Opinion / Columnist
Can Mnangagwa restore Zimbabwe?
14 Aug 2018 at 16:00hrs | Views
Elections in Zimbabwe appear to have been free and fair, according to observers, but the vote counting has not been satisfactory to the opposition parties.
Nelson Chamisa and Tendai Biti, leaders of the MDC Alliance, have claimed that the vote counting was fraudulent.
Emmerson Mnangagwa, the incumbent as head of the ruling Zanu PF since the soft coup against Robert Mugabe, has suggested that those who are unhappy with the voting and the counting of votes should approach the courts for arbitration.
As Mnangagwa ultimately assumes the highest office through elections in Zimbabwe, his rise must be reviewed.
Mnangagwa became the military right-hand man of Mugabe after the assassination of Josiah Magama Tongogara, the commander of Zanu's army Zanla during the liberation war waged from Mozambique. After the Lancaster House talks at the dawn of the new Zimbabwe, Tongogara is said to have proposed to Mugabe that, for the sake of unity, he must work with Joshua Nkomo, the leader of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (Zapu), who was then called the father of Zimbabwe.
The suggestion that Mugabe subordinate himself to Nkomo was a fatal mistake. Mugabe was not impressed, leading ultimately to the elimination of Tongogara by assassination in Mozambique on December 26, 1979.
This marked the turning point between Zanu and Zapu PF after the initial artificial unity under Zanu PF, which was like the unity of water and oil. These were tribalist liberation movements, with Zanu largely Shona speaking and Zapu PF largely Ndebele speaking.
After Zanu won the elections in February 1980, some Zapu PF members harboured taking over power by military means in what would be the October Revolution Zimbabwe-style. It was these rumours that angered and agitated Mugabe, together with Zanu. In response, Mugabe recruited young Shona men and invited North Korea and Mozambique to train them as part of a unit named the Fifth Brigade which was deployed in Matabeleland.
They applied scorched earth tactics, murdering thousands of Ndebele people — in trying to exterminate Zapu, in addition to imprisoning its military leaders Dumiso Dabengwa and Lookout Masuku.
Does anyone seriously think Zimbabwe can be restored to health and democracy without acknowledgement of these historical atrocities?
How can Zimbabwe achieve peace without its own version of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission? Only time will tell.
Considering that Mnangagwa was trained in China under Mao Tse-tung, maybe he should be given the benefit of the doubt.
Maybe Mnangagwa can learn from his Chinese instructors and bring the necessary reforms to Zimbabwe, saving the country from economic meltdown. He might thus restore the breadbasket of Africa.
Is Zimbabwe still stuck in the gloomy past or is it in a new dawn? Only history will tell.
With regards to the ANC, it has not been consistent in dealing with the Zimbabwe issue.
The party was silent during the Gukurahundi massacre; it failed to condemn these senseless killings of the innocent in Matabeleland.
All in all, it was said that the ANC in exile was begging to get access to the Limpopo River in order to carry out operations in South Africa, hence avoiding antagonism of the ruling Shona-controlled Zanu PF. It has continued to be silent about the deaths of so many Ndebeles to this day. Truth, morality and human solidarity were sacrificed to get access to the Limpopo River.
This is the cruelty of war — that we close our eyes and pretend that nothing wrong is happening when people are being slaughtered.
As a matter of principle, the ANC must never support tribal liberation movements. For the nation to survive, the tribe must be subordinated to it.
These are the teachings from Pixley ka Isaka Seme and other founding fathers of the ANC.
It is as true for Zimbabwe as it is for South Africa. We must remember these teachings and act on them now.
There is no way Zimbabwe can avoid killings and dictatorship without courageously facing the facts of its history.
Zimbabweans need honesty and truth from the ANC, not servility in the face of a history of tribalism and massacre.
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Makgoale is a rank and file member of the ANC
Nelson Chamisa and Tendai Biti, leaders of the MDC Alliance, have claimed that the vote counting was fraudulent.
Emmerson Mnangagwa, the incumbent as head of the ruling Zanu PF since the soft coup against Robert Mugabe, has suggested that those who are unhappy with the voting and the counting of votes should approach the courts for arbitration.
As Mnangagwa ultimately assumes the highest office through elections in Zimbabwe, his rise must be reviewed.
Mnangagwa became the military right-hand man of Mugabe after the assassination of Josiah Magama Tongogara, the commander of Zanu's army Zanla during the liberation war waged from Mozambique. After the Lancaster House talks at the dawn of the new Zimbabwe, Tongogara is said to have proposed to Mugabe that, for the sake of unity, he must work with Joshua Nkomo, the leader of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (Zapu), who was then called the father of Zimbabwe.
The suggestion that Mugabe subordinate himself to Nkomo was a fatal mistake. Mugabe was not impressed, leading ultimately to the elimination of Tongogara by assassination in Mozambique on December 26, 1979.
This marked the turning point between Zanu and Zapu PF after the initial artificial unity under Zanu PF, which was like the unity of water and oil. These were tribalist liberation movements, with Zanu largely Shona speaking and Zapu PF largely Ndebele speaking.
After Zanu won the elections in February 1980, some Zapu PF members harboured taking over power by military means in what would be the October Revolution Zimbabwe-style. It was these rumours that angered and agitated Mugabe, together with Zanu. In response, Mugabe recruited young Shona men and invited North Korea and Mozambique to train them as part of a unit named the Fifth Brigade which was deployed in Matabeleland.
They applied scorched earth tactics, murdering thousands of Ndebele people — in trying to exterminate Zapu, in addition to imprisoning its military leaders Dumiso Dabengwa and Lookout Masuku.
Does anyone seriously think Zimbabwe can be restored to health and democracy without acknowledgement of these historical atrocities?
How can Zimbabwe achieve peace without its own version of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission? Only time will tell.
Considering that Mnangagwa was trained in China under Mao Tse-tung, maybe he should be given the benefit of the doubt.
Is Zimbabwe still stuck in the gloomy past or is it in a new dawn? Only history will tell.
With regards to the ANC, it has not been consistent in dealing with the Zimbabwe issue.
The party was silent during the Gukurahundi massacre; it failed to condemn these senseless killings of the innocent in Matabeleland.
All in all, it was said that the ANC in exile was begging to get access to the Limpopo River in order to carry out operations in South Africa, hence avoiding antagonism of the ruling Shona-controlled Zanu PF. It has continued to be silent about the deaths of so many Ndebeles to this day. Truth, morality and human solidarity were sacrificed to get access to the Limpopo River.
This is the cruelty of war — that we close our eyes and pretend that nothing wrong is happening when people are being slaughtered.
As a matter of principle, the ANC must never support tribal liberation movements. For the nation to survive, the tribe must be subordinated to it.
These are the teachings from Pixley ka Isaka Seme and other founding fathers of the ANC.
It is as true for Zimbabwe as it is for South Africa. We must remember these teachings and act on them now.
There is no way Zimbabwe can avoid killings and dictatorship without courageously facing the facts of its history.
Zimbabweans need honesty and truth from the ANC, not servility in the face of a history of tribalism and massacre.
--------
Makgoale is a rank and file member of the ANC
Source - News24
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