Future uncertain for Zim
IT IS so tempting to jump up with joy and ululate with the oppressed people of Zimbabwe. For decades they have been brutalised by the oppressive regime of Robert Mugabe.
On Saturday, as millions of jubilant Zimbabweans flooded the streets of Harare and other centres, hugging soldiers and thanking them for finally acting, tears rushed to one’s eyes.
As the images were beamed across the world it was tempting to say that finally a new uhuru (freedom) has arrived in Zimbabwe.
It would be foolish to do so. Zimbabwe has been a country of false dawns and dashed hopes since Mugabe took power in 1980.
Nearly four decades after it gained its freedom and inspired us here in South Africa to soldier on, however, it remains a country for and of old men.
It is in the grip of these old men. It cannot shake them off.
That is why events of the past two weeks in Zimbabwe need to be viewed with caution and scepticism, but not a loss of hope. Freedom is coming to Zimbabwe, yes. But it will not be brought by the fired and soon to be reinstated Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa. It will also not be brought by General Constantine Chiwenga, the man who led the army in its actions last week.
These are the old men who, with Mugabe, have terrorised Zimbabwe and her people for 37 years.
They are the problem, not the solution.
Mnangagwa has been a member of the Mugabe inner circle since liberation.
In the 1980s Mugabe and his regime sent troops to Matabeleland allegedly to quell insurgents aligned to Mugabe’s rival, Joshua Nkomo.
A curfew was imposed, communities were starved, people were murdered in their thousands – all by the very army that today says it is against Mugabe’s wrongdoing.
Surrounding Mugabe were the likes of Mnangagwa and Chiwenga.
In the 1990s, Zimbabwe fell ever deeper into economic, political and social despair.
It is at this time that the judiciary and other institutions were stripped of their independence. Judges fled.
Young people who dared raise their voices were arrested, tortured and harassed. It was a harbinger of worse to come.
The 2000s saw an even more arrogant and power-mad Mugabe. The 2002 election was stolen through violence and coercion. The period immediately afterwards was horrific: journalists were driven out of their homes and jobs, newspapers were shut down and opposition voices fled.
These atrocities happened while Mnangagwa was Mugabe’s strongman.
Mnangagwa is a mini-Mugabe.
He was Mugabe’s security chief during the 1980s when the Matabeleland massacres took place.
Chiwenga is worse. He may be the chief of the army in Zimbabwe but he is not a soldier of the people but a Zanu-PF enforcer.
In 2008, when it became clear Mugabe was losing the parliamentary elections to the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai, Chiwenga said he would not salute the opposition leader if he became president.
Is this someone paving the way for a democratic dispensation? No.
These two men carried out the “coup” of the past week to continue Zanu-PF’s looting and patronage of the past four decades, not for the millions who flooded the streets on Saturday. What now for Zimbabwe? This is a country that can be fixed very quickly. But that will depend on whether Mugabe’s departure will usher in a genuine democratic dispensation. Zimbabwe’s journey remains uncertain.
The road to a great Zimbabwe will be longer than many of us expect, and full of twists and turns.
The struggle now is to ensure that power moves from Mugabe to a transitional structure swiftly.
Then on to a new, open, genuine democracy that waves goodbye to the “old men” and old ways around Mugabe.
A new beginning needs new leaders and thinking – not Mnangagwa, Chiwenga and cronies.
On Saturday, opposition leader Tendai Biti tweeted: “Tomorrow might be a nightmare BUT today we breathe freely.”
Sadly, it is not yet uhuru for Zimbabwe. Handled badly, the country’s tomorrow might yet be a nightmare.
Sadly, it is not yet uhuru for Zimbabwe. Handled badly, the country’s tomorrow might yet be a nightmare