Advice to Morgan Tsvangirai: Don’t Deal With This Man!

The man I’m talking about is none other than President Robert Gabriel Mugabe of Zimbabwe. A while back I suggested that if anyone had the ability to apply political pressure on this head of state, and make him step down, should do so urgently. Presently, in view of the recent announcement by MDC that they were disengaging from the unity government in protest of the detention of a senior MDC aide on terrorism charges and over Mr Mugabe’s refusal to implement political agreements, I have thus changed my stand. Morgan Tsvangirai should, himself and his party completely disengage and let this man rule to extinction. This in the hope that they (the MDC) can pick up the pieces after the end of his tenure and resuscitate whatever remnants there shall be of the nation. In fact, professionals presently planning a return to Zimbabwe should reconsider. My position is advised by this man’s history and, by extension, his way of thinking. Mr. Mugabe made his name in the 1970s guerilla war, where he fought white minority rule; this is in fact the major reason why many of his contemporaries will not point a finger at him. However, the major problem with this man is that his mentality is still one of performing heroic acts to the masses and spreading a socialistic agenda in the name of correcting past wrongs. His critics have continually blamed him for showing no understanding of how a modern economy works. They accuse him of always concentrating on the question of how to share the national cake and not how to make it grow. His habit of always blaming the ills facing Zimbabwe today to capitalism and colonialism only validates this. Character wise, this man is extremely proud. Through the years he has managed to shut his eyes to the happenings around him, sticking to his mantra of blaming the West for absolutely everything. According to close associates, he has said that he will only step down when his “revolution” is complete. I guess this will happen when he has finished redistributing white-owned land and hand-picking his successor. Analysts believe that this is his only insurance to a peaceful old age, without investigation into his time in office. The man is also stubborn. To this day, the Zanu-PF and the MDC have failed to appoint provincial governors, the Central Bank governor and the Attorney General. By MDC’s own admission their party has been persecuted and disrespected. In fact, there are reports that the Zanu-PF is militarizing state institutions ahead of future elections. This should be MDC’s cue to call it a day. It is my firm belief that it will take ages for Zimbabwe to make a turn around if MDC stays in government. Just this week, at the coalition government’s talks to break the political impasse, by MDC’s own admission, the more they talked the more they discovered they were ‘worlds apart on fundamental issues.’ To add insult to injury MDC offices were raided by the authorities. MDC are now looking to SADC to break the deadlock but my advice is that they should bail out. The more they stay the more they give Mugabe credibility. They will probably grab the reins of power faster if they exit now. j_kiregu@yahoo.com The author is a journalist with The New Times