Robert Mugabe went to his grave owing us many books

IT is months after the dramatic burial of former President Robert Mugabe. At 95, his death came as no surprise to many. In fact, many people, especially his critics, agree that the real Mugabe died a few hours before he made his famous “asante sane’’ speech in November of 2017. Remember that before he stood aside, and the masses marched into the streets celebrating, and the independent Press used to “kill” the old man every year he went for his regular check-ups in Singapore. I remember one year he came back and made a joke about his many deaths. “It seems I have risen from death more than Jesus himself,” he had joked, in his cynical way.

When Mugabe died a journalist asked me for a comment. He wanted to know about Mugabe’s direct contribution to the arts. I couldn’t think of anything as my mind was all over the place. Now months later I think my mind has settled down, I think the old man robbed us of books he should have written and did not. We are owed many books, and other things too.

I think the late leader should have retired many years ago and took time to write books — many books — about his life, his journey, his leadership, his views on Africa and its people.

I think he should have sat down and wrote down something personal about the “moment of madness”. Had he found time to put his thoughts down on paper maybe he could have found the courage to say sorry to families and victims of the “moment of madness.”

Mugabe was an educated man with more than seven degrees. No one I know today has that many degrees. Most of the educated people I know write, or at least attempt to write books. Good books for that matter. Mugabe robbed us of the opportunity to remain interacting with his personal thoughts and words long after he has gone. We would have loved to read what made him tick, what books he read, what were his thought processes, what were his inner fears and nightmares while at the helm of power. Maybe he didn’t write because he didn’t want to share his thoughts.

Maybe, just maybe, the fact that his old self wanted to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself and take them to his grave was just a reflection of his character. Had he decided to share maybe, just maybe, he could have left both the academic and literary world richer than it is now. Mugabe was famous for his good speeches and flawless English. Now imagine that English flowing on paper and leading readers into his mind and personal experiences. Think a few memoirs, motivational books, academics letters. Even one or two history books.

True. Many books will be written about him, about his time, about his rule, and his person. Many of them by people who knew nothing about him. Mugabe should have simply retired to write his own stories, in his own words. It is a great loss he didn’t do it.

Josiah Tongogara died and left no personal memoirs. Nothing to immortalise his thoughts. When we refer to his leadership and his desires for the country, he died fighting for, we refer to other people’s thoughts and opinions. Not his direct thoughts or opinions. The best references about Joshua Nkomo’s life, at least according to me, are found in his autobiography: The story of my life. Reading that one book gets one to understand what the old man went through under both Ian Smith and soon after independence. Other books come in as just additional reading. I think Mugabe should have left us with a few books under his name. Even one like Nkomo did. (This is not to say the two were the same. They were not.)

For a pan-Africanist, he should have tried to use arts and culture to unite and build a national identity. It is sad that under his watch, arts and culture was to be found mostly at the airport, when he was leaving the country on his many trips or welcoming some of his foreign friends. But books, books, many students of history and revolutions would have loved to read something written by him. And he robbed us all of that pleasure.