Zimbabwe’s Wasted Generation (1979-2009)
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...By GETRUDE GUMEDE
Published: December 25, 2009
A flurry of negative publicity against our own president Robert Mugabe has been the order of the day for the most part of the past decade. Local independent and foreign media as well as pressure groups previously deprived of activity have suddenly found something, a lot to do in this. Western countries have even gone as far as collectively declaring him a political leper. Collectively he is accused of ruling reining and ruining the country for a complete generation.
But is this by any means fair? What has this man done to deserve this relentless bashing?
Yes the man rightful warrants more than just ridiculing and being banned from western countries. In fact he and his cabal at least are worth of being driven from the seat of power like revelers after a Bacchanalian orgy. At most they need to be sent to the gallows for their sins. On the service delivery front, Mugabe has behaved at least like a pendulum, work done at the end of the day equals zero. At most, he has been at the ring-leader of a relentless looting gang, shedding blood of innocent skeptics in the process.
Yet other vacuous praise singers like the late Tony Gara who once equated him to Jesus, Emerson Mnangagwa who calls him supreme leader and a couple others assert that their great leader merit praise and sitting tight on the throne of power. Oppah Muchinguri has even welcomed the likes of Mnangagwa’s praises with calls to retain Bob till his karmic recall. Why not when the other chefs died on the throne of power- Nkomo, Mzenda, and Msika? Amongst his achievements, they chronicle his selfless effort in bringing independence, peace, development and reconciliation, his ruthless dealing with dissidents.
The future is an orphan, so goes the saying. It is not the same as the past. We were there as well to experience their president’s achievements. We had different experiences of the same play-act probably because we were not sitting in the same row with them as the drama was unfolding. I particularly saw the man creating enemies left, right and centre since he took to the reins of power. By the time ceasefire was declared, he had two skeletons in the cupboard already. Two leading lights in his party Herbert Chitepo and Josiah Tongogara had both died mysterious deaths. No one has actually accused Bob of masterminding their killing but questions still linger as to why he did not at least launch an enquiry into their deaths. To cap it, he picked a semi-literate carpenter who had been making furniture in the Midlands as his vice, in the process alienating the likes of Tekere, Kadungure, and Mutasa.
Come the Lancaster House talks, he conspired with Maggie Thatcher to let the minority whites keep the land the very subject of the fighting. The equation was not so intricate. Mugabe would spare the white farmers of possible eviction from the land and in return, Britain would partake in the country’s development. The beginning point was assisting Bob win the pending election against Muzorewa and Nkomo. Yes Maggie had to protect the interests of her own kith. Why not protect a little dictator in the process? France was doing the same to Gnassingbe Eyadema against the Olympios in Togo, the same to Omar Bongo against Pierre Mbamboundou in Gabon, and the Belgium to Joseph Mobutu against Etienne Tshishekedi in Zaire.
Maggie lived to her promise and come 1980, Bob got an unassailable majority in the election with Nkomo and Muzorewa left to lick their wounds. This despite the fact that those close to the poll doubted the results straight away. Zanu had been trounced in Matabeleland, Midlands, Masvingo and Manicaland so how could he end up winning? At that time the both the British and Zanu refuted the rigging allegations. Now that things have fallen apart between the two, the latter have let the cat out of the bag. Yet it is quite easy to visualize why Zanu lost the poll. The deaths of Chitepo and Tongogara had not yet been forgotten. The peoples of Manicaland and Masvingo/Midlands respectively were aggrieved, they could, therefore, easily exact their vengeance at the booth. Zapu was a broad based party with membership nationwide. Though Mugabe wanted to discredit it as an Ndebele only party, it boasted the likes of Joseph Msika, Josiah Chinamano, Ambrose Mutinhiri, and Cornwell Nziramasanga to name but a few Shonas who had willingly joined the movement. He only had Enos Nkala from the other side of the tribal divide.
Come post-election settlement, Nkomo and company were accommodated as a junior partner in a marriage that did not last long. In the promised Canaan, the majority found themselves alienated. Ex-combatants found themselves faced with a bleak future. Demobilization payouts had to trickle from above with the majority of the grassroots often ignored in the process. The land for which some had fought for over a decade was not coming either. A deal had been struck at the helm to preserve the status quo as a gesture of reconciliation. To add insult to injury, those that had dropped out of school to join the struggle were required furnish employers with O Levels certificates otherwise there was no deal. Yes they were foolish enough to fight without studying concurrently. Their leader did it and emerged from the bush with two extra degrees. Man!
The marriage of convenience with Nkomo soon became sour. The latter was accused of propping up dissidents who wanted to destabilize the country. Nkomo immediately left the country for Botswana for sanctuary. The bloodletting that followed his departure is only paralleled by the subsequent Rwanda/Burundi genocide. There is ample historical evidence to suggest the massacre was pre-planned as early as 1978. However, since our history is written by none other than Chigwedere some of these leads may be lost forever. To quell the merciless slaughter of his tribesmen, Nkomo again agreed to be swallowed by Zanu for the sake of peace. To show that their support for Mugabe was genuine, Thatcher and company knighted him during the height of the Matabeleland massacre, even conferring several degrees upon him in appreciation of his leadership.
Meanwhile the army of opposition to Mugabe had been growing by the day. The Ndebele, Karangas, Manicas, ex-combatants. All were only waiting for their field day. The Manicas had theirs sooner. One of their own decided that corruption in Zanu had reached unbearable proportions. Of the zebra totem, Tekere decided he could not have his stripes disfigured. He responded by forming Zum which was to participate in the 1990 poll. Blood was shed in the process. Notable was the permanent maiming of Patrick Kombayi, a disaffected erstwhile sponsor of the armed struggle who had dared join hands with Tekere.
Needless to say that during all this unworthy drama of deceit and dissimulation, infrastructural development had taken a back seat. Priority was ensuring that the army is well equipped to fight subsequent enemies regardless of their location. Not to say that the country was devoid of funds, no. The white framers that had been spared of eviction were producing world class tobacco pumping in crispy US$s. The industry was left intact by Smith paying handsome taxes second only to Israel in the whole world. Donations were flowing in day in out, some of them not even reaching their intended destination. Paradza Mandebvu diverted all the money meant to develop a tourist whilst being an MP for Chivi. Kuruneri did the same with cement meant to construct a dam in his Mazowe constituency. They all got away with it. The latter even kicked upstairs to head the critical ministry of finance. Development has never been on Zanu’s agenda.
Fast forward to 1995 when one of his minders at the State House, little Chindoti Mushohwe’s son Prince Tafirenyika dismally failed A Level at the very same Kutama at Mugabe’s homestead. Mushohwe senior came up with a plan to arm-twist the great leader to launch the Fort Hare presidential scholarship (despite the fact that the money came from the ministry of education). A bright idea indeed, after all, the leader himself is an alumnus of the same institution. Sooner, Fort Hare was to welcome a Munyaradzi of the Garas, also a Felix of the Charambas and some Ndlovus there. There is nothing wrong about all this from a Zanu perspective. Remember that this is all a bunch of rejects of the local universities who are awarded for their failure by enrolling at a foreign university at the expense of local education. They are not the only ones- Bona Omo is studying with the Wus, Lis and Dengs in China; David Mumbengegwi was in the US maybe at the Massachusetts. Meanwhile our own kids have to contend with interruptions caused by incessant strikes at local universities. Aren’t those pigs growing fat while lambs starve? The only University which Mugabe strove to build is Nust. It however remains work-in-progress 20 years on. What is more intriguing is the fact that recently launched Lupane State is renting at WIP Nust. Ooh!
Unforced blunders were to ensue in the coming years. Without provocation, he had to intervene in the DRC conflict in 1997. The unnecessary cost of intervention did not even bother him. That’s when the dollar assumed an unrestrained free-fall. Later on, the war vets of the liberation struggle had to demand their loot. Unbudgeted for, it was squeezed out further on Zimbabwean dollar. The disbursement of gratuities in itself was all but transparent. Some top chefs received 100% disability gratuities yet their disabilities were neither latent nor patent. Some like John Nkomo are still in government though we have not heard their representing the disabled. Some genuine war vets were left out of the whole process because their commanders had forgotten their noms de guerre.
In the face of stiff opposition from the MDC, he decided to renege on his promise to keep whites on their framers. With the help of grateful war vets, he made the greatest dispossession in recent history. He just wanted to fix the farmers for supporting the MDC. Yet he did not mind the downstream consequences- dropping production, a rise in unemployment in the agriculture sector and downstream industries. This did not need a doctor of economics to realize. Teenage boys who herd cattle in the rural areas know that if water is dirtied the source, then the whole river is affected. How then did a geriatric of his caliber with the help of multitudes of voluble advisers miss out on this important concept? Land reform was not wrong at all. It is the timing that is critical. People were no longer interested in farming having survived through kujingirisa/ukulunguza over the past 20 years, who then would want to venture into dirty tobacco farming where only one cheque comes annually? Needless to say that Chief Svosve and his people who had dared occupy a white farm only in 1998 had been driven by police like a bunch of rootless cultural bastards groping in darkness for lost identity. What a volte face; quite expected of the political chameleon, Rwavhi Mugabe.
The crusades to win the 2000 and 2002 elections were the dirtiest and most expensive. Apart from the war vets, there were green bombers, intellectuals like Machos and Chivaura paid to campaign for Bob of course with taxpayer’s money. Yes our money because does not own a factory. He is a consumer not a producer. There were also musicians- Chimbetu, Sibanda, Tambaoga of the Blair toilet fame, Brian Mteki and Cde Chinx. The creator quickly recalled the former two before they could cause further havoc. Tambaoga is now as poor as a church mouse deserted by Zanu and even his spouse. Curses are like processions he did not know, they return to where they came from. Now he is appealing for help from us to re-build a life that he destroyed with the help of Zanu. Brian Mteki quickly repented but the creator snatched away his lead vocalist Elliott Manyika anyway. As for Chinx and his three wives, their moment of truth came with Murambatsvina. Their bungalow in Unit D of Chitungwiza was razed to the ground.
His supporters hail for the badly planned Chitungwiza. Let’s assume that it is true, how about the Murambatsvina that was later to follow. Didn’t it let to the destruction of more houses nationwide than those constructed in Chitungwiza alone? It is a zero-sum game. At the end of the day work done by Bob equals zero, he is pendulum period.
There are two contentious issues that seek resolution that have been doing rounds in the court of public opinion. This is of course the only court left whose independence and integrity is not doubted. The first issue is whether or not Mugabe is personally corrupt. Number two that he developed Mashonaland at the expense of Matabeleland. This judicial officer has ample evidence to deliver judgment on both cases without the necessity of further appeal. Mugabe is very corrupt. It is in fact difficult to be a dictator without being concurrently corrupt. The following graphically illustrate my point. He appointed the following relatives to positions of influence:
- Patrick Joao- nephew, minister
- Sabina- sister, MP
- Leo – nephew, CEO Zifa
- Sydney Gutter- brother- in- law , CEO Zesa
- Saviour Katsukuviri- nephew, minister
- Michael Bimha- brother-in-law, minister
- Joey Bimha- brother-in-law, envoy
- Tobaiwa Mudede- cousin, registrar-general (the man in charge of the most shambolic voters roll in the world)
- Innocent Matibiri- cousin, police commissioner (Chihuri too sick to work)
- Reward Marufu- brother-in-law, new farmer, deported envoy
- Shupa Mandiwanzira- brother-in-law, broadcaster, AAG president
- Phil and Jimmy Chiyangwa- nephews, indigenes (the most successful businesspeople)
He owns multitudes of farms and he is hanging on to power through unorthodox means. How then cannot he be corrupt?
On the second issue, its only north south dichotomy he created that cause our Ndebele counterparts to assume that Mashonaland was developed at the expense of their own area. It is a myth anyway! What Mashonaland owes Mugabe is the Reserve Bank building along Samora Machel Avenue and the Chinese-constructed National Sports Stadium. In Bulawayo, there is the Mhlahlandlela Building and Nust. Of the four, only Nust is of public significance since it is the only place where everyone’s bright kid can enroll. The reserve bank was built with Giddy Gono in mind. He has since entered the Guinness book of records as the world’s greatest printer to date. There was no lack of promises as well. We were promised the Chitungwiza railway line. It died still birth. The same goes for the Matabeleland Zambezi Water project. Oh I had forgotten the RG Mugabe highway in Mashonaland and the Kutama clinic. But these are private property, they are enjoyed by a handful privileged to stay close to the chosen one. The spin-off with Matabeleland here is the frequent interruptions we endure in Harare when the chameleon decides to go the airport or to his rural home. Mind you this happens at least once weekly, just imagine.
Basically the four projects enumerated above are the only deliverables that our dear leader managed for the whole three decades he has been at the helm. He may still be around for longer as his just ended congress endorsed yours sincerely to continue with the good work as usual. May be there are some invisible projects that we are not aware of. May be with Patrick at the technology ministry we are in the process of manufacturing a rocket that may suffer disruptions with a change in government. What Mugabe has been systematically good at is venting his wrath on enemies; real and perceived. I do not why none of his English friends has bothered telling him the wise saying ascribed to Queen Elizabeth I that anger makes dull men witty, it keeps them poor. No the nation is very poor because of his anger though he has stashed our cash with foreign banks.
A week ago he was seen grinning in Copenhagen with an entourage bigger than the hosts themselves. As usual his presence was wholly unwelcome and the object of the conference, climate change, contrary to the gist of his government. How can a government whose urban dwellers have retreated to the traditional use of firewood as a source of energy be welcome at a climate change summit? He became a jester when asked why he was there despite the sanctions against him to which he replied that he is part of mankind so why should he be isolated. Part of mankind yes but by the look of his face; maybe a homo erectus. Yes he confirms human evolution but does not fit into the modern world.
The more this genie remains at state house, the more enemies he will create not development. On average, he will need seven and half years to launch and complete the next developmental project. What a waste? This chap and his crew owe us big time. Their balance sheet is in a mess. The only solution available is liquidation, but even the liquidator risks losing on fees as there are no assets both non-current and current to realize. It is an albatross that Tsvangirai has volunteered to bear, a failed state. Fortunately for countries unlike living organisms, there is life after death.
JOSEPHAT JIRIHANGA MUGADZAWETA