti-colonial war hero, is ‘a real man’ as some in Africa would like to put it. And why not? There is no single person in Africa who has unequivocally told Mugabe off, with the only weak voices in the continent being South Africa’s Jacob Zuma, Botswana’s Khama and to a lesser degree, Raila Odinga, the Prime Minister in Kenya’s coalition government who have dared tell Mugabe to go home.
For one, many in Africa still harbor a deep (though sometimes misplaced) hatred of the colonizers, particularly 19th and early 20th century Britain and France. In some places, the Belgians are the ones whined about. This is perhaps the best weapon that Robert Mugabe has: he can count on almost 100% public opinion support around the continent with his rhetoric of ‘neo-colonialism’, the West vs. Us (the Africans). And he has been winning most minds in Africa. Add to that the fact that in Zimbabwe, liberation heroes got land (never mind only cronies seem to have benefited), whereas in other places like Kenya most Mau Mau got close to nothing, if not nothing at all.
It is therefore very easy to whip up emotions by capitalizing on real and imagined past and current mistreatment in the hands of the white oppressors and get away with murder, looting and all small and large evils that abound in that once-beautiful, peaceful land of ‘honey and milk’.
Another interesting factor that has seen Mugabe survive is what I would call ‘misplaced, undeserved respect’ that sometimes we Africans show to our leaders. To a good number amongst us, a leader – whether a killer, looter or corrupt to the core – MUST be respected. And don’t get me wrong. I am not talking about respect here, but reverence. Yes, we fear our leaders too much…we can’t criticize them when they go wrong. And therein, an opportunistic person of Mugabe’s character emerges. Then we only cry foul when he or she has gone too far and we can’t take any more of them.
But perhaps in the reasons how Mugabe reached here, nothing beats what a Zimbabwean Bishop whom I sit with on the board of an Africa-wide NGO, said of his leader: ‘The West wants to exploit us and take us back to colonial times. I was there, and I prefer Mugabe’. I was amazed, for the same Bishop had earlier complained to me how ‘our money is now worthless’ (meaning how badly inflation had hit his country). Now, here’s a senior personality who leads a sizeable number of people in a country where only a semblance of a sane government exists; where a government is cracking down on its perceived enemies with a vengeance not seen elsewhere recently!
On second thought, however, I think the Bishop was expressing ‘the reality’ from his perspective. This drives me to the next reason that keeps leaders like Robert Mugabe in power in Africa for so long: lack of information. Start with the lack of information on citizen’s rights, freedoms. A majority doesn’t know. Period! And what are the characteristics of a good leader? In Africa it’s simple, it seems: can he – and increasingly, she, as well – ’share’ with us a few hundreds, thousands from the government’s coffers? Here, Mugabe is a master of all, I hear! I hear the ministers, chief government officials and others live large. No wonder none of them is able to comprehend that cholera is is killing so many falling short of denything there’s such a thing. Why? They’ve all they want.
And then the shameful reason which all of us have contributed, is through the ’sin of omission’ is by just looking, talking and doing nothing. If the international community today said ‘Zimbabweans won’t die again in the hands of a tyrant’, I bet that would happen quite quickly. However, I’m not thinking along the lines of regime change via the barrel of a gun. I’m not thinking in terms of Iraq or Afghanistan; I’m thinking a Zimbabwe that lawfully, through education, tactful pressure and education of the masses, routs its own worst enemy, Mugabe.
In short, when we don’t raise our voices and act bad things happen all around us. And when they become intolerable, we start to complain. An African proverb would do, I guess: kunja samaki angali mbichi (literal translation: bend a fish while it is still fresh; act before it’s too late).
I’m waiting to hear what action we should take, as Africans. Shall we rise to occasion and save a people crying for help?
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Mugabe’s problems started when he tapped into the deepest part of white fear, a black man telling them what to do and having the power to back it up. Zimbabwe’s worst enemy is not Mugabe – the worst enemy are the old colonial masters of the past and its neo-colonial masters of the present.If America and Europe have their way Zimbabwe would have colonial masters in the future. Gold, oil, tobacco, timber, copper…get the picture? Stop being fooled by reports from CNN,BBC,America and England – they don´t give a hell about the people in Zimbabwe. Before you put down Mugabe maybe you should ask yourself: When was the last time you heard a full speech from him in his own words? Then read the history of Zimbabwe under colonial rule.
Most African leaders would love to do the same thing Mugabe did in Zimbabwe! The problem is they don´t have the heart they are too greedy and have too much fear. How can a African country call itself free while being a member of the Commonwealth bending down the heads to greed the Queen of England – your old colonial master.
> Butch
I am not taking sides on the Isreali /Hamas conflict but Africa/Black people must wake up!!! THE war in the Middle East, in Gaza to be precise has been spared by many critics whom we have seen raise their heads in the Zimbabwean situation.The silence from the men of cloth: Archbishops John Sentamu and Desmond Tutu is almost deafening. We have also not heard any comments from many of those people who called for armed invasion in Zimbabwe; including Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
It is ironic that the Archbishop of York, Sentamu in February 2003, while thousands marched in London, led church-wide protests in Birmingham against the invasion of Iraq. “There is no moral basis for a military invasion of Iraq,†he said at the time.In his eyes Saddam Hussein was a Santa type figure for Iraqis, but he fails to call for such protests against the wanton killing of innocent civilians in Gaza.Even the UN has spoken against the shelling of its school where 400 innocent civilians perished overnight.
In 2007, Archbishop Sentamu led Easter Prayers for the safety of BBC’s Alan Johnston from captivity in Gaza.
When Johnston was released alive, Sentamu pounded an African drum to celebrate Johnson’s release. “I just wanted to say ‘Alleluia!’… This is the best news we’ve had for a long time,†he declared then. Note he said: “We have heardâ€. Who is “weâ€?Last year, Archbishop Desmond Tutu undeterred, made a forced rare crossing into Gaza from Egypt where he had been sent by the UN council to investigate the Israeli shelling of a house in Gaza, despite Israel’s attempts at gagging him.He emerged from his interviews in what he described as a state of shock and called for an end to the “abominable†Israeli blockade of Gaza. He later reported to the UN there was a “possibility†that the shelling was a war crime.
After calling for a military invasion of Zimbabwe, just a few weeks ago, it would be out of place for the Archbishop to repeat such a feat; otherwise it would be hypocritical.Surely Archbishop Tutu finds it difficult to now call the current illegal Gaza offensive a war crime, because of his hardline position on Zimbabwe. He has lost his independence to make informed commentaries.
The statement from the Botswana Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Phandu Skelemani, in response to Israel’s disproportionate attack on Gaza, left a lot to be desired. He said: “The Botswana position is that we don’t need war.â€â€œWar has never brought any solution to problems. The downside about war is that it affects innocent elderly people, women and children, not those who initiate itâ€.
This was an immediate turnaround from a country that only a few weeks ago was on BBC’s Hard Talk programme calling for military action against, and economic isolation of Zimbabwe.
The minister, even interrupted his holiday in his native North East District, to emphasize Botswana’s view that both parties “must learn to talk†to resolve their differences – something he desires for the Middle East, not his own African continent.“If people have mouths and brains but decide to fight, then there is real poverty in their thinking,†he said in an ironical twist on his own suggestion of war against Zimbabwe. “Neither Israel nor Gaza will disappear if both parties engage in dialogue, as opposed to war,†he said.Kenyan Prime Minister, Odinga was caught napping after making noises about the need for war in Zimbabwe.Hundreds of protestors gathered outside Nairobi’s Jamia Mosque after Friday prayers, calling Prime Minister Odinga to cut ties with Israel as a sign of Kenya’s commitment to human rights.
“Over 400 Gazans were killed. Where is our … prime minister? Why are they not speaking about what is happening to Palestinians in Gaza?†said Sheikh Al Amin Kimathi, the chairman of Kenya’s Muslim Human Rights Commission.
“Kenya must denounce its relationship with Israel. We call upon the government of Kenya to close Israel’s embassy in Nairobi,†he added.Odinga failed to issue a single statement against Israeli attacks. This would have put in direct confrontation with President George W. Bush who blames Hamas for the conflict in the Gaza area.Odinga’s lack of response was, therefore, not surprising.Maybe it is important to remind our leaders that the societies they try to please will never fully accept them and they should start to get realistic about how to solve African problems.
Archbishop Sentamu should know better. Many times he has encountered Britain’s uglier, racist face.
The very first time he took a funeral, the son of the deceased asked: “What has my father done to be buried by a black monkey?†In the 1980s, the National Front tried to burn down his house.
When he lived in London, he was stopped by the Metropolitan Police six times in eight years under their stop-and-search policy. Yet, he still tries hard to use arguments against his own people to advance Western interests
> Muigwithania
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