Mugabe Must Accept Retirement
IMAGINE some man kidnaps your wife for a good four days, you gang up with sympathising villagers and some brave youths to go reclaim your wife, after rescuing her, the kidnapper says he wants to come and negotiate with you to recapture your wife!
The kidnapper goes on to brag rudely that the villagers who came demanding the release of your captive wife are aliens who come from another village far beyond the horizon. He continues to brag that the rest of the village supports the continued captivity of your wife in his hands saying that even your wife is actually attempting desperately to escape your house back to his. This is Mr Mugabe for you. Is retirement a curse really? Living to a mature old age of 94, and having worked, saving people in various life changing capacities for more than 70 years is a feat worth reflecting on, celebrating God’s providence and waiting to host visitors coming to drink from your deep vault of statesmanship.
It’s no secret that Mr Mugabe had overstayed in power, to the dismay of both his friends and foes. In his interview with various media houses on Thursday at his opulent mansion in Borrowdale, Harare, he confessed to harbour no more presidential ambitions. But, without the people demanding his departure in November of 2018, Mugabe would still be president today, his wife nowhere far away from the throne either.
The truth of the matter is Mr Mugabe is now defacto opposition leader of a definite political party, National Patriotic Front whose PR is played by the flip-flopper general, Jelousy Mawarire. On his micro blogging accounts a few days ago, the fluid Mawarire was at pains distancing his budding political party from the Mugabe family.
True, Mr Mugabe has the constitutional right to belong to a political party of his liking. But the habit of hiding his head in the sand and claim not to be playing anything in the formation of the vengeful party is gross nonsense. For the record, Mr Mugabe is still a card carrying member of Zanu-PF. It was his wife who was shown the door, not him.
For starters, it did not take Ambrose Mutinhiri 50 hours to appear at Blue Roof with Mr Mugabe after he had tendered his resignation from Parliament and Zanu-PF. Rather, Mutinhiri could have possibly dropped his letter at Parliament buildings before proceeding to Blue Roof to be formally instructed to announce his involvement with the party. And, get this position right here; there is nothing wrong at all in forming a new political party of your own in a constitutional democracy.
Neither is there anything wrong at all in visiting a former head of State at your own volition or at his invitation. What is clearly wrong is the insincerity Mr Mugabe is parading by distancing himself from a bitter political party that clearly started at his door step to oppose a party that he led for more than 40 years and showing a clear attempt at destabilising a nation on the mend.
If Mr Mugabe is not an NPF functionary, what was the NPF spokesperson doing with teems of journalists at Blue Roof playing their host? Mr Mugabe must value the beauty of retirement and the value of people’s patience on him.
If he complains that the November marchers were MDC-T people, why did his own party lead proceedings to impeach him? Are MDC-T supporters not part of the people he led during his day in office? Was he a partisan president? If he was, then people were wrong on him for 37 good years! Was he not in office with half his cabinet being MDC-T officials not so long ago?
Why did Mr Mugabe tender his resignation to Parliament during impeachment proceedings? If he did it in jest, he must be punished for contempt of Parliament! Well, he told journalists gathered at his home that it was his wife who advised him to resign, so where is his problem now? He must leave President Mnangagwa alone and discuss his domestic problem with his wife. If he wants alternative opinion he can ask his domestic servants.
To the President, I applaud his mature response to Mugabe’s old-age inspired rants. The current generation knows what to do with their destiny and that destiny is complete without him.
The nation does not owe Mugabe anything, if anything; it is him who owes the nation twenty farms and lots of apologies for the little confusion he is cooking up lately. And out of benevolence, the nation has foregone the hefty apologies due to it for all his transgressions at the sunset of his days in power. To err with old age is human.
Zimbabweans, let’s move forward and reclaim the jewel within us. As for Mugabe, it’s memoirs time. Asante Sana.